Wednesday 7 April 2010

Election Fever?

So it is that time again. Parliament is dissolved and a General Election has been called.

I could be more excited. I live in a Labour 'safe seat'. So safe that with one brief exception some time in the Eighties when it went Liberal it has been Labour since the end of World War 2. I don't support any one party. I vote for whoever has policies with which I can identify. Not that it matters where I live. Unless I vote Labour I'm probably wasting my vote.

I checked out the BBC - in 2005 Labour took the seat with just over 49% of the vote. Since then boundaries have been re-drawn... bits have been lost to Eltham and different bits gained from Eltham.The net result is that the BBC projects that Labour would have taken 52.5% of the vote on that basis back in 2005.

Time to change the system and get proportional representation. Less than 50% of the votes cast for the MP in my constituency and just over 55% turnout. Hardly a ringing endorsement is it? I wonder how much of the voter apathy is down to lack of interest/education and how much is down to knowing that if you don't want to vote Labour you aren't going to get very far?