Change UK, the new political party of which Anna Soubry is a member, is fielding no candidates in the Broxtowe Borough Council elections (click here to see full list of candidates ward by ward) whilst already announcing that it will contest the European Parliament election a few weeks after the local elections n 2 May, should they take place.
Of course we could crash out of the EU at 11pm this Friday, despite Parliament voting heavily against a ‘no deal’ Brexit. If we don’t, then taking part in the EU elections has to be taken as more likely than not.
Change UK’s failure to contest any council seats/wards tells us that they are no better than a vanity exercise. They have, it seems, invited individuals to nominate themselves to be potential Change UK candidates in the EU election. There was no such invite in Broxtowe for the Borough elections or have I missed something?
If there is a snap General Election then Ms Soubry will be depending on the media to do her campaigning and on the one free postal delivery she will get. It may be enough to get her re-elected once but even in the age of a Facebook and Twitter political parties need local organisation and foot soldiers. In the absence of any Broxtowe Borough Council election candidates Ms Soubry clearly has neither a local organisation or foot soldiers.
There are two factors which may impact on the Beeston wards. The first is the fact that many of the students who have registered to vote will be absent because the local election is happening during the University’s Easter break, and the other is Brexit. Will those who want to leave the EU desert the Liberal candidates in Beeston wards and others across Broxtowe? I suspect the answer to this question is no. Voters, in my experience, have the savvy to distinguish between local and national, even if, at times, they use local elections to punish national governments/parties they have come to dislike.
Finally, there is the need for those who vote in person to have one/two forms of personal ID with them when they go to vote. Without it they will be unable to vote. Spending all day as I will be on the Beeston Fields Recreation Ground poling station as a teller for the Labour Party (ie. collecting polling card numbers from those willing to share them as they enter or leave the polling station). I will be recording how many are unable to vote (assuming they are willing to share this information). Asking would-be voters for ID is, based on years of experience, as unnecessary and I see it as an attack upon democracy by Conservative politicians both nationally and in Broxtowe.
Of one thing I am sure - that what happens across Broxtowe on 2 May is far from predictable. I can’t remember local elections quite like this in all the 60 years that I have been active. There is also a possibility that there will be a General Election in May if Theresa May is forced to go.
