Democracy: The National Election Contract

You choose the priorities. They answer the questions. We hold them to their word.

Britain needs an election system that gives voters more than vague promises, slick slogans and a manifesto that can be quietly abandoned once power has been won.

Democracy: The National Election Contract is a simple proposal: before every General Election, the public helps set the agenda. Political parties must then publish clear, written and costed plans to deal with it. The government elected on those plans must be openly held to account for delivering them.

The problem

At election time, parties make promises. They tell us what they will do on taxes, immigration, housing, crime, the NHS and much more. But once elected, they can change direction, delay the promise, water it down or drop it altogether.

Voters are then told to wait until the next election.

That is not good enough. A manifesto should be a contract with the country, not a sales brochure designed to get a party into No. 10.

The idea

Before a General Election, every registered voter receives a simple letter, a voting card and a Freepost return envelope.

The card includes six core responsibilities that every government must address:

Tax and the cost of living/ Net Zero Proposals
Housing
Immigration and border control
Defence, national security & Foreign Aid
Crime, policing and justice
The NHS and social care

These subjects would automatically appear in every party’s official election contract.

The public chooses the rest

The card would also ask voters to choose up to three further priorities for the next Government. The options could include:

Education
Jobs, wages and business
Pensions
Energy bills and energy security
Transport
Farming and food security
Welfare
The environment
Constitutional reform
Other: __________

The three issues chosen most often would become the final sections of the National Election Contract.

This keeps the process democratic without allowing a small, organised campaign to hijack the entire agenda. The core matters are always covered, while voters still decide what else is most important to them.

What every party must publish

Every party standing candidates would have to publish the same clearly laid-out document, using the same headings. No hiding behind slogans. No vague statements such as “we will fix it” or “we will take back control”.

For each national priority, a party must state:

Exactly what it intends to do
Its target or intended result
The expected cost
How it will be funded
The delivery timetable
The minister and department responsible

Voters could then compare every party on the same issues, side by side, before deciding who deserves their vote.

A contract, not a blank cheque

The winning party would be expected to deliver the programme it put before the country. An independent body would publish regular public scorecards showing whether each commitment was:

Delivered
On track
Delayed
Changed
Abandoned

If a government wanted to abandon or fundamentally reverse a major election commitment, it would have to explain why, secure proper parliamentary approval, and—where the change is significant—go back to the country for a new mandate.

There will always be genuine emergencies: war, recession, pandemics or events outside a government’s control. This proposal does not pretend that a government can never adapt. It says that when the deal made with voters is broken, the public deserves honesty, transparency and a say in what happens next.

What this would change

Democracy: The National Election Contract would mean:

The public helps set the election agenda
Parties must answer the same important questions
Promises are specific, costed and time-limited
Delivery is measured in public
Major U-turns require democratic permission, not political excuses

Proper democracy

This is not about replacing Parliament or holding a referendum on every decision. It is about restoring the basic principle that power comes from the people.

The public sets the problems. Parties compete on the solutions. The winner is held to the plan it asked us to support.