So, who do I vote for now?
I live in a staunchly Labour London inner city borough, where even the pigeons vote Labour (Labour got 69.9% of the vote in 2001). I come from a life long labour supporting background but despite this (or perhaps because of this) I have never been able to support Reverend Blair or the New Labour Project. So, I have taken the course of not voting where I perceive my vote to be irrelevant (i.e. General/Local Elections) and voting for individual candidates that most closely represent my values where I think it might, perhaps, make a difference (referenda/London Assembly/Mayoral Elections). I have been content that my lack of action contributes to a Labour govt, as this has been preferable to all alternatives, and have held the view that what undermines the legitimacy of politicians most of all is low voter turnout… even if this is incorrectly perceived as apathy.
But now, since Reverend Blair’s involvement in the war on Iraq, I would really like to register a protest of some description in the forthcoming General Election, but how? What alternatives are there? I am uncomfortable with George Galloway’s Respect Coalition’s ties with the Socialist Workers Party (as an aside, the SWP are regularly to be seen outside my local shopping centre selling their paper and offering petitions to be signed. On One particular occasion they seem to be having to compete with a bunch of evangelical Christians for the hearts and minds of passers by. I was asked if I wanted to sign a petition to “Get Bush Out Of Iraq”. The idea that they would be posting of a collection of signatures to George, and that he would then realise the error of his ways and order an immediate withdrawal was so ludicrous that I believe I started laughing. It struck me then how similar the SWP were to the Evangelicals across the way. All about recruitment… All about their ‘Church’. And with a similar intolerance of a variety of viewpoints).
The Stop the War Coalition has close ties with the Muslim Association of Britain. I don’t want to be involved with any religious organisation, particularly not with a group opposed to lesbian and gay rights.
So where does that leave me?
Here are the 2001 results in full.
Tony Banks Labour 20,449 69.9%
Syed Kamall Conservative 4,804 16.4%
Paul Fox Liberal Democrat 2,166 7.4%
Jackie Chandler-Oatts Green 1,197 4.1%
Gerard Batten UK Independence 657 2.2%
Labour Majority 15,645 53.4%
Turnout 29,273 48.9% change -9.6%
Swing Against 1997 General Election 2.2% from Labour to Conservative
Does this mean that the only way I could register a protest is to vote Conservative? I just don’t think I could bring myself to do it. So does that mean I have been effectively, if not actually, disenfranchised? Voting for the greens or even for the Lib Dems will have the same impact as not voting at all.
When I used to voice my opinions on not voting, I would get howls of protest from those who would tell me that people had died so that I could vote, that it was my responsibility to use my vote wisely. So I ask you the same thing as I asked them - Who do I vote for now?
But now, since Reverend Blair’s involvement in the war on Iraq, I would really like to register a protest of some description in the forthcoming General Election, but how? What alternatives are there? I am uncomfortable with George Galloway’s Respect Coalition’s ties with the Socialist Workers Party (as an aside, the SWP are regularly to be seen outside my local shopping centre selling their paper and offering petitions to be signed. On One particular occasion they seem to be having to compete with a bunch of evangelical Christians for the hearts and minds of passers by. I was asked if I wanted to sign a petition to “Get Bush Out Of Iraq”. The idea that they would be posting of a collection of signatures to George, and that he would then realise the error of his ways and order an immediate withdrawal was so ludicrous that I believe I started laughing. It struck me then how similar the SWP were to the Evangelicals across the way. All about recruitment… All about their ‘Church’. And with a similar intolerance of a variety of viewpoints).
The Stop the War Coalition has close ties with the Muslim Association of Britain. I don’t want to be involved with any religious organisation, particularly not with a group opposed to lesbian and gay rights.
So where does that leave me?
Here are the 2001 results in full.
Tony Banks Labour 20,449 69.9%
Syed Kamall Conservative 4,804 16.4%
Paul Fox Liberal Democrat 2,166 7.4%
Jackie Chandler-Oatts Green 1,197 4.1%
Gerard Batten UK Independence 657 2.2%
Labour Majority 15,645 53.4%
Turnout 29,273 48.9% change -9.6%
Swing Against 1997 General Election 2.2% from Labour to Conservative
Does this mean that the only way I could register a protest is to vote Conservative? I just don’t think I could bring myself to do it. So does that mean I have been effectively, if not actually, disenfranchised? Voting for the greens or even for the Lib Dems will have the same impact as not voting at all.
When I used to voice my opinions on not voting, I would get howls of protest from those who would tell me that people had died so that I could vote, that it was my responsibility to use my vote wisely. So I ask you the same thing as I asked them - Who do I vote for now?