Tag: election

To vote or not to vote

Well, tomorrow’s the day when the UK goes to the polls for the first time in five years.

A lot has happened during that time, and in the fourteen years the Conservatives have been in power.

I’m not going to tell you which way to vote – I mean, who cares about my opinion? Actually, I care about my opinion but I’ll keep it to myself.

The key thing is whatever you do, please exercise your democratic right by going to your local polling station tomorrow and using your vote wisely.

I read today that one in five votes has already been cast because so many people have postal votes.

This is interesting because all the stories I’ve heard about postal votes is of paperwork not being received in time. A shambles is an understatement.

I’m currently in France and when the date of this election was announced, I was advised by electoral registration in Dorset to apply for a proxy vote as it had been called at such short notice.

So I did and reeived an email saying I would hear more in due course. I didn’t, although my proxy did but she wasn’t sent a polling card for me. In the meantime, I recieved a postal vote (which I hadn’t asked for) but with not enough time to return it for it to be counted.

I thought I’d be disenfranchised, like I was for the local elections when I didn’t receive a postal vote at all, even when I’d applied for one.

Then yesterday, two days before the election, my proxy received my polling card through the post.

So my vote will count after all. Whether it will make a difference is anyone’s guess but at least I (or my trusted proxy) will be doing my bit.

See you on the other side.

Use your vote

It’s the local elections this coming Thursday and, for the first time ever, I won’t be voting.

Not for any reasons of self-righteousness, although my political fire has dimmed over the years to the point where it’s barely a spark. This is not surprising, given all the corruption and arrogance of our elected politicians in Westminster. That lot have ceased to have relevance to me, with so many of them only in it for themselves, which is something I never thought I’d hear myself say.

The local elections, though, are different. Or should be.

Our elected councillors are the women and men who can make a real difference to our everyday, local lives, although hamstrung by central government which has a habit of taking away funding and then blaming any shortcomings on the local council.

And, on the whole, local councillors get involved to make things better for their local area. It’s easy to criticise and make unfair assertions about their motives. It can be a thankless job but someone has to do it on our behalf. That’s what democracy is all about. They work for us (as do the MPs, but that’s another story).

This year, I’m in France, and, although I registered for a postal vote in good time, the paperwork hasn’t arrived. Time is ticking away and I fear I will not be able to cast my X in the box, as I have been doing since I was an eighteen-year-old firebrand.

These days, I am a lapsed revolutionary but I still make a point of visiting the polling station on election day, particularly as women fought so hard, all over the world, for the vote.

This year, however, I’ve been disenfranchised by the vagaries of the British and French postal system.

To be honest, though, it solves my dilemma. My heart would dictate I vote one way, which would be a waste of time. I could never vote another way, as it’s not part of my DNA although I am sure the candidate would and could do a very good job on behalf of the local community.

I would have been tempted to vote another way apart from the candidate, who, frankly, I would not go near with a proverbial bargepole, except perhaps to use it to knock their ego into touch.

So, at least I have an excuse for my lack of enthusiasm.

There’s also the vote for the police and crime commissioner which, I think, leaves most people cold because we don’t really understand the role. Now, if the candidate for police commissioner was Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan (below) in the American police procedural drama television series Blue Bloods, well, that might be different.

However, if you care about your local community and you’re registered to vote, please use it, and use it wisely. And don’t forget to take some form of photo ID with you, otherwise you won’t be allowed to cast your vote at all.