Nobody to vote for

There’s three weeks until we elect our government in the UK and I haven’t got a clue who to vote for and I am so pissed off about it.  It shouldn’t be this way of course, especially given the number of political parties available to vote for.

In the movie Brewster Millions (the one I prefer is the one with Richard Pryor) Brewster ran and then encouraged people to vote for “none of the above”.  Never has there been a time that I can remember where that option would be more appropriate.  We should have that option.

The way I see it, if enough people voted “none of the above” that it won, all parties would be forced to go back and re-think their proposals again and a second ballot should be held three months later.  In the interim, the existing party in power would be shadowed by the second place runner up to ensure no foul play, and a freeze on any legislative changes would be made until the results of the next election.

Of course it’ll never happen, but we’re in a dangerous place.  Voter apathy is rife, the reasons are pretty much standard;  There’s nobody to choose from so why bother, they all lie, they don’t represent me, they’ll all say the one thing and when they get into power they’ll do what they want anyway.  The thing is, I find it the most dangerous place we can be in as a nation.

With not enough people turning up to vote, we don’t end up with a party that truly represents the will of the people.  What we end up with instead is a party, whether coalition or not, who can do what it wants secure in the knowledge that it won’t really matter – nobody will really hold them to account really.

It’s a step away from dictatorship.  In fact if you think about it, every party we’ve seen in power in recent times has been a dictatorship, doing what they want regardless of the will of the people.  The last time we came even close to a party that listened was the Poll Tax “riots” during the Thatcher era.  Since then we’ve seen instead the process of “kettling” protestors and laws to prevent gatherings and protests.

I worry for our future and those of my children.  I’ll find somebody to vote for – if I don’t vote I dishonour those who fought for my rights to do so, and I remove myself of the right to complain, but  I think it will be a protest vote. I can’t really think of a party I believe in.

Oh – and remember, when you do vote – forget the face, it’s the party you’re electing, not the person.