The Wider Angle

May 6. E-Day.

The right wing press have the Tories with a 10 point lead in the opinion polls; the middle ground papers have it as low as 4 and are talking Hung Parliaments. I think opinion polls count for nought except to attempt to reinvigorate the ailing party. We've seen over the last couple of decades how unreliable polls can be.

We now have one calendar month of increasingly desperate showmanship to try and winkle a positive vote out of us; I expect there will be many people who are either undecided or will go out of their way to either vote for an alternative, spoil their ballot or just won't bother; because, let's face it, whoever wins, the government get back in!

As I no longer see myself as a Labour supporter; I'd not lose too much sleep if they failed to achieve a majority; however, I probably would lose a lot of sleep if Cameron and his cronies did. We could see the wholesale destruction of everything we have left before we have another attempt at getting rid of them. This time we have to make sure that there is No Overall Control. We have to say, "No, it's time for compromise, not for false loyalties!"

If you live in a constituency that is a solid shoe-in for the big two, then rally your friends and your undecided acquaintances and argue the point for focusing on an Independent candidate; or if its possible, whether the Lib Dem could pull off a shock. I'm not suggesting you vote for Clegg and his amateurs (Vince Cable aside), but I'd rather his party held the balance of power than either of the other two - perhaps if that was the case, we might see some fair and even handed politics in this country and nothing too extreme.

This year I'm mainly advocating Tactical Voting. Do what you can to send a message out to the 'government' that you've had it up to here with party politics and political shenanigans and you'd rather we had real people, concerned about real issues, running the country.

Alternatively, find an independent candidate who doesn't represent the Loony Left or the Fascist Right and throw some support behind her or him. If there's someone who is standing because of the feeling that the current MPs are only really interested in themselves, first and foremost, then support them and help them get their message across. Provided he or she's not got any really loopy ideas in the manifesto, you could help to transform politics in this country, for the better, forever!

Don't say you're not going to vote, just don't vote for the establishment any more!

Welcome

Answer me a question: do you vote for the candidate or the candidate's party?

If it's the latter, do you ever read what that candidate's aims and objectives are? Or do you just vote for the political party and trust that the person elected does what you hope, regardless of who or what the person standing is like?

If you, like me, have grown disillusioned and mistrusting of central government politics and feel that the local equivalent is just Westminster in microcosm; playing politics, wasting your money and disrespecting your wishes, then you might like to keep an eye on this blog; especially if you live in or around Northampton.

I'm not asking you to vote for me (not just yet, anyhow), I'm just asking you to have a more open mind about the concept of Northampton Borough Council being run by people who care about the town rather than people who only care about their own party's agendas.

The objective is for an independently run NBC. One that puts the people and the communities first and the silly schemes and corporate identity building not just to the bottom of the list, but completely removed from the agenda.

There are 3 independent borough councillors already working considerably harder to make your town better and with a bit of luck and some persuasive arguments, that number can increase, ensuring that the future of the town and your place in it will be assured.

Join the fight for an independent borough council - you know it makes sense!