Sabtu, 16 Mei 2009

Expenses hypocrisy - local fall out

I spent a full day campaigning yesterday and was delighted to have Party President Ros Scott along for part of the day. With the expenses affair now at its peak, it was instructive to see what people were saying on the doorsteps.

First of all, it seems everyone knows about the scandal. No surprise I would think to anyone reading this blog, but there are some things which fascinate the politerati and never reach those who are not interested in politics. This, clearly, is different.

Next observation. Question Time last Thursday will have had its best audience figures ever. Virtually everyone I spoke to said they had seen it.

So everybody hates all politicians?

Thankfully no. I suspect that even completely untainted MPs will be having a hard time of it at the moment. But people I talked to were happy to differentiate between MPs and councillors/council candidates.

At least one voter said they were voting UKIP as a protest against sleaze. Perhaps they were heeding Tebbit's call. Clearly they knew nothing about Tom Wise. But there was little point in protesting to them. When politicians are in such a hole, complaining that one of our opponents is worse than us is not a winning gambit.

Another reason to be cheerful is that many people said that they would still vote regardless. After all - if they don't vote, they say they cannot complain. That said, I'm suspecting that counters are not going to be faced with too many over-stuffed ballot boxes.

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