Over the years ODM has researched into the correlation between ward-level democracy and deprivation to understand if it is an indicator of healthy democratic representation, and if over time, reveals a picture of the shifting demographic patterns within local democratic representation.
The research used data from the May 2024 local elections, and analysis reveals a stark political geography where Labour dominates England’s most deprived communities (73% representation in decile 1) whilst Conservatives represent the least deprived areas (38% in decile 10). Liberal Democrats show consistent growth from 5% to 35% as deprivation decreases, demonstrating that England’s three major parties serve fundamentally different socioeconomic constituencies—a pattern that holds from national level down to individual wards.
The report from this research can be downloaded here
This research was made possible with a Manchester Statistical Society Campion Grant.