A new analysis by the AI-powered data company Politicker reveals a significant disconnect between the issues dominating public concern and those being debated in Parliament. By comparing YouGov's public polling on the most important issues with Politicker's data on time spent discussing topics in the Commons, a stark contrast emerges, particularly on the subject of immigration.
It is a long-held political truism that "it's the economy, stupid," and our data on parliamentary debate largely supports this. The economy has been a consistent focus for MPs, discussed for an average of 125 minutes per month since August last year. This aligns with standard political strategy, where parties are expected to focus on bread-and-butter issues.
However, a closer look at the data on immigration reveals a startling divergence from public sentiment. According to YouGov's polling tracker on July 21st, a staggering 52% of respondents cited immigration as their top issue, a full 20 percentage points ahead of the economy. Despite this, parliamentary debate on immigration has been minimal. For 2025 so far, Politicker's issue tracker places 'Immigration, Race and Ethnic Minorities' at number 23, out of a total of 27. The most time spent talking about the topic in any single month since August, 2024 was just 27 minutes in June. The average time dedicated to the issue per month was a mere 11.7 minutes, and in May, there was no focus whatsoever on immigration.
This raises a crucial question: why are MPs not reflecting this top-tier public concern in their debates? One potential explanation is that the issue is simply too sensitive. With Labour occupying by far the most seats, their voices tend to prevail. And Labour MPs may prefer to focus on issues where they see strategic advantage and are better trusted, such as health. Engaging in a heated debate on immigration may be seen as a political liability, simply raising the salience of the issue without necessarily being regarded by the public as the ones to fix it. Another explanation is that the issue is simply too complicated to resolve. It is widely accepted by immigration experts that immigration is, in fact, good for the economy, and essential in a country with an ageing population. However, making this argument is perhaps too difficult, especially for the dominant Labour Party who are clearly fighting a defensive campaign against Reform - choosing to shift their positions closer to Reform's rather than articulate their own position and defend it.
The pattern of disconnect extends to other issues as well. Education, for instance, ranks high on Politicker's issue tracker, with MPs spending an average of 45.4 minutes per month discussing it. Conversely, YouGov's data consistently positions education as one of the least important issues for the general public. This suggests that certain topics are deemed more pressing by MPs, perhaps due to legislative calendars or departmental priorities, than they are by their constituents.
This isn't necessarily a negative reflection on our representative democracy. We elect MPs not simply to parrot public opinion, but to use their judgment to decide on our behalf what is most important for the country. However, this data provides a vital warning. For their own political survival, and to shield against populist forces who claim that politics has become deaf to the concerns of ordinary people, MPs must be seen to be at least responsive to the public's agenda. The stark contrast highlighted by this data suggests that, on certain key issues, a significant gap exists between the people and their representatives.
Disclaimer: The data presented here is from Politicker’s analysis of parliamentary Oral Answers to Questions, and excludes Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). This represents a significant and important bulk of parliamentary business where Ministers are held to account by the House.
