Labour supporters get out and vote May 5

1/4/2016

Opinion: Forget the UK EU in / out referendum for now; six weeks before the referendum, when the British electorate vote on our future in or out of Europe, there are local elections and this year they are more important than ever.

Fact - The May elections tend to have a poor turn out.

Fact - You can change that.

In 2016 many people are talking about the elections as if they are a make or break time for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

It should not be like that but it is.

Elected as Labour Party leader September 12, 2015, Mr Corbyn's position has been undermined from day one and too many times from those who should be working for unity, supporting him as he settles into his role and enabling Labour to win elections.

While we get the feeling that some Labour MPs and activists are almost gleefully rubbing their hands at the prospect of more Labour defeats at the polls people power could win the day.

Across the Pond in the USA supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the two democrats fighting for the party nomination, face similar challenges.

As some voters in the UK let petty personality politics get in the way of a Labour victory a similar situation could play out in the USA.

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton cover different areas of the centre to left ground of US politics but they are on the same side. They are both hoping to represent the same political party and those who refuse to vote Democrat if their preferred candidate does not win are delusional.

Similarly we hear UK Labour supporters saying they will not vote for their local candidate as they do not like them and other such foolish sentiments.

Well we say NEWS ALERT.

If you fall into the petty politics trap all you do is enable the other political party to win.

If you are a UK voter and happy to see Mr Corbyn ousted on the back of Labour defeats, if they happen, you are not really a Labour person but rather a pathetic self-server.

If you want more zero-hour jobs, government handouts to big businesses and banks, cuts to benefits for people with disabilities, social security reforms that have removed a financial safety net for many, the NHS privatised bit by bit, teachers up in arms due to enforced academy schools, fracking at even sensitive areas of the UK, huge pay rises for MPs and the Queen, pay freezes for public sector staff and more then use your democratic right not to vote.

If you want to start the battle to remove the Tories from office before they enforce boundary changes which could help keep them in office for years get out there and vote.

Forget local or petty party politics which can be addressed if necessary at another time.

Vote Labour May 5.

10 Comments

Joanne Sinton

1/4/2016 01:16:43 pm

Very well said,

Eileen

1/4/2016 01:58:45 pm

Thanks Joanne

If we do not unite we may as well give up altogether. So much is being said in hate right now it will not be easliy forgotten in time.

#VoteLabour

Julia

1/4/2016 07:20:00 pm

In the US it is a bit different not wanting to vote for Hillary Clinton. I think Bill Clinton was a good president, for the 90s, but I think the Clintons have been in power for too long. There was actually a younger man by the name of Martin O'Malley, but no one ever talked about him really because Hillary decided to run. When it comes down to it she is quite centrist, and Bill Clinton did help to get Glass Stegall act overturned. I have since learned that living in California if I do not vote for Hillary it is actually not going to make a big difference since we have the most electoral votes, and I can guarantee these will go to her anyway. We do not vote directly in presidential elections, so if you live in a liberal and populace state voting your conscience really does not make a big difference. Now if Donald Trump is put up I might vote for Hillary, but right now I am not keen on it.

Eileen

1/4/2016 10:17:29 pm

Thanks Julia for sharing that info

But in the end in the POTUS election if it was Clinton against Trump you get to vote? Yes?

Well here split Labour voters could mean those who do not like Jeremy Corbyn stay at home and thus allow the Tories a win and vice versa if he were ousted as party leader.

I despair of why politics is so complicated and therefore so costly.

Julia

3/4/2016 09:55:34 am

We get to vote in a race against Clinton and Trump, but what I meant about the electorial college is since I know California will always go to a Democrat, even if I did not vote for the Democrat nominated and voted for say a Green Party candidate, it would not make a difference. In less populace states voting for a third party person in a national election can take votes away from the two major candidates. However, in populace states like Texas and California it does not make much of the impact because the general population usually votes for one candidate. They take the popular vote, and then our state electors vote for president. It is a system that was set up back in 1789 when our Constitution was written because the founders of this country did not trust the general populace to vote directly in an election. It was not until the 1900s we could actually vote directly for state legislators, and by our state legislators. The American political system is super complicated, and becomes more so all the time. Now that we can vote directly in state elections they make is tougher to vote for people we might like. For instance, back in 2012 they passed a law in California that only the top two candidates for a certain local state assembly office could run after our primaries. I really think we need to revisit some of all this, and on top of this it varies from state to state.

Julia

3/4/2016 10:02:19 am

Our system is complicated as well. It is different than the UK to be sure, but it all boils down to the idea people are not capable of voting directly for who they want in elections. I remember we studied at length about how Thomas Jefferson despised the idea of the popular vote. Some presidents before Gore actually had the popular vote, like Jackson in 1824, but lost the election due to an electoral college squabble throwing things back to the Congress to determine John Quincy Adams was really the winner. I need to brush up on this, but I remember many a day spent when we discussed in history class all the odd ball intricacies of elections.

Eileen

1/4/2016 10:19:10 pm

Also-here we dont all get to vote of who leads each party. That is down to party members and each party's rules. While I understand some voters who do not like the lesser of the evils vote that is sometimes how it has to be.

Julia

3/4/2016 09:57:17 am

Yes, I agree with you on that. It just seems ridiculous how people still cannot have more of a say in the electoral process.

Eileen

3/4/2016 11:52:40 am

I know Julia it is like democracy at a price

Hannah

7/4/2016 03:25:06 pm

Very well written and keep up the campaign. It never was so important to cut the Tories down. It is criminal they way they sell off and ruin Britain
Hope there will be another scandal form British Virgin Isle which is the biggest tax haven.
High time the lid is off their scams

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Labour supporters get out and vote May 5

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