Lobbydog...

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Stoke's lessons to AV...

I was told by an MP from Stoke on Trent this morning that he was absolutely sure the AV referendum would be won by the ‘Yes’ camp. When I asked why, he gave me a handy insight from his patch.

A bit of background first – Stoke on Trent used to have a mayor and, to cut a long story short, it was a total disaster.

A city which already had major social problems suffered from stagnation, potential corruption and the far right strengthened a foothold in local government there.

The city was starved of investment as leaders became incapable of levering cash into the city and deprivation spiralled.

It got so bad that a group wanting to scrap the mayoral system won the chance to hold a referendum asking people whether the city should get rid of it.

There was an excruciating 19% turnout – just 35,800 voters out of 186,700 putting their mark on a ballot paper.

Despite this being a question that was crucial to the city’s future in a very real way, people just weren’t interested.

But the side that won, the ‘scrap-the-mayor’ camp, was the side that had pushed for the referendum in the first place and, therefore, were more passionate and able to turn out more individuals.

Everyone else, including many people that might have actually backed the mayor, just didn’t see it as a big issue and didn’t bother to show up.

At a briefing yesterday the NO2AV campaign claimed the Yes camp was trying to avoid debate about the referendum – if Stoke’s story is anything to go by why wouldn’t they.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is more to this story. The MP for Stoke central was parachuted into the seat and is anti AV (Mr Hunt).
The local party has been bashed around by the central office over local selections and the mayor issue.
AV for some is the tiny glimmer of hope that the central party could be weatkend and if you dont believe me http://www.democracy4stoke.co.uk/
On another issue, why no mention of the Labour HQ imposed shortlist on Leicester South and the emmergence of Ed's mate in the seat?

Joshua Smith said...

Thank you for sharing with good, useful information. Nowadays mobile languages are the most used in windows mobile development that needs in developing of mobile software applets for cells.

Joshua Smith said...

That is nice article. Let me mention about auto and homeowners insurance for USA policy owners home protection providers. Compare online quotes on homeowners insurance.

Champions League said...

토토사이트
안전놀이터
프로토

I’m new to this field and this is the most incredible post I’ve ever read about. Thanks so much for your good work.

Champions League said...

스포츠토토티비
스포츠중계
토토

Immensely thought out! This was the most detailed article I have read. Many readers would be interested on this site. I am looking forward for your daily posts.

Champions League said...

토토사이트
배트맨토토
A good blog always comes-up with new and exciting information and while reading I have feel that this blog is really have all those quality that qualify a blog to be a one

Post a Comment