Football fans are being targeted in a bid to increase the number of Londoners able to vote in the forthcoming mayoral and general elections.
Almost one in five Londoners entitled to vote are not on the electoral register – the biggest proportion in the country.
Across England, more than three million people are believed to be missing from the register, with many registered at the wrong address.
A non-partisan “don’t sit on the sidelines” campaign has been launched in partnership with Fulham FC and could expand to other London clubs including Arsenal, Spurs, Brentford and Crystal Palace.
In a linked initiative, Lime will allow 18-30-year-olds to ride to the polling station for free on May 2 in a bid to increase participation in the mayoral elections.
Younger Londoners form a sizeable number of those not registered to vote. The deadline to take part in the elections for mayor – and the 25 members of the London Assembly – is April 16. The campaign’s aim is to get all 18-24-year-olds registered.
There were 5.3 million Londoners on the electoral register in 2022, according to the Electoral Commission.
People aged 18 or older on polling day can vote in the mayoral elections as long as they live in London and are British, Irish, an EU citizen or from a qualifying Commonwealth nation.
Fulham gave the campaign, organised by the My Life My Say campaign group, free advertising space in its match-day programme. Talks are being held with other London-based Premier League clubs. Chelsea is the understood to be the only club to have refused.
Dan Lawes, head of partnerships at My Life My Say, said: “It is so important that football fans ‘don't sit on the sidelines’ in a critical year of elections, and get their voices heard on issues that they feel passionately about. We look forward to working with more clubs in the future."
Football clubs are being targeted because many fans fit the target demographic and because many fans trust the messaging received from their club.
The campaign, backed by the #iWill Movement and Shape History, comes alongside concerns that the need for voters to show ID at polling stations could also harm turnout. Only about 40 per cent of London voters took part in the 2021 mayoral elections.
One in four Londoners are thought to be unaware of the ID rules. The Electoral Commission has warned that poorer Londoners, younger Londoners and those from ethnic minority communities were more likely to be affected.
About four per cent of people entitled to take part in last year’s local elections, for councils outside London, did not take part because of the ID rules.
