Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Moss
Many people seem to be under the impression that a vote for Labour in the Rishton election is a vote to put Ed Milliband in 10 Downing Street on May 6th or that a Tory vote will keep David Cameron in power and it is an uphill struggle to convince people of the difference between local and national elections.
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On the other hand, it is the only chance the electorate have (until the next General Election in 2015) to express their verdict on the performance of national politicians. If you stand on a Labour or Conservative ticket, the voters won't differentiate between national and local politics (and why should they?).
And the ruling party locally will, in my experience, rarely rock the boat when its own party is in power nationally.
I know it won't make much difference in Hyndburn, but I think the biggest legacy of the 2011 local elections will be the disappearance of a lot of hard working local Liberal Democrat councillors who will be judged on the performance of their national leaders.