Election Winners and Losers

In the run up to this week’s European elections, locally at least, UKIP seemed to be hard at it, and hot on the heels of the Green Party, who have been vigilant in their canvassing. Those of us tuned to the TV slots allowing parties to put across their rather one-sided accounts will have noticed some pretty poor performances.

Personally I blame Heath, for leading us down a very rocky path. Just old enough to vote at the time I thought we were merely agreeing to trading terms. Instead we now find ourselves faced with the unwieldy behemoth that is the European Union, unable to put its own house in order and dragging us along with it. Do I sound like a Euro-sceptic? Certainly. However, I also believe that we are so far down the line that to throw our dollies out of the pram in a fit of pique would be a costly mistake at a time when it looks as if our economy is finally about to turn the corner.

It will be interesting to see how things pan out, as other countries are also beginning to have their doubts about the benefits of continued membership, and voicing these more publicly.

Closer to home though I am much more concerned about the tactics used by some campaigners in their bid to win at all costs, and what it says about them and their political allegiance. Over the weekend I noticed that some election boards had been damaged and removed; presumably in a bid to unsettle candidates, and influence the minority of the electorate that will actually bother to turn out to vote this week.

As in any competition, for this is what this is, when one or other party resorts to such devious and underhand actions in a bid to be the victor, I must ask what kind of person it is that may end up representing us, and who are those that support them.

Cliques and cabals exist at all levels, both in public service, and in the private and voluntary sectors; and for a while they may well be able to achieve their aims.

However, as we have seen in recent years, with the fight, still unfinished, to end the ‘old boys’ network that existed for centuries, the public will only tolerate so much if it feels that it is not getting the representation it seeks, and wants. It is when those in power have their own agendas and show a high level of disregard and a lack of willingness to speak for everyone that the proletariat revolts. The French revolution started because the peasants were dissatisfied with the way in which the government worked. Whilst we can’t all be winners, at least in the losing we deserve to feel that the fight was a fair one.