For the first time in my adult life, I made the conscious decision not to vote in an election. Automatically that decision made me a member of the majority “Meh” Party. OK, these were only the local elections, held to elect local councillors to a local town hall. I reside in a ‘safe’ Labour council which means the closest thing we’d get to an election upset is a council run with ‘no overall majority’ – in effect a hung-council. These elections, although reflecting the national mood at the time, have no direct impact on the national Government. So in essence, no matter what happens locally it is highly unlikely that things will change nationally.
So why did I choose not to vote? Apart from the above, there was a distinct lack of choice on my election paper (I know this as I am a postal voter and received the ballot slip 2 weeks ago). Only the 3 main parties fielded any candidates. It appears that my ward is a ‘swing’ ward being held by the Tories – so no guesses as to which party it would be going to (in case you’re wondering Labour did win the seat). It is also interesting to note that the parties themselves must have sensed how this election would pan out as I did not receive a single visit by anyone canvassing their cause. The last time round you couldn’t get out of the house without being harangued by one party apparatchik or another. Voter apathy? Pfft! More like candidate apathy if you ask me!
So between a lack of any credible alternative, knowing that nothing would ever change and fed up with being patronised at on a national level, I chose to express my vote for “None of the above” by the only means, short of defacing my ballot paper, available to me. If that meant that I had to abstain any involvement in this election then so be it, even if to the chagrin of others.
Come the General Election I will be voting – and it won’t be for any of the main three parties!
