In the lengthy battle over the UK’s future, one that often feels like a fight for the country’s soul, trust in institutions is on the wane. The Brexit stalemate has exacerbated the widespread distrust of politics, the media and the electoral system on both sides of the aisle. And as that distrust has deepened, it has often turned abusive.
Abuse of MPs, particularly of ethnic minorities and women, has grown significantly since the 2016 Brexit vote. More recently, several prominent female politicians, including former cabinet ministers, cited abuse as a reason for not standing for re-election in the country’s December 12 poll.
“Disinformation and abuse means MPs will engage less with the public,” Dr Sofia Collignon, lecturer and associate professor of political communication at Royal Holloway, University of London, said. “It harms the relationship between citizens and their representatives. This content is detrimental to its targets, but also to the democratic process.”
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