LOCAL ELECTIONS 2023

 

 

AS LIEUTENANT COLONEL BILL KILGORE almost said in Apocalypse Now, "I love the smell of Wisbech elections in the morning" There is certainly a distinctive whiff in the air during the weeks leading up to local council elections. How best to describe the smell? Try this:

"Top notes of armpits moistened by hours of competitive litter picking mingle with the heart notes of hypocrisy, on a redolent base of deflection, half truths - and complete bullshit."

EVERY FOUR YEARS OR SO during which time many of our councillors were notable only for their invisibility, there is a great stirring. These people emerge from their caves, blinking in sunlight and scratching themselves awake. Their thought processes might be something like this:

"Crikey, elections in May? Better do something, quick. Yes, that's it, we'll pick some litter, and post pictures of us doing it all over Facebook. It has always worked in the past. Policies? Ermm, not too sure about that, but we'll think of something while we pick the litter."

WISBECH POLITICS, at least over the last decade, have been notoriously toxic, with ad hominem attacks being frequent and nasty. Most of these take place over social media, where tweets and Facebook posts are regularly screen-shotted, and then launched into the political ether like so many paper aeroplanes. This year, the main concern by local Conservatives seems to be two-fold. First, the danger - perceived or real - that their position will be threatened by the abject performance of the national government and, second, the record number of independent candidates standing in the election. 

JUST HOW INDEPENDENT are these candidates? For the most part, I would say they are genuine, and seem to be people who are putting Wisbech first, rather than any political party. That said, there are one or two who are deeply in love with socialism, but are canny enough to know that being openly associated with any kind of left wing politics would be suicidal, in electoral terms.

WILL ANYTHING CHANGE THIS TIME AROUND? Personally, I have my doubts, for a number of reasons. The Conservatives are, without doubted, season campaigners, and are very good at winning elections. The fact that they then sit back and do diddly squat for the next four years doesn't seem to matter. They win because they are good at capturing the core share of what has been, traditionally, an abysmally low turnout. The independent candidates may be united in common cause against the Conservatives, but they are standing as individuals, with no common message, no unified campaign strategy and little experience of producing the eye-catching - if mostly fraudulent - flyers and leaflets that the Conservatives use.

TO BE CONTINUED