Analysis of 2008 Electoral Roll Opt Out Again Shows Rise and Huge Disparity Across Councils
11 March 2008
Leading technology and data Group, which includes EuroDirect, Callcredit and Broadsystem has revealed the latest opt-out figures from the 2008 Electoral Roll, which indicate yet another rise in opt-out levels across the UK.
Analysis of opt out rates by councils across the UK has highlighted an average opt out rate of 39.75%, which shows another significant increase on the previous year.
Year | Overall Average Opt Out Rate | Average Year on Year Increase |
|---|---|---|
2008 | 39.75% | 2.99% |
2007 | 36.76% | 4.46% |
2006 | 32.30% | 2.99% |
2005 | 29.31% | 3.01% |
2004 | 26.30% | 4.68% |
2003 | 21.62% |
A combination of consumers exercising their freedom to choose and councils pre-ticking of opt-outs has resulted in an additional 1.5 million consumers opting out of this years electoral roll canvass. This means that over the last 6 years 18.3 million UK residents have now removed themselves from the prospect universe available to marketers.
Analysis of the Electoral Rolls submitted by each of the Councils shows that:
• 22.9% of all councils have more than half or their residents opting out.
• 7.8% of all councils have opt out rates in excess of 60%.
The following tables indicate the best and worst local authorities in terms of opt out rates:
20 Highest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas:
1 | Kennet | 75.78% |
2 | Ealing | 77.19% |
3 | Epping Forest | 76.35% |
4 | Richmond Upon Thames | 75.30% |
5 | Fenland | 74.71% |
6 | Bridgend | 74.52% |
7 | Eden | 72.61% |
8 | Richmondshire | 70.12% |
9 | Wandsworth | 68.07% |
10 | Maidstone | 67.71% |
11 | South Gloucestershire | 67.01% |
12 | South Tyneside | 66.14% |
13 | Easington | 65.90% |
14 | West Lancashire | 65.73% |
15 | Horsham | 65.64% |
16 | Sutton | 65.09% |
17 | Teignbridge | 64.72% |
18 | Wokingham | 63.88% |
19 | Hammersmith | 63.39% |
20 | Torbay | 63.00% |
20 Lowest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas:
1 | North Tayside & Angus | 4.95% |
2 | Perth and Kinross | 6.90% |
3 | Lanarkshire | 7.47% |
4 | Dundee | 10.60% |
5 | Dumfries & Galloway | 11.15% |
6 | Bradford | 11.63% |
7 | Alnwick | 12.64% |
8 | Isle of Man | 13.15% |
9 | Dunbartonshire | 13.32% |
10 | Argyll & Bute | 14.11% |
11 | Gedling | 14.48% |
12 | Fife | 14.89% |
13 | Highlands & W Isles | 15.08% |
14 | Blaenau Gwent | 15.38% |
15 | Hartlepool | 15.63% |
16 | Shetland Islands | 16.07% |
17 | Ryedale | 16.10% |
18 | Lothian | 16.42% |
19 | Orkney | 16.44% |
20 | Grampian | 17.52% |
Mike Green, Chief Executive of Skipton Information Group comments:
“While it is encouraging to see the rate of opt-out slow slightly for the first time in three years, marketers should be wary of becoming complacent. A massive 40% of consumers available to market to 6 years are no longer accessible.”
“These statistics reveal that marketers need to continue to augment their Edited Electoral Roll data with other data sources, especially in areas where we see large opt out trends.”
