Polling Day Beckons
As the local elections draw nearer I find I am struggling to develop any enthusiasm for them. I have always believed it to be a civic responsibility upon all of us to make use of our vote but I find it increasingly difficult to align myself to any of the candidates in my ward.
In trying to analyse the reason for this I am reaching the conclusion that even in local politics it is unlikely a straight, honest response can be solicited from a candidate without he/she needing to consider what The Party line on the issue is. Also, I feel candidates do their causes no good by resorting to emphasising the shortcomings of the "Opposition" instead of relying on honestly outlining what their own plans and intentions are. I experienced a good example of this recently when I was in correspondence with one of my ward councillors about two local planning applications. I had a swift response in which my two queries were answered in one short sentence but there then followed a lengthy paragraph which sought to highlight the failings of the opposition party in respect of matters not relating to my queries.
Perhaps I will follow the example of a columnist in a national weekend newspaper and mark my ballot paper, "None Of The Above"!
Jeff Foxley.
