Demos Comment: The Government’s Representation of the People Bill is a missed opportunity to tackle the real threats to democracy
On 12 February 2026, the Labour government published its Representation of the People Bill (Elections and Democracy Bill), intended to “protect our democracy against foreign interference and give young people the right to vote”.
Responding to the bill, Azzurra Moores, Associate Director of Information Ecosystems, said:
“The government has missed an important opportunity to use this Bill as a vehicle to address the wide-ranging vulnerabilities facing our online information environment. The UK’s information supply chains, on which our democracy depends, are under increasing threat, and there remains a need for decisive action. This Bill misses the moment in tackling the current threat to democracy.
There is now an opportunity through the bill process to strengthen its measures and safeguard future elections from growing epistemic risks. We will be arguing for measures that tackle the spread of false or unreliable information, the proliferation of political deepfakes, and the online harassment and intimidation of MPs and candidates.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Demos is convening leading thinkers to tackle the wide-ranging vulnerabilities threatening the information environment, we host the Epistemic Security Network (ESN) to do exactly that.
Within the ESN, Demos convenes the Information Crisis Coalition – a partnership between Full Fact, Transparency International, the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition and the Online Safety Act Network – which focuses specifically on strengthening resilience to information crises, including during election periods. In January, the Coalition published the Elections Bill briefing to outline policy recommendations to strengthen the Bill.
Our key recommendations are:
- Introduce systems to reduce online threats and abuse against candidates.
- Publish guidance which clarifies the law on electoral information incidents, including deepfakes of candidates and MPs.
- Establish further regulation and transparency in political advertising.
- Reduce spending limits at elections to address runaway spending on social media.
- Increased the Electoral Commission’s investigative powers.
- Establish a public protocol for election information incidents.
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