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 (47 per cent) 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 (26 per cent) said they were not optimistic that life would improve for disabled people under a new UK government. A third (33 per cent) 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 (76 per cent) of disabled people say they still plan to vote, even though nearly a quarter of those (21 per cent) are yet to decide who to vote for.

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.

The national disability charity 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:

1. Make sure disabled people can afford the essentials.
2. Fund social care so no disabled adult goes without support.
3. End the postcode lottery of social care for disabled children.
4. Give every disabled child equal access to education.
5. Make the benefits system work for disabled people.
6. Tackle barriers to work.
7. Always have 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.”