About Us

Democracy Insight exists to explain how democracy actually works.

Modern politics is often dominated by anger, slogans and division. Too much public debate is shaped by personalities, outrage and party conflict, rather than by a proper understanding of how decisions are made, who holds power, and how people can take part.

Democracy Insight exists to influence at this moment.

This site is about the political process, not political point scoring. We accept people have different opinions, but we are about helping people understand councils, committees, planning decisions, elections, consultations, public meetings and the institutions that shape everyday life.

Many of the decisions that affect people are made locally. This includes where homes are built, how services are delivered, how public money is spent, how communities are consulted, and how elected representatives are held to account. Yet local government is often poorly understood, underreported and ignored until something goes wrong.

Through articles, videos, explainers and visits to public meetings, we will help people understand how local and national democratic processes work in practice. That includes explaining council meetings, planning committees, scrutiny, consultations, public participation, standards in public life, electoral reform and the pressures facing elected representatives, their motivations and a fresh outlook on why they do what they do.

Our aim is not to tell people what to think. It is to help people understand the system well enough to ask better questions, challenge more effectively, and take part with confidence.

Democracy works best when people understand it. That means looking beyond the headlines and the outrage, and paying attention to the machinery of public life, the rules, responsibilities, trade-offs, constraints and decisions that sit behind the politics.

This project will also contribute to wider debates about democratic reform, voter engagement, abuse and intimidation in politics, public trust, and the future of local democracy.

Democracy Insight is for people who care about public life but want more than the noise. It is for residents, community groups, councillors, candidates, campaigners, journalists, students and anyone who wants to understand how decisions are really made. Politics matters, even if we appear not to value it. But democracy is separate from party politics. Our aim is to being the political process closer to people, so that more people can understand it, question it and take part in it.

Malcolm Clarke, CEO

Democracy Insight is led by Malcolm Clarke, who has worked both at the front line and behind the scenes of the political process for over 15 years.

Malcolm has served for four years as a county councillor on Durham County Council, where he was Chairman of the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and a regular on the Area and County Planning Committees, and served for two years as a parish councillor on Lanchester Parish Council, giving him direct experience of local government, public meetings, planning, scrutiny, casework and community decision making.

He also spent seven years working as an senior aide to a Member of Parliament, supporting parliamentary work, constituency casework, policy research and engagement with residents, public bodies and local organisations.

Alongside this, Malcolm has worked in public affairs across the public and private sectors, helping organisations understand political issues, respond to policy developments and engage with decision makers to ensure their voice, and experience, is heard.

That combination of experience and insight led him to found Democracy Insight, to help champion democracy at a time when many seek to deride it, sharing his practical experience of how councils, Parliament, public bodies and political institutions actually work.

Malcolm's aim is to make democracy easier to understand, without reducing it to slogans, outrage or party conflict. Through Democracy Insight, he aims to explain the processes, pressures and responsibilities behind public decision making, and help more people understand how they can take part in a reasonable, proportionate and effective way.

The project reflects a simple belief: democracy works better when people understand not just the politics, but the process behind it.