This year’s Campaign for Social Science Annual Sage Lecture was delivered by Gary Younge FAcSS, author, broadcaster, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester.

As a general election approaches in 2024, Gary suggested that it's becoming increasingly clear that the electoral culture is on a collision course with political, economic, and environmental realities and that these contradictions occasionally play out in real time. He argued that election culture in the UK seems to try to cover what campaigners believe are popular topics that people want to hear about, instead of the actual issues the country is facing.

He also discussed the media’s role in framing discussions on polarizing issues and the parallels between British political rhetoric and U.S. political rhetoric, both based on racism. Gary argued that the media draws from the same social class as the political class and is focused not on what needs to change, but only who will win. He explored how, while this remains the case, voter disillusionment with the status quo grows, further aggravating the dislocation between the political class and the popular mood.

This lecture connects to the Campaign for Social Science's Election 24 project. Gary highlighted some of the policy areas covered by the project viewed through the prism of wider issues with the very nature of our political discourse and our electoral culture.