There is power in a Union
As you will know (or at least I hope you do!) on Thursday, 1st May (quite important and symbolic date, btw, but this another story) we vote for the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly representatives - I hope ALL of you living in London and entitled to vote registered for it and are going to vote.
As for the rest, I never thought I'd have to write this as I honestly can't see how ANYONE IN THEIR SANE MIND, no matter what their political views are, would want to vote for someone like boris johnson; but polls (however reliable they may be) tell a different story, and therefore I think it's only fair of me to annoy the lot of you with a couple of considerations ;-)
- to those of you who don't intend to vote and hide behind the usual 'they're all the same anyway', 'I don't care about politics', 'it won't make any difference' and all such cliches: go ahead and do it, I have decided not to vote before myself, but remember that in doing so YOU GIVE UP EVERY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS; you had a chance to have your say, you didn't take it - this means that whatever the next mayor and or GLA do you will have to accept and NOT MOAN about it.
- to everyone else: no matter what you think or what anyone else (not least the other candidates) say, it's a two-horse race: Brian Paddick doesn't stand a chance, you thinking (or even just hoping) he can get in is no more realistic than me thinking Lindsey German can get in or that the SWP will win the next general election, it's simply NOT GONNA HAPPEN. which means, that IF YOU DON'T WANT THE RACIST INBRED TORY BUFFOON TO GET IN YOU HAVE TO VOTE FOR KEN - simple as that and there is no other alternative. This does not necessarily mean you'll have to vote Labour for the GLA too (I certainly won't), there will be separate ballot papers for that, but as far as the mayoral election goes it really is either Ken or the tories and nothing else.
- to those of you whose little middle-class conscience forbids voting for 'that communist' and commands that they vote lib-dem all the same: there are TWO preferences on the ballot paper for the mayoral election: they'll count the first preference first, but if no candidate wins over 50% of the vote outright (which will almost certainly not happen) they'll keep the top two candidates and count all the second preferences these two got,; who'll have most votes after that will win. So, again, if you don't want that tory twat to get in you'll have to give Ken AT LEAST your second preference: you will have given your vote to your top choice candidate (however pointless that will have been) and therefore presumably you'll have kept your principles intact, and at the same time you won't be guilty of helping the tories get in.
- to those of you who WILL vote tory, and unfortunately I know there are some out there[1]: you might as well vote for the BNP, at least you'd have the courage of your convictions, cos that's the sort of ideals you'd be voting for if you choose boris.
- to those of you who think if boris got in it wouldn't be too bad in the long run cos he would mostly be an embarrassment for the tories and discredit them in time for the next general election (yes, I've heard this argument too!): 4 years is a LONG TIME and one can do a GREAT DEAL OF DAMAGE in such a period; don't know about you lot but I would like to carry on living in London, and if you plan to stay here for a while still too I strongly suggest you consider things carefully.
Right, I think I've offended pretty much everyone now, so I can stop ;-)
Good luck everyone for Thursday, if the tory village idiot gets in we'll REALLY be in the shit over the next few years.
[1] while I'd love to think that no person calling themselves alternative would even entertain the thought of voting tory, the sad reality is that those times (because there WAS a time when that was the case) are gone, and these days, especially in this country and especially in London, there's all too many so-called 'alternatives' on the right of the political spectrum... which is reason #346789 I hate goths, but that's another story ;-)
As for the rest, I never thought I'd have to write this as I honestly can't see how ANYONE IN THEIR SANE MIND, no matter what their political views are, would want to vote for someone like boris johnson; but polls (however reliable they may be) tell a different story, and therefore I think it's only fair of me to annoy the lot of you with a couple of considerations ;-)
- to those of you who don't intend to vote and hide behind the usual 'they're all the same anyway', 'I don't care about politics', 'it won't make any difference' and all such cliches: go ahead and do it, I have decided not to vote before myself, but remember that in doing so YOU GIVE UP EVERY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS; you had a chance to have your say, you didn't take it - this means that whatever the next mayor and or GLA do you will have to accept and NOT MOAN about it.
- to everyone else: no matter what you think or what anyone else (not least the other candidates) say, it's a two-horse race: Brian Paddick doesn't stand a chance, you thinking (or even just hoping) he can get in is no more realistic than me thinking Lindsey German can get in or that the SWP will win the next general election, it's simply NOT GONNA HAPPEN. which means, that IF YOU DON'T WANT THE RACIST INBRED TORY BUFFOON TO GET IN YOU HAVE TO VOTE FOR KEN - simple as that and there is no other alternative. This does not necessarily mean you'll have to vote Labour for the GLA too (I certainly won't), there will be separate ballot papers for that, but as far as the mayoral election goes it really is either Ken or the tories and nothing else.
- to those of you whose little middle-class conscience forbids voting for 'that communist' and commands that they vote lib-dem all the same: there are TWO preferences on the ballot paper for the mayoral election: they'll count the first preference first, but if no candidate wins over 50% of the vote outright (which will almost certainly not happen) they'll keep the top two candidates and count all the second preferences these two got,; who'll have most votes after that will win. So, again, if you don't want that tory twat to get in you'll have to give Ken AT LEAST your second preference: you will have given your vote to your top choice candidate (however pointless that will have been) and therefore presumably you'll have kept your principles intact, and at the same time you won't be guilty of helping the tories get in.
- to those of you who WILL vote tory, and unfortunately I know there are some out there[1]: you might as well vote for the BNP, at least you'd have the courage of your convictions, cos that's the sort of ideals you'd be voting for if you choose boris.
- to those of you who think if boris got in it wouldn't be too bad in the long run cos he would mostly be an embarrassment for the tories and discredit them in time for the next general election (yes, I've heard this argument too!): 4 years is a LONG TIME and one can do a GREAT DEAL OF DAMAGE in such a period; don't know about you lot but I would like to carry on living in London, and if you plan to stay here for a while still too I strongly suggest you consider things carefully.
Right, I think I've offended pretty much everyone now, so I can stop ;-)
Good luck everyone for Thursday, if the tory village idiot gets in we'll REALLY be in the shit over the next few years.
[1] while I'd love to think that no person calling themselves alternative would even entertain the thought of voting tory, the sad reality is that those times (because there WAS a time when that was the case) are gone, and these days, especially in this country and especially in London, there's all too many so-called 'alternatives' on the right of the political spectrum... which is reason #346789 I hate goths, but that's another story ;-)