Mohammed Azeem (right) with support worker Caz Smith (left)
Mohammed Azeem (right) with support worker Caz Smith (left)

With just one week to go until the General Election, political parties appear to be fighting for every vote, but according to new research by the national disability charity Sense, many disabled people feel they have been forgotten by our politicians.

In a poll of 1,000 people with complex disabilities in the UK, nearly half said disabled people and the issues they face were not important to political parties. The same number claim politicians don’t do enough to engage disabled people to secure their vote.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, as many as one in four said they were not optimistic that life would improve for disabled people under a new UK government. A third believe their vote won’t make a difference to disabled people’s lives, which puts disabled people off voting.

Despite this, more than three quarters of disabled people say they still plan to vote, even though nearly a quarter of those are yet to decide who to vote for.

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There are 16.1 million disabled people in the UK, making up 24 per cent of the UK population, and a disproportionate number live on a low income or in poverty. Disabled people experience long waiting periods for benefits eligibility decisions and are more likely to use resources such as food banks. 

Sense is calling for disabled people to be prioritised by the next UK government. They have produced a manifesto for political candidates, called ‘A Plan for Change’, outlining how the next government can improve the lives of disabled people, focusing on seven key recommendations. These include making sure disabled people can afford the essentials, funding social care, ending the postcode lottery of social care for disabled children, giving every disabled child equal access to education, making the benefits system work for disabled people, tackling barriers to work and appointing a senior Minister for Disabled People.

Sense Chief Executive, Richard Kramer, said:  “It’s a disgrace that disabled people, and the societal inequalities they face, have received so little attention by politicians during the election campaign.

“It’s unsurprising, then, that so few disabled people believe that life will improve under a new UK government. But it must improve. The pandemic and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated many of the problems that disabled people and their families already faced. 

“Disabled people are struggling to pay for essentials like food and energy. The social care sector, which so many depend on, is in crisis, and the welfare system is in urgent need of reform. Whoever forms the next UK government must show disabled people that they do matter to them.”

Mohammed Azeem, 39, from Smethwick, West Midlands, is visually impaired and has voted in every election since 2005. He says that political parties aren’t listening to disabled people, and for the first time is considering not voting. “Political parties are doing their thing but when it comes to us or listening to our views, nothing gets done. Disabled people need to be part of manifestos. At the moment, we’re not being heard, and change isn’t happening.”

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https://thiis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/image001.jpghttps://thiis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/image001-150x150.jpgLiane McIvorNewsroomReports & ResearchSector NewsThird Sectordisabled,General Election,parties,politicians,research,SenseWith just one week to go until the General Election, political parties appear to be fighting for every vote, but according to new research by the national disability charity Sense, many disabled people feel they have been forgotten by our politicians. In a poll of 1,000 people with complex disabilities...News, views & products for mobility, access and independent living professionals