Is voting in the local elections a waste of time
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al. It could be deemed to be so, if you vote an Independent into office. They can be anything from a Raving Looney Party to a Galvanised Methodist. You really do not know what you are getting.
[quote quote=129552]al. It could be deemed to be so, if you vote an Independent into office. They can be anything from a Raving Looney Party to a Galvanised Methodist. You really do not know what you are getting.
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But at the same time does anyone really know what they are getting when they vote for any political party anymore at any level? Did anyone who voted Tories in the last General Election hope that we had Theresa May, BoJo and David Davis getting us to cavalry charge off a cliff riding blind donkeys with 3 years to go before anyone can legitimately get a vote to sort out the mess.
I think you need to vote for someone you believe can actually make a difference to your own area and then hopefully as a collective mess those in do a better job at town and county level than the current Executive Shower.
The only people really hoping for a low voter turnout is incumbents who have proven very unpopular this time, hoping that voter apathy will keep them in power.
I agree completely with Matt. We have heard of many Councillors being elected as a member of a party and then jumping ship when things don’t go their way so anything could happen once they are elected. Vote for the person who you think are genuine, willing to listen to residents and act in the best interests of their community.
Elected Councillors do look after their wards to a certain degree. The problem is the Executive Board, who are hand picked by the Leader of the Council, and all stick together ten votes for none against. If your elected ward Councillor is not on the Executive Board however genuine they are,they have little chance of having a say.
Dare I walk in to the lion’s den?
Al, I’d never think voting is a waste of time. Of course I’m going to say that though (as a candidate!). That being said, I know last time that I didn’t agree with either choice. I spoiled my paper in protest.
I must admit, I’d rather have all those who are debating whether or not to vote spoil their papers because they think it’s all a bunch of tosh, than everybody just not vote. Just a thought.
As far as your comment Jimbow – 2 issues I have with it:
1) The amount of councillors who have been elected ( both on and off party tickets) and not been deserving of a vote is astounding. Not just Indys. (and certainly not ALL Indys)2) If you don’t know what you are getting, engage. Yes you won’t be able to get the nail on the head 100% of the time, but you’ll have a better idea than not finding out at all. I’m sure we’ve all seen someone get a job, the boss think they are spectacular on interview and them then get let go because they weren’t very good at that job.
Thought I should at least pipe up a little bit with my 10 pence worth.
Conde,
If you are elected (good luck) do you really believe that you will be able to influence an Officer led Council?Appreciate it Jimbow.
Do I think I can? Until I’m there I don’t know is the honest answer. Either way I’ll give it a bloody good go.
I know it’s going to take a while to ‘bed-in’ but beyond that… I can only try.
I would imagine officers would get annoyed at my questions though. Whether I agree or not I’m far too inquisitive.
But I don’t like putting my name to something that I don’t understand.
[quote quote=129600]Conde,
If you are elected (good luck) do you really believe that you will be able to influence an Officer led Council?[/quote
Hi Jimbow-as I depart the scene the trick of whether the authority is Officer led ( with the help of fewer and fewer elected members ) lies in the constitution of the council – a mere 400 or so pages.
Whoever gets in needs to have a thorough review of that so there is more openness to all Councillors and delegation to officers is based on practicality and not convenience.Conde your comment about officers not liking your questions is a good starting point– a word of warning though if you are not part of the Executive ruling group you will find, if the system works like before then the first thing that will happen is they (officers and Executive) will do their best to discredit you personally. It may be local politics but you still need to watch your back!
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