The silent majority

 It took me a very long time to understand what we call "The silent majority" in Great Britain. We all live in our own little bubble. It might seem that everyones concerns are the same, that everyone is talking about the same things. But we are wrong. Let me give you an example. If you are a Barnet residents who enjoys a pint and a chat with your mates, at your local pub, what will be the hot topic? My guess is that if you drink at Blarneys in Burnt Oak it might be a rather different conversation to one if your pub is The Orange Tree in Totteridge. The two pubs, seperated by a few miles on the 251 bus route have a completely different customer demographic. This is repeated in religious meeting places. 

Maybe there is an insight in the TV broadcasts that most people have watched?

Row 0 - Cell 0	Event	Date	Viewers
1	1966 Fifa World Cup final: England vs. West Germany	30 Jul 1966	32.30m
2	Funeral of Princess Diana	6 Sep 1997	32.10m
3	Royal Family (documentary)	21 Jun 1969	30.69m
4	Apollo 13 splashdown	17 Apr 1970	28.60m
5	1970 FA Cup final replay: Chelsea vs. Leeds United	29 Apr 1970	28.49m
6	Wedding of Charles and Diana	29 Jul 1981	28.40m
7	Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips	14 Nov 1973	27.60m
8	Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement on Covid-19	23 Mar 2020	27.10m
9	2012 London Games closing ceremony	12 Aug 2012	24.46m
10	2012 London Games opening ceremony	27 Jul 2012	24.24m

I was slightly surprised by the results. Not the first two, but the rest of them? Perhaps the strangest was the one at no 5. The Chelsea Vs Leeds cup final replay. WIkipeia has a fascinating breakdown by year

Year	Programme	Date	Viewers (millions)[a]	Network
1970	Apollo 13 Splashdown	17 April 1970	28.60[b]
1971	Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier: Fight of the Century	8 March 1971	21.12[4]	BBC One[c]
1972	Eurovision Song Contest 1972	25 March 1972	N/A[d]	BBC One
1973	Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips	14 November 1973	27.60[4]	BBC One
1974	Love Thy Neighbour	7 April 1974	21.01[4]	ITV (Thames)
1975	Royal Variety Performance 1975	16 November 1975	22.66[4]	ITV (ATV)
1976	The Sweeney	8 November 1976	20.68[4]	ITV
1977	This Is Your Life	27 April 1977	22.22[4]	ITV (Thames)
1978	Sale of the Century	24 December 1978	21.15[4]	ITV
1979	To the Manor Born	11 November 1979	23.95[4]	BBC One
1980	Film: Live and Let Die	20 January 1980	23.50[5]	ITV
1981	Film: Jaws	8 October 1981	23.30[25]	ITV
1982	Film: The Spy Who Loved Me	28 March 1982	22.90[26]	ITV
1983	Coronation Street	23 February 1983	18.45[27]	ITV
1984	Royal Variety Performance 1984	25 November 1984	20.55[28]	BBC One
1985	Live Aid	13 July 1985	24.50[16]	BBC One
1986	EastEnders	25 December 1986	30.15[14]	BBC One
1987	EastEnders	1 January 1987	28.00[15]	BBC One
1988	EastEnders	7 January 1988	24.15[18]	BBC One
1989	Film: Crocodile Dundee	25 December 1989	21.77[29]	BBC One
1990	Neighbours	26 February 1990	21.16[30]	BBC One
1991	Coronation Street	25 November 1991	20.45[31]	ITV
1992	Coronation Street	22 January 1992	20.45[32]	ITV
1993	Coronation Street	22 March 1993	20.73[33]	ITV
1994	Torvill and Dean – Olympic Ice Dance Championship	21 February 1994	23.95[34]	BBC One
1995	Panorama Special: An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales	20 November 1995	22.78[21]	BBC One
1996	Only Fools and Horses	29 December 1996	24.35[17]	BBC One
1997	Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales	6 September 1997	19.29[35]	BBC One
1998	1998 FIFA World Cup: England v Argentina	30 June 1998	23.78[36]	ITV
1999	Coronation Street	7 March 1999	19.82[37]	ITV
2000	Coronation Street	3 January 2000	18.96[38]	ITV
2001	Only Fools and Horses	25 December 2001	21.34[39]	BBC One
2002	Only Fools and Horses	25 December 2002	17.40[40]	BBC One
2003	Coronation Street	24 February 2003	19.43[41]	ITV
2004	UEFA Euro 2004: England v Portugal	24 June 2004	20.66[42]	BBC One
2005	Coronation Street	21 February 2005	14.36[43]	ITV
2006	2006 FIFA World Cup: England v Sweden	20 June 2006	18.46[44]	ITV
2007	EastEnders	25 December 2007	14.38[45]	BBC One
2008	Film: A Matter of Loaf and Death	25 December 2008	16.15[46]	BBC One
2009	Britain's Got Talent	30 May 2009	18.29[47]	ITV
2010	The X Factor	12 December 2010	16.55[48]	ITV[e]
2011	Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton	29 April 2011	26.59[50]	BBC One[f]
2012	2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony	12 August 2012	24.46[51]	BBC One
2013	New Year's Eve Fireworks	31 December 2013	13.53[52]	BBC One
2014	2014 FIFA World Cup final: Germany v Argentina	13 July 2014	14.96[53]	BBC One[g]
2015	The Great British Bake Off	7 October 2015	15.05[54]	BBC One
2016	The Great British Bake Off	26 October 2016	15.90[55]	BBC One
2017	Blue Planet II	29 October 2017	14.01[56]	BBC One
2018	2018 FIFA World Cup: Croatia v England	11 July 2018	20.73[57]	ITV
2019	Gavin & Stacey	25 December 2019	17.92[58]	BBC One
2020	Prime ministerial statement on COVID-19	10 May 2020	18.99[59]	BBC One
2021	UEFA Euro 2020: England v Denmark	7 July 2021	18.40[60]	ITV[h]
2022	2022 FIFA World Cup: England v France	10 December 2022	16.08[61]	ITV1
2023	Coronation of Charles III and Camilla	6 May 2023	12.03[62]	BBC One[i]

There are some that made my jaw drop. 1974, Love thy neighbour. We like to pretend that it was something no one watched, but it was the top show that year. As surprising is 1978 and Sale of The Century. It was a perfectly fine show, but over 21 million people watched it. I for one am slightly cheered that Blue Planet made it in 2017. This list tells us more about the UK and the silent majority than any poll. When England does well, we get behind the team. Less than half as many people were as interested in the Coronation of CHarles this year as were in the wedding of Princess Anne in 1973. The big Soaps, Eastenders and Coronation Street no longer grip us as they did a decade ago. The last film top the list was Wallace and Gromit. It is interesting to note that more people watched Gavin and Stacey in 2019 than voted for Brexit or Remain. 

So what sort of a country are we? Lets look at the 2019 General Election, perhaps the one in recent times where the vote would really make a huge difference.

Lets start with how many people voted - around 32 million people. 

Registered	47,568,611
Turnout	67.3% ( 1.5 pp)

And how did that carve up between The Conservatives and Labour

Leader	Boris Johnson	Jeremy Corbyn
Party	Conservative	Labour
Leader since	23 July 2019	12 September 2015
Leader's seat	Uxbridge and South Ruislip	Islington North
Last election	317 seats, 42.4%	262 seats, 40.0%
Seats won	365	202[n 2]
Seat change	48	60
Popular vote	13,966,454	10,269,051
Percentage	43.6%	32.1%

It is sobering to think that the number of people who voted for Boris Johnson was less than the maximum TV audience every year apart from this year and 2013 (when fireworks topped the chart). In total 15.6 million people did not bother to vote, beating both Johnson and Corbyn. In short, the real 'silent majority' simply can't be bothered to vote.

Take the result of perhaps the biggest issue in the UK in the last twenty years. Brexit. What was the result? You will say 52% for Brexit 48% for Remain. It wasn't

National totals

Remain	Leave
16,141,241	17,410,742

Total electorate: 46,500,001

Turnout: 72.2%

Rejected ballots: 25,359

27% of the electorate did not vote. Why? Some couldn't be bothered, some didn't feel either side made a strng enough argument to vote for either. In truth, I don't really blame them. Politicians are not trusted. I wonder how many Brexiteers think they got what they were voting for. I also wonder how many Remainers thought it would be far worse than it is now. But the truth is that if the 27% have voted, possibly the result would have been very different. If it all went to Brexit, that would by 62% and if it went t o remain, it would be 61%. Of course, it would have been neither, but it would have been different. The opinion polls were all wrong. Why? Did people lie or did Remainers simply not bother to vote as they thought it was in the bag? Who knows? I am not making claims about the vote being wrong or unfair, just noting that twelve and a half million people didn't bother to vote.

A very big chunk of the silent majority. I sometimes wonder if there was a referendum as to whether or not we would be instantly exterminated by Daleks, if we'd still see a third of the electorate apathetically sitting at home watching telly? 

Why do I mention this? Well in the last few months, various people have said to me "Why don't people come out an join our protest?" for all manner of causes. Edgware Redevelopment, rallys about the Middle East, etc. The truth is that the silent majority in the UK will not get off their backsides to protest about anything. As someone who has stood for election three times in Mill Hill, nothing is more dispiriting than working your socks for six months, knocking on doors, getting pledges, only to go to the count and learn that despite all that hard work, all that yo really did was drag people away from the GBBF for five minutes and they simply agreed with you to get rid of you.

What is even more annoying is when, six months later, they grab you and start moaning about the council. Invariably, I ask "Did you vote for me at the election" The response is invariably "No". 

Which, when it comes down to it, is why we get the politicians we, as a nation, deserve. People don't get involved in running their local communities, they don't get involved in litter picking, they don't vote, they don't read the leaflets that come through their doors. They love a good moan about potholes, councul taxes, dogshit in the streets etc, but only if someone, who generally they can't even be bothered to vote for, does all of the work for them. 

Which is why I am no longer that interested in local or national politics. I'll vote but I have other things to do with my life. For those of you who have moaned that the blog doesn't do enough local politics anymore, that is why. I enjoy writing about other things.