X marks the spot

Isn’t it amazing how MPs suddenly get interested in their constituents’ views in the weeks before an election? I’ve had several letters, a paper and a questionnaire from my MP Tessa Jowell (archetypal Blairite with allegedly very dodgy husband) in the last month. If only she’d been as keen to hear my thoughts and actually reply to the numerous faxes and emails I’ve sent her over her last term.

Sadly for Tessa, her recent efforts have been in vain — she gets my vote straight after I’ve stuck rusty needles into my eyes. That said, with only a few hours to go before polling stations open, I still haven’t decided who to vote for…. At the last election, Jowell received 21,000 votes, giving her a majority of over 12,000. The Tories and Lib Dems received about 8,600 and 5,800 votes respectively, with the Greens in fourth place with nearly 2,000. So where do I make my mark?

• Option 1: Lib Dem
  I’m guessing that the Lib Dems will eat into that majority to a certain degree, but will it be enough to make Jowell sweat? If they stand the remotest chance of unseating her, then I should probably vote for the Lib Dems — of the main three parties, they’re certainly closest to my views. However, I can’t really see them gaining another 15,000 votes, in which case, at best, my vote would only send a ‘message’ about the issues I feel are important — in which case I should go for…
• Option 2: Green
  The Greens’ policies are probably closest to my own, and sadly climate change, transport and other environmental issues have hardly been mentioned by the main parties in the run up to the election. The Greens have also taken a stronger anti-war stance than the Lib Dems. So if my I’m just going to be making a protest vote, then I should probably vote Green.
• Option 3: Spoil My Ballot
  At the end of the day I have major reservations about the UK’s version of ‘democracy’, in which a very small proportion of the electorate actually decide who governs the country, with the majority of votes being discarded. Also the party whip system is totally undemocratic, often allowing party leaders to force MPs vote against the wishes or best interests of their constituents. So rather than endorse a system I have no faith in, maybe I’ll draw my own box and mark it ‘I vote for PR‘. I could just not vote, but I feel spoiling the ballot paper makes it clearer that I’m not just apathetic.

Perhaps I should have just registered to vote by post, and let someone else decide for me.

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