Yesterday's elections - long and rambling

[popelloucla]

I'm struggling to word this, so please excuse me if it makes no sense.

Yesterday's elections were for local Councillors who will be dealing with local issues.

Yet all the campaigning seems to have been about how the government is performing.

For example, the only party political broadcast I saw had Lord Winston talking about the NHS. This has no relevance to council elections and is just party political points scoring. The only leaflets I had were about how one party or another had broken promises it made for the last general election, again not relevant to council elections.

Perhaps turnout would be increased if local elections were fought on local issues not on how well the national government is doing.

It is possible for a party to have national policies that you do not agree with, but local policies that you do agree with and vice versa, but unless they campaign on local issues how are you supposed to know what their local policies are?

My Granddad always voted Conservative in general elections and Labour in local elections, because he believed that this was the best way to run the country and the local area.

People now don't seem to be able to separate local and national politics.

If you've read this, thank you. I'm not expecting replies, just need to get this off my chest.

I think you're probably half right. Local elections have often been used as a kind of anti-government protest vote and it's why Lib Dems traditionally did so well... hoovering up dissatisfied Labour and Conservative voters alike. Now they're in the hot seat it's not so easy.

I (and a few others I suspect) voted for the candidate that bothered to knock on the door and talk to me intelligently about local issues. I've had direct contact with my council about various things and some of the people I've come up against couldn't run a whelk stall.

'I've had direct contact with my council about various things and some of the people I've come up against couldn't run a whelk stall.'

Are you under a Labour council?

I agree Cogito, we got one leaflet, no one has ever knocked on my door to discuss anything.
You can't blame voters for apathy when the politicians don't seem to care.

I don't think we've even had any leaflets at all this tiem. usually inundated, with several repeats being shoved through the letterbox.

and would normally expect doorstep visits formt he main parties - nothng this time. even the lovely man up the road who usually goes around harrassing you to vote checking that you have bothered to vote didn't knock on the door.

most odd really.

I think it's almost impossible to separate the local from the national. Some people might say that local politics is free from central control but I would beg to differ. I think devolved decision making tends to strengthen rather than weaken central government.

Do local councils have freedom to make decisions?

When it comes to voting for a GE I vote for a local rep to represent our area at national level. In my case we have Soames, whilst he makes the right noises on local issues and campaigns to save maternity services at the local level, he then votes with his party on the welfare/NHS bill! Does he have any credibility, no.

It was all based on local issues round here, plenty fliers etc still a very low turn out.

I think you're right, although I also think that one of the reasons LibDems do well at local elections is that people see the reality at national level is that it'll be either a Labour or Conservative government (will be interesting to see how the coalition this time round will change that perspective at the next general election), where as at local level lots of LibDems do run Councils, and because of that they do campaign on local issues (at least round here and where I used to live) whereas the Tories and Labour candidates are focussed on Westminster.

Mmmm... there wasn't anything to choose between the 3 candidates who put leaflets through my door (there was a 4th on the ballot paper but they didn't bother asking for votes) so I voted on the basis of the party I generally support in the general election.

All the candidates here said much the same thing because there are certain issues that everyone knows are a problem.

Libdems did run a lot of councils, but no longer. Just had their worst night since the party was created. I live in an area where the party I'd like to vote for have no chance but I voted for them anyway - the two other parties take turns at running the local council and are equally shit at it as far as I can see.