The opinion polls running into the coming election are extraordinarily interesting for anyone who pays attention to politics. For those of you following such things two resources I have found helpful are the UK Polling Report which records every poll. And the wonderful BBC animated graphic which makes this type of data more understandable.
The polls are sitting in what is called “hung Parliament” territory. I don’t like that term, “hung”, it sounds too much like a death penalty, and that is what the two big parties, who have happily played ping pong with Parliament for generations, want you to believe. I believe that a balanced Parliament, with no single party having overall control, is actually a very positive solution to the crisis in politics we face today.
A balanced Parliament would not have taken us to war in Iraq. A balanced Parliament may have been less afraid of regulating the bankers and would probably have given us an economy less dependent on the profits from City speculation and subject to the devastating consequences of failed bets. A balanced Parliament may well have allowed us to reduce inequalities in society faster and given our young people a better start. In a balanced Parliament MPs would think for themselves, properly represent their constituencies and not vote robotically according to the party whips’ instructions, (just take a look how often the current MP for Warrington South went against the party line).
In most constituencies the voters have no chance of affecting the outcome of the vote. One of our Labour councillors will be fighting a safe seat in Wigan which the bookies rate as a total certainty. Another, who fought Warrington South, somewhat unsuccessfully, for the Tories last time, has gone to Congleton, part of the former Winterton empire where the chances of losing are negligible despite the current MP couple’s eccentric sense of humour and attitude to the unfortunates who travel standard class.
Fortunately Warrington South is a three way marginal. Here your vote will have a real effect on the outcome of the election and the makeup of the next parliament. That is why the Tories are pouring vast cash resources into the seat. Lord Ashcroft, the ”is he, isn’t he a non-domiciled peer”, with his fortune secreted in Belize, the bankers who have failed the country but still want to sway its politics and the candidate himself are doing their best to buy your vote.
Labour are in a much more difficult position, which is why Nick Bent is calling in favours from his old boss, Tessa Jowell, and friend Beverley Hughes, both members of the New Labour establishment, to raise funds for his campaign. Jo Crotty is funded substantially through local contributions and the contributions of individual Liberal Democrat members.
If you think a balanced parliament and MPs who think for themselves and represent your views are a good idea, you will support Jo Crotty in the coming election. Don’t listen to the squeeze messages, both David Mowat and Nick Bent will try to frighten you that a vote for Jo is either a wasted vote, or a vote for another candidate.
Admittedly without a fair voting system, votes for everyone except the candidate who is first past the post are ‘wasted’ and we are certain to end up with an MP that only a minority of those eligible to vote want. However the only way to declare yourself in favour of a fairer, more accountable, balanced Parliament is a vote for Jo. I hope you will support her.