‘Why bother participating? It’s pointless’: How low political efficacy and sense of marginalisation affect political participation of EU citizens at local level in post-Brexit England

According to the 2021 Census, 3.6 million EU citizens live in the UK. Yet, despite representing at least 36.4% of all foreign born residents, EU migrants are severely under-represented in British politics, due to the lack of voting rights in general elections and national referenda. At the local level, where EU migrants with a granted status still retain the right to vote and run for the Council, their electoral registration rate is lower than British citizens’ and Commonwealth migrants’. Even the number of elected Councillors born in the EU is extremely low if compared to the size of the EU nationals’ population, with only a handful of cases mostly concentrated in London. Besides being at odds with democratic principles, the political underrepresentation of such a large minority is also problematic from a democratic practice perspective. The lack of integration of migrants’ views and demands in the policymaking process can indeed lead to the social and economic marginalisation of those excluded from the polity. Through the thematic analysis of 49 semi-structured interviews conducted in four English local authorities, this comparative study investigated the causes of the EU migrants’ gap in political participation. The results highlighted how lack of awareness about political rights and low political efficacy are frequent reasons not to register to vote or not to turn up on election day. EU migrants do not trust that local politicians would ever consider their demands. Moreover, EU migrants seem disillusioned about their chances of being elected. Because of the sense of rejection caused by Brexit, they believe UK-born residents would never vote for an EU citizen, thus deciding not to engage with local political parties.