Here in Belvedere there is
not a lot of choice for the May election.
It is Conservative, Labour, Green or None of the Above.
I cannot possibly vote Conservative at the moment. We have proven liars in
charge locally, we have an ostrich leading the Conservatives at the GLA - she
denied that Cressida Dick was a corrupt police officer after she was specifically
identified for willfully obstructing the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel - and
nationally we have politicians who think students should be fined £10,000 for
boozing with their mates in their digs while allowing karaoke parties in
Whitehall. (For the record I think Dick retrospectively investigating hypocrisy
is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money.)
I
might consider a Tory vote locally if their candidate publicly condemned lying
but none have, although if I wished to risk the careers of more honest ones I could name three who have made their views a little clearer.
Green? You know me better than that. I may run an electric car, installed solar panels in January 2011 and squeezed my total
energy bill inder £2 yesterday but it
is all about saving money. As a proper Conservative I still believe in the freedom of choice abandoned by the main parties.
And then there is Labour, the party whose local secretary reported me to
the police four times and put a solicitor on my tail for reporting absolute facts. Probably three votes lost there.
But most Bexley residents have a real choice - up to a point that is. One wrote
to ask how he can contact a Reform UK candidate when every single one standing in Bexley prefers to
suppress their contact details and has not delivered a leaflet - and probably won’t.
I think the answer has to be that unless you are one of the many who are happy
to vote for a party leader rather than the candidate you probably stay at home.
They will have sacrificed their vote on the altar of secrecy - and deservedly so.