Sir Lenny Henry supports letter calling Voter ID laws ‘attack on rights’
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Sir Lenny Henry is among the celebrities who have called on the new Government to reverse laws that require voters to bring photo identification to polling stations.
The actor and comedian, 65, backed an open letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying that the legislation, which was introduced by the last government, is “an attack on the democratic rights of people of colour”.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the department responsible for voting rules, says that there will be a “thorough evaluation of voter ID rules”.
The letter to Sir Keir, organised by campaigning group Operation Black Vote and the equality think tank, the Runnymede Trust and posted online on Thursday, was also backed by other famous faces.
Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh, artist Anish Kapoor, Homeland actor David Harewood, Star Wars star Hugh Quarshie, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody actress Naomi Ackie and Hotel Rwanda actress Sophie Okonedo were among the more than 50 signatories.
They urge Sir Keir to “repeal the unfair Voter ID laws brought in under the last government”, citing more than 400,000 people being turned away during the 2024 General Election.
The letter says: “Polling shows that minority communities were 2.5 times more likely to be stopped from voting than white people. Yet again, our democracy is working against us, rather than for us.”
The claimed it was to further the Conservative “party political interests” and added that the “laws are an attack on the democratic rights of people of colour, and leave people without a say in the running of our country”.
“Our right to vote is even more important at a time when over half of Black children are living in poverty in Britain,” the letter said.
“People have been denied a say in shaping our country’s future. This has to change before the next election.”
The signatories also asked for automatic voter registration, saying it would prevent “historically low turnout”.
A spokesman for MHCLG said: “We want to make sure every legitimate voter can exercise their democratic right to vote.
“That’s why we will conduct a thorough evaluation of voter ID rules, to evaluate how they impacted voters during the General Election, before bringing forward firm proposals in due course.
“Ultimately too many people feel they don’t have a say in how our country is governed, and that is why the Prime Minister has been clear he wants to see a new way of governing, with politics back in the service of working people.
“From introducing votes at 16 to handing power back to communities with our English Devolution Bill, our Government has a plan to restore faith in our democracy.”
It is believed that the Government seeks to make amendments to the rules and will consider the recommendations of the review by the Electoral Commission.
