A Healthy Democracy
On May 3, the Caerphilly Borough had important elections for its Borough Council and for its Community Councils. Elections were held throughout Wales and Scotland and in many parts of England. Undoubtedly, these were significant elections because the results determined the political complexion of local authorities at a time when those local authorities will have to make difficult spending decisions. The elections were also an opportunity for people to give their views on the policies of Central Government.
As a Labour MP, I was of course very pleased that Labour did remarkably well in these elections, locally and nationally. But the point I want to make is that it was disappointing that so few people exercised their democratic right and ‘voted’. Across the country as a whole the average turnout was around 32%. This is a crying shame because these elections, as I have said, were important and the lesson of history is that if people do not value and engage with the democratic process, then it can be easily lost. As a former History teacher, I remember only too well explaining to my pupils that Hitler came to power in 1933 because people in Germany lost faith in the country’s democratic process.
Now I am not suggesting for one moment that Britain in 2012 is anything like the Weimar Republic in 1933 but it is always important to make the case for democracy at every opportunity. I also recognise that people are unenthusiastic about our electoral process because they have a cynical view of politicians. How many times have we all heard people say either ‘they are all the same’ or ‘they are only in it for their own ends’?
To be honest with you, in many respects, politicians only have themselves to blame. The expenses scandal should never have happened and for too long, politicians, if the truth be told, have been ‘economical with the truth’ far too often. Naturally I would say that politicians in other political parties have been more ‘guilty’ than Labour representatives but all representatives share a collective responsibility.
My message then to all newly elected and re-elected Councillors is to recognise that the electorate has placed a huge responsibility on your shoulders. Difficult decisions will have to be made but it is important that decisions are made on the basis of what is in the interests of the people who you are elected to represent. In order to make the right decisions it is essential that Councillors, like MPs and AMs, keep their feet on the ground and don’t allow ‘power’ to go to their heads. And maintaining an intimate relationship with the community one represents is, in my view, the cornerstone of a sound democracy.
Wayne David
Labour MP for Caerphilly
I must echo pretty much exactly what Wayne says in the above blog. The results across the borough and throughout most of the country where elections were taking place certainly demonstrated that the Labour Party were back in business. Here in Caerphilly we achieved beyond doubt much more than we thought we were likely to achieve but whilst we were extremely happy with the results, the elections are now over and the real work starts now.
As somebody who has studied elections for a number of years the great thing that makes me more and more worried is the alarming fall in voter turnout. Wayne touched on the possible reasons for this such as MP's expenses, and the constant spinning and half truths being told by people of all parties over the years. In my experience from talking to people on the doorstep and out there in the real world, what people want is for politicians to be straight with you and to be on their side.
Over the next five years it is up to councillors of all political persuasions to get out into the community to talk to people about issues relating to them, not waiting until a few weeks before polling day. Waiting for people to come to you with their enquiries is not enough. Here in Morgan Jones Ward I'm in the process of sorting out a surgery and I will be out every week knocking on doors, not asking about voter intention but asking people about their priorities and concerns for their area. An unhealthy democracy can make for a rotten politics so its up to elected representatives to turn things around.
I think that because Plaid failed to turn up at public meetings they lost a lot of votes.
This is probably the first blog post on this site Wayne has ever written that I can agree with almost entirely.
Well done Wayne for finally saying something worth saying and not just writing about Ron! Maybe now Ron has lost his seat you can do more of this and concentrate on helping those who have put their trust in you.
I concur with Wayne David, the low turn out at elections is a subject I have discussed with him in the past. We are both troubled at the possibility of extremists taking advantage of voter apathy.
He is also correct that the voters perceive politicians to be interested in their views only at election time. As a newly elected town councillor the people of my ward will be my top priority, without their votes I would not be able to speak; it is on their behalf that I will work and give voice to their concerns.
For many years I have regularly attended town council meetings as a member of the public, in order to scrutinise local democracy. Now that I am an elected as a town councillor I sincerely hope that I will see more people in the seats provided for the public. It is the job of all councillors to ‘do their bit’ and reverse the decline in voting percentage. This will only be achieved if councillors take heed of the views of all, not just the party faithful.
For once, Wayne has a valid point.
Take me as an example. I’m a self-confessed political animal. I have firm social liberal beliefs, to the extent that I was, until recently, a party member and political activist. I enjoy a debate, have firm views on social policy and have a real interest in the lot of my community. Yet even someone as politically motivated as me tore up their party membership card in disappointment, disillusion and disgust. My former party, the Liberal Democrats, compromised core liberal principles and signed up to one of the most illiberal, unjust and flawed programmes of government in a generation.
I feel completely disenfranchised. None of the mainstream parties now offers a natural berth for social liberalism. Genuine social liberals are certainly not going to turn to the Labour Party, although they will undoubtedly pick up some of the loose ‘progressive’ vote that used to go to the Lib Dems. I voted for Labour locally on the basis that the local candidates were pledging to address a particular local issue of concern. It certainly wasn’t affirmation of either Ed Milliband or the record of the Last Labour government – far from it.
My point is this: if someone as politically motivated and as involved as me can become demotivated and despondent, then it is unsurprising that the public are going to be switched off. For some political animals, the desire to pursue politics as a career usually places this particular objective above their beliefs. In my former life as a party employee I saw many individuals become consumed by the desire to get elected. They underwent a slow but steady transformation from a principled idealist to the career politician, hell bent on getting elected and getting one over on their opponents, whether they are the opposition or members of the same party.
Unfortunately, too many of our elected representatives fall into this latter camp and really shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a parliamentary seat. Their motivation for getting elected is completely wrong, a fact betrayed by their actions in office. Gaining the upper hand and ambition become the name of the game.
I afforded myself a smirk when I read Wayne’s comments about all politicians being to blame, but that his opponents were, naturally, more at fault than Labour politicians. I’m grateful to him for presenting the full picture by both highlighting the issue and the crux of the problem in the same breath.