We’ve written several Blog entries about apathy and the general laziness of some people in this region, but Friday’s council elections were a new low for the sleepy souls of Denbighshire.
I arrived at Ruthin Town Hall and found dozens of councillors pacing up and down the street, smoking, biting fingernails and worrying for their futures.
As well they should have been.
Councillors are supposed to be important, they’re the ones who decide planning applications, battle for the rights of constituents and have a say on crucial matters of importance to us all - the setting of council tax, spending on education and highways, safety outside our schools - the list is endless.
So, with pen and paper in hand, I sat down to listen to the results.
And then it happened.
Some members were being elected or re-elected with just a few hundred votes.
People were becoming councillors with the backing of just 150 people. I have more friends than that on Facebook!
This went on for hours, 200 or so here, 400-ish here - it was a joke.
I know low turnouts are nothing new, but I’ve never seen it as bad as this.
Some members received great support, and good luck to them.
There were others I sympathised with, knowing they’d been out canvassing, battling for your support, only to be beaten by less deserving individuals.
Labour took a hammering, the Conservatives were the biggest winners, but out of interest lets take Rhyl as an example of how weird this year’s ballot was.
Rhyl West and South West is still a Labour stronghold, despite almost 70% of the area being on benefits.
The rest of the town - bar Jeanette Chamberlain Jones and Brian Blakeley, is Tory blue.
Rhyl is pretty much 50/50 between the two parties, which I find a tad bizarre.
If anything I’d have thought the Westenders would have joined the rest of the county in the Labour backlash, but instead they got behind them. It is the poorest ward in the county, one of the poorest in Wales and they still took control of it?
There is a lot of redevelopment taking place, so perhaps they’re looking to the future.
Politics is a funny old game.”
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SY wrote...
Actually the turnout for this year's Council elections in Denbighshire was 42.4% which was a higher turnout than for some of the Assembly elections in the Vale of Clwyd constituency and Clwyd South last year for example.
Also Labour did not take a hammering in Denbighshire. They got 7 Councillors four years ago and they got 7 again this time around. That doesn't qualify as a hammering in my book.
We all know that turnout is poor but the national and local media do such a poor job of covering politics in general it's hardly surprising. The Daily Post devoted some coverage to the elections in Denbighshire but it was basically just a list of problems facing the County at the moment. They didn't bother to talk to any Councillors or ask them why they were standing.
It must also be said that Denbighshire County Council did virtually nothing to encourage people to turn out to vote. The odd press release on the website doesn't really cut it.
In short local elections need to be advertised more. The Council, local media and community groups all need to play a role
Posted by: SY | May 8, 2008 9:57 AM