Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric
Indeed ... and this is a group I didn't mention ... it adds weight to the argument that there is more than apathy at the root of the low voter turnout.
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Hmmm.. I think apathy is the root cause, the majority of people realise that local and national politics are seperate entities. However, it's ingrained in the English psyche, reinforced by the media, that local elections are a yardstick of public opinion on the incumbent government, and, lets be honest, more people read the redtops than the broadsheets.
Local politics is thus tied to National politics, and so most of the time the majority of the voting public vote for the party and not the best person for the job.
Having the local MP knocking on doors in an allegedly hotly contested ward (by party, not by personality) shows this to be true.
Logic also dictates that if this were not true then more independents would be voted in, and there would not have been such a backlash countrywide against the Libdems in these 'local' elections.
Therefore, some 65% of the local population cannot be 'arsed' (apathy), because some minority elected oik will eventually claim that 95% of the people agree with him.