It's Democracy Time Again...........

 

The local government elections on the 6^th May in England and Wales are a welcome return to normality in what is, with many imperfections, a democratic nation. 

In England around 145 local councils are holding elections.  13 directly elected mayors will be elected in addition to the Mayor of London and 25 members of the London Assembly.  This latter body is a strange one.  When it was conceived the guiding principle seemed to be that it should have no powers and should not, in any way, look like the Greater London Council which was abolished in 1986.  The London Assembly exists to hold the Mayor to account.  It does not perform the functions that are normally associated with a local authority.  Despite the fact that most members are dutiful and hard working, I don’t know any Londoners who can name a single Assembly member.  It is elected by a form of proportional representation, viz the Additional Member System with a modified D’Hondt allocation.  Such systems are probably fairer than some other alternatives, but don’t ask me to explain them.  In any case it is government policy to move to the’ first past the post’ system.  I suspect that this proposal is not based on a desire to make the electoral process any more representative.

Of course local elections are an opportunity for local people to have their say on local issues.  This sounds like an advertisement for a re-run of the League of Gentlemen, and like that innovative comedy, this statement is a fiction.  Most people vote for the same few parties that dominate national politics.  There are exceptions of course and the contribution of some independents should not be overlooked, especially in local government.  Turnout should be high in this election but it is rare that local elections persuade more that 40% (1) of electors in England to perform their democratic duty.  I can understand why busy people don’t take an active role in politics,  but in a world where everybody has an opinion on everything I would describe the low turnout for elections as little short of a national disgrace.  Social media is not a substitute for the ballot box.  The freedom to vote is a precious one.

What we are not short of is political parties.  There are 353 parties registered in the UK (2).  A look at the list provides an interesting distraction from the real world.  The Liberal Party continues to put up candidates, with some success,  despite the fact that they are easily confused with the much bigger and more well known Liberal Democrats.  The Whig Party on the other hand is unlikely to be mixed up with the Lib Dems, despite its name.  It was formed in 2014 and has about as much connection to the party of Melbourne as LNER Railways has with the company that employed Nigel Gresley. 

Left wing parties remain plentiful – worker solidarity is expressed in many different forms.  Only academics know how to distinguish between the Socialist Party of Great Britain and the Socialist Labour Party.  And perhaps between the Socialist Alliance, the Socialist Alternative Party, The Republican Socialist Party or the Socialist Equality Party.  Life is slightly easier when examining old fashioned communism.  The Communist Party of Great Britain sits in subtle contrast to the Direct Democracy (Communist) Party. Not forgetting the Revolutionary Communist Party Britain (Marxist Leninist).  Based more on hope than fact there is also The Left Unity Party.  The temptation to descend into quoting lines from the Life of Brian is a strong one.  The Judean People’s Front is not registered in the UK.

The parties of the far right are easy to identify.  Their titles are often a dog whistle to brands of  nationalism which barely conceal forms of fascism. They are as unpatriotic as they are repulsive. 

Compared to many other countries we have few political parties that are centred on religious ideals.   The Church of the Militant Elvis Party may be an exception but, alas, their manifesto is not readily available. Although we know that the party includes a wing known as ‘ Militant Elvis Anti-Tesco Popular Front'

Not surprisingly many of the registered political parties in this country are actually groups of independents who have banded together to enjoy the benefits of being a party.  This is probably the case for the Heavy Woollen District Independents Party but my wilful imaginings see them as greatcoat wearing diehards who dream of an independent state in which manmade fibres are banished.  Speakers at their annual conference probably have to shout to make themselves heard above a crescendo of knitting needles.

There are several parties that campaign for independence for Scotland and Wales.  But there is also a party that promotes the cause of independence for London ( the Londependence Party) and even Essex has the Essex Independence Party.  More well known is the Northern Independence Party which believes there should be an independent state of Northumbria, based on the Anglo Saxon kingdom of the same name.  It is a socialist party.  Well, actually, it is not a party at all at the moment as there was an error in the application process for registration.  This means that the party’s candidate for the 6^th May Parliamentary Bye-Election in Hartlepool will technically stand as an independent.

Some parties don’t want to be taken too seriously.  The Official Monster Raving Loony Party is still with us and the Count Binface Party (formerly the Count Binface for London Mayor Party) betrays its light hearted approach by using a title that is not to be found in the UK peerage.  My favourite party name (I know nothing of the political entity) is The Rubbish Party which does not appear to be connected to Count Binface despite the subject matter of the title.

Having considered some of the odder aspects of party politics I should also mention that 39 Police and Crime Commissioners will be elected on 6^th May.  In some areas PCCs are also responsible for the Fire and Rescue Service.  The government would like to expand their role. By holding PCC elections on the same day as those for local authorities it is hoped that people will cast a vote for what is the most obscure directly elected public office.  People care about policing and crime.  Not many of them care about the election of an official that has vague responsibility for police forces.  Unfortunately, these potentially very important posts, are mostly elected on a party political basis.  People who vote Labour in general and local elections tend to vote for a Labour PCC and of course the same applies for Conservative voters.  This represents a party politicisation of policing.  Crime and policing are political issues. This has always been the case. But there is a marked difference between policy being set in a political context and the management of police forces having a party political tilt. The creation of PCCs was inspired by the US system of elected Sheriffs.  Luckily we have maintained an operational separation between the elected official and the sworn officer in charge of the force.  There are plenty examples of good PCCs working well in partnership with good Chief Constables.  But before we follow our ‘usual’ patterns of voting on 6^th May we could all do with reflecting on the special nature of the PCC role before deciding who to vote for.  We may also want, in the medium term, to consider whether the PCCs role should be expanded, or even continued.  In my view we have reached the stage where we should debate and consider the way in which police forces are governed in England and Wales – inevitably this means asking whether or not the 43 Home Office force structure is the right one.  It has been a long and winding (3) road since the 1962 Royal Commission into Policing pointed out that small forces were not viable (there were 158 in Great Britain at the time) and a further (really) independent review is now due.

Mention of PCCs brings me to the final entry in the official register of political parties.  The Zero Tolerance Policing Ex Chief party is led by the former PCC for Surrey; Mr Kevin Hurley.  Mr Hurley had a distinguished career in the police (Met and City) and in the armed forces.  Having failed to be selected as the Conservative and Unionist Party candidate in the first PCC elections in 2012 he stood for the Zero Tolerance etc Party  and won.  He lost his post in the 2016 PCC elections to the Conservative and Unionist Party candidate, Mr David Munro.  Mr Munro was deselected by the Conservatives, despite being the sitting PCC.    In the forthcoming election both Mr Hurley and Mr Munro are standing as Independents. With no obvious sense of irony Mr Munro is standing with a slogan: ‘keep politics out of policing’.  Does this mean that the voters of Surrey will benefit from a wide range of political options, allowing them to study the manifestos of each candidate to reach an informed conclusion on who would be the best person to govern the Surrey Police?  Or will they vote along party lines?  We will know on 6^th May. (4)

A democracy requires participation and I hope that this year we will see the biggest voter turnout in history.  Whatever your political beliefs, please vote.

Philip Trendall

APRIL 2021

 

Notes

(1)    https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2011-English-Local-Elections.pdf

(2)    http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrations/PP1949

(3)    The Beatles recorded A Long and Winding Road in 1969 and the Royal Commission reported in 1962 but both are signposts of the rapid change that was a feature of the decade. 

(4)    At the time of writing the following candidates for the post of Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey are:  Kevin Barry Hurley, Zero Tolerance Ex Chief, Howard Kaye, Labour and Co-operative Party, Paul Kennedy, Liberal Democrats, David Munro, Independent, Lisa Townsend, Conservative and Unionist Party.

 

THIS BLOG ORGINALLY APPEARED ON THE SCOTT TRENDALL LTD BLOGSITE.  THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO ENDORSE ANY PARTICULAR PARTY OR CANDIDATE.