Vote for me!

Yesterday, four flyers for four candidates dropped through my door. (In my area, there are five candidates.)

I do prefer to vote for the person rather than the party or the party leader. After all, in the UK, the prime minister is elected not by the people, but by the MPs we do vote for. Indeed, from 1990 to 1992, the prime minister was John Major, even though Margaret Thatcher was the party leader at the previous election.

Alas, the flyers felt like they were written by the party, with token space for a photograph and the name. The candidates themselves, a mere detail. They get a paragragh to make fuzzy statements about themselves and how much they support the party, but not much more.

The exception here being Andrew Hammond, the Labour party candidate. Maybe its only motivated by the fact that Tony Blair isn't as popular as he used to be, but his flyer has a personal touch. It talks about him as a person, not just as an automaton for the party. What's more, he knocked on my door just as I was writing this. The candidate himself, not just some party worker.

(It was a coincidence I'm sure. I doubt they have detectors looking for bloggers who appreciate a personal touch. Just in case.)

The incumbent Timothy Boswell, the Conservative candidate, was the only one without a flyer. Did it get lost? Did they bother writing one? Did they decide it wasn't worth the expense of printing one for me? Did I just lose my copy? I don't know.

So, who to vote for? If the personal touch was the only thing, it would be a vote for Andrew Hammond, the only one to step out of the party shadows. Alas, what with no independents, I can't ignore the parties. Andrew Hammond's party had David Blunkett as home secretary and they introduced banana-republic style all postal voting.

Most of all, they seem obsessed with "Hard working families". I'm a single guy who doesn't want any children. Ever. Now my taxes are paying for family tax credits and children's trust funds. Enough with the breeder-pleasing!

As for Veritas (Barrie Wilkins) and the UK Independence Party (Barry Mahoney), I feel that the European Union is more benefit than cost. These two parties want to come out of it.

The Liberal Democrats (Hannah Saul), I do tend to agree with much of what they say. They are the only political party I have ever considered joining. A broad plus for me in general, if only she could step out from behind her party. Their flyer was the worst in terms of personality. It was a Liberal Democrat flyer that just gave her lip-service in passing as an after-thought.

The incumbent Conservative won last time with a little under half the vote. He doesn't need my vote. He'll probably win regardless of who I vote for. Perhaps I can do my bit to make this area seem a bit more marginal. I've not lived in this area for long enough to really know what he's like.

So, looks like either Andrew Hammond or Hannah Saul, but a personal call to my door could make all the difference.

Anyway. I'm going to email each candidate and invite them to leave a comment, that would also make a difference.

For the rest of us, please actually go to your polling station to vote, even if you just spoil your ballot paper. Its the best way to make sure your vote is counted and not stolen by a bunch of dodgy geezers.