Dave, I really think Miri has a point here. Staying at home only helps the winners win. "None of the above" has not won anything in terms of power, except perhaps a powerful feeling of self-righteousness? When it becomes obvious that the system WANTS you not to vote, it's easier to see this.
Miri does make some interesting points, particularly about how Muslim communities can mobilise candidates and the attendant votes. Where there's the will, the candidate that best represents the community can get in, albeit with a lot of hard graft. Should that trend grow, I've no doubt that the powers that be would be upping their efforts to undermine and discredit these candidates.
However, I think for a fair number of people, looking at who was standing in their constituency, there was a sense that none of them were worth making the effort of going down to the polling station. This is particularly the case after the last five years, with candidates being scrutinised for either what they did during lockdown, or what they might do should a similar situation arise in future. The way I see it, it really was a case of not having anyone they could vote for with a clear conscience. Sure, there were exceptions when there were dynamic candidates standing as independents but, that was only in a minority of constituencies. For the record, I did end up making a protest vote for a candidate standing on a single issue that has some resonance for me:)
As for Reform, they didn't appear to win any new voters, they cannibalised the Tory vote, effectively handing a lot of seats to Labour. I can imagine there are some interesting conversations going on at the moment between Tory and Reform supporters!
The thing is, we have a government that, when you take into account all of the abstentions, got in with the votes of just one in every five eligible voters. Starting with my next post which will be looking at the low turnout and where do we go from here, I'll be hammering home the message that the current government has no legitimacy. I'll be trying to spark a discussion about where do we go from this point, particularly as the new government is going to be showing its authoritarian voice very soon...
I just wonder what kind of a statement it would have made if all those who didn't vote because they couldn't stomach any of the candidates had instead spoilt their ballots? Bristol had a very high number of spoilt ballots, interestingly - above all in East Bristol where as we know politicians are keen to force more "liveability" on residents!
It would certainly make a statement, that's for sure! However, given the level of disillusionment there is amongst the electorate, not to mention outright despair, it would take a lot of work and energy to make it work. I personally would prefer to use that energy to build grassroots initiatives in our communities that are going to make a difference in the here and now...
Dave, I really think Miri has a point here. Staying at home only helps the winners win. "None of the above" has not won anything in terms of power, except perhaps a powerful feeling of self-righteousness? When it becomes obvious that the system WANTS you not to vote, it's easier to see this.
https://miri.substack.com/p/old-school-psy-ops-and-spurious-soundbites?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=384935&post_id=146363280&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=e6w6h&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Miri does make some interesting points, particularly about how Muslim communities can mobilise candidates and the attendant votes. Where there's the will, the candidate that best represents the community can get in, albeit with a lot of hard graft. Should that trend grow, I've no doubt that the powers that be would be upping their efforts to undermine and discredit these candidates.
However, I think for a fair number of people, looking at who was standing in their constituency, there was a sense that none of them were worth making the effort of going down to the polling station. This is particularly the case after the last five years, with candidates being scrutinised for either what they did during lockdown, or what they might do should a similar situation arise in future. The way I see it, it really was a case of not having anyone they could vote for with a clear conscience. Sure, there were exceptions when there were dynamic candidates standing as independents but, that was only in a minority of constituencies. For the record, I did end up making a protest vote for a candidate standing on a single issue that has some resonance for me:)
As for Reform, they didn't appear to win any new voters, they cannibalised the Tory vote, effectively handing a lot of seats to Labour. I can imagine there are some interesting conversations going on at the moment between Tory and Reform supporters!
The thing is, we have a government that, when you take into account all of the abstentions, got in with the votes of just one in every five eligible voters. Starting with my next post which will be looking at the low turnout and where do we go from here, I'll be hammering home the message that the current government has no legitimacy. I'll be trying to spark a discussion about where do we go from this point, particularly as the new government is going to be showing its authoritarian voice very soon...
I just wonder what kind of a statement it would have made if all those who didn't vote because they couldn't stomach any of the candidates had instead spoilt their ballots? Bristol had a very high number of spoilt ballots, interestingly - above all in East Bristol where as we know politicians are keen to force more "liveability" on residents!
It would certainly make a statement, that's for sure! However, given the level of disillusionment there is amongst the electorate, not to mention outright despair, it would take a lot of work and energy to make it work. I personally would prefer to use that energy to build grassroots initiatives in our communities that are going to make a difference in the here and now...
Trust no government until after the day you finally die. And even then, tread lightly.