Comments on: Is West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin left-wing?

By: Lorna

Lorna — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:21:16 +0000

I agree with Claire; as long as only a small proportion vote we will never know the real choice of the people. I have been voting for forty years and during that time almost the entire voting population has changed, new generations of voters have come on the scene to replace those who have died. It is by no means certain that these newer voters have the same political aspirations for their country.
A vote against the local candidate is never wasted. Considerable notice is taken by the press and analysts of total votes, of changing trends, of spoiled votes. As long as only a small proportion of voters vote, the zealous fringe or the likes of the BNP will always show as more important than they really are because they command supporters who actually vote, appearing to have won a high percentage of the vote.
I would love to see the result of a total turnout as the polls!

By: Jonathan Hudston

Jonathan Hudston — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:31:44 +0000

I can see where you’re coming from, but I don’t entirely agree. Nick Clegg always wears yellowy goldy ties – that’s because, according to pollsters, lots of people don’t actually know who he is. The Guardian says that quite a few people get him mixed up with Nick Griffin of the BNP!
As regards Brown and his blue ties, I know quite a few people who get enraged by this sight of this political cross-dressing and start fulminating about him inviting Margaret Thatcher to No 10 and ‘who is he trying to kid?’ and so on and on.
I think politics is about symbol and spectacle and theatre – and colour does send messages and those messages can be tribal. (You don’t see diehard Manchester United fans sporting Man City blue).
So, you may still disagree, but I think it’s worth noting sometimes.

By: Incredulous

Incredulous — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:03:09 +0000

What nonsense about Oliver Letwin and red ties! Last week, in a picture of the three main party leaders standing together, Nick Clegg was wearing a yellow tie, David Cameron a blue one and Gordon Brown was sporting a BLUE one! So?

By: Claire

Claire — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 10:27:16 +0000

‘and we’re fools if we believe all we have to do to make a difference is mark a cross in a box.’

Our biggest hurdle is getting people to actually register to vote – too many people are happy to leave this to the few who can be bothered. Personally I believe it should be compulsory on the principle that with every right comes a responsibility. Once people stop believing that going out to vote can make a difference then we really are living in a dictatorship and not a democracy.

As far as local politics are concerned I’m very much of the opinion that there are only really two choices – right of Attila the Hun and far right of Ghengis Khan! Let’s be realistic, this still relatively feudal county would really take some turning red – but you should vote for who you believe in, whether or not you think they’ll get in.

By: Leon Edwards

Leon Edwards — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:07:28 +0000

Oh dear, here we go again. Is that an election coming over the hill?
Yep. It’s one of our 12 chances in our lifetime to have a say in supposedly running the country. Sanctioned and sterile, arming us only with a pencil and the illusion that our opinions matter, it’s ‘Democracy Time’ everyone.
Without the options of a four week holiday/selective coma/hermitage we’re all going to be dragged in and disgusted by the petty, wool-pulling, photo-shooting, false-claiming waste of paper increasingly getting mashed up in our letterboxes. Not forgetting the phone canvassing, the junk email, the Dr. Who-disturbing door-knocking and the policy-less posters and placards.
I got my first election scam today. From West Dorset Labour Party, or rather what appeared to come from Labour but was actually a thinly veiled attempt by the Liberal Democrats to persuade us that even Labour believe we really only have TWO choices in the next election instead of the FIVE we thought. I’m told “If you vote Labour or the Green Party in West Dorset, you will just help the Conservatives win again”. You what? It’s not my fault that none of the last two wannabe-an-MPs (who, like the present contender, moved into the area to try and achieve their ambitions) didn’t win? Is it? Well yes, apparently so, because ‘Nobody else can win here. Just look at the result last time’.
(Interestingly, they don’t seem to mind if I vote UKIP – as if!).
This assertion is made based on voting figures at the last election (note ‘last’ was five years ago) but that was then and this is now. Times, environments, priorities, opinions and people change. The people of West Dorset are influenced by different things and who’s to say they don’t have the potential to return any one of our candidates as our MP. To deny us that opportunity is hardly democratic. Additionally a statement reads “Our next MP will be either Sue Farrant or the Tory.” Really? How can they possibly know that? Does this mean that the 6,000 of us who last time voted otherwise, predominantly based on ‘principles’, are disenfranchised this year, or that no-one else’s views or intentions have changed in five years? What a depressingly sheep-like opinion the Lib Dems have of the local population.
I thought democracy was about encouraging involvement and increasing that mantra of the age – ‘Choice’. Surely, if you have to appeal to the lowest common denominator i.e ‘not the Tory’ then you haven’t won the arguments, let alone convinced the public that they know/like/trust you. Even this is no guarantee as I personally know, like and trust (as far as I can throw him!) our current MP, Oliver Letwin, yet I have never voted for him.
For about a year the Bridport News has had a weekly feature giving a platform to Oliver Letwin and Sue Farrant to talk on a subject of the papers choosing. It was only after I flagged up the undemocratic stance of an implied two-horse race that Steve Bick was added. It’s an improvement but not the full set I had suggested was equal and fair.
Obviously, as equally reflected in the political make-up of our local councils, West Dorset is a Turf War between the Blues and the Yellows. But what if a single issue, or a charming zietgiesty kind of candidate appeared? How good would it be if say Billy Bragg stood committed to restricting the powers and the excessive bonuses of the banking ‘industry’? I have tried to persuade him before, to no avail (“No – I’m a musician mate”) but maybe other readers might be more convincing…
If trust in politicians is lacking then let’s do all we can to encourage honesty, openness and a level playing field in West Dorset. How about some genuine public debates (Real West Dorset could host..?), or getting the local press to ask the public to provide questions to all 5 (or 6, Billy..) candidates and, if we stop believing the undemocratic lie that here it is only a two horse race, who knows what the outcome might be. Above all else we should keep asking questions, because we’re stuffed if we leave politics to those who are interested in it, and we’re fools if we believe all we have to do to make a difference is mark a cross in a box.