Tomorrow I will be voting for Andrew Dismore for GLA representative and Siobhan Benita for Mayor. I do not believe that Brian Coleman represents my views or best interests and in Barnet. He has shown himself to be disrespectful, uncaring and plain rude. He is a liability and makes Barnet look like a joke. Take a look at the website 101 reasons to sack Brian Coleman and that should make it clear. Andrew Dismore is the only person who can beat Brian Coleman and although I find Audrey Poppy of the Green Party engaging, sadly a vote for her will only help Coleman back in.
As for Mayor frankly I am sick to death of both Ken and Boris and I think neither of them offers Londoners something new and original. I have followed Siobhan Benita’s progress and I find her intelligent, compelling and above all else, full of common sense, something which is in short supply currently. People may say that a vote for Siobhan Benita will be wasted - I do not believe that to be the case. My view is that if more voters sent a signal to the major parties telling them to stop sticking to the rigid party political dogma and start representing the vast majority of honest, hard working, ordinary Londoners we might actually end up with a system that works for us and not the crony hangers-on.
For the London wide vote I will be voting Green to provide the GLA with a conscience.
Please forgive the indulgence today, normal reasonable service will be resumed on Friday.
You are correct to argue that London deserves better. We have been treated with contempt by all the major parties for too long, but the public have become complacent through inertia. Most voters (i.e. non activists) take the view that all the candidates are as bad as each other, so it makes little difference who they vote for. Same meat, different gravy.
ReplyDeleteI have already cast my postal vote, and voted for Andrew Dismore, but it was not an easy decision to make. I think that democracy will be best served if Brian Coleman is removed from power, but I do not have any confidence that Andrew Dismore will better represent my interests/views in any way, shape or form. I am not voting for Dismore, I am voting against Coleman. The truth is, however, that I would rather not vote for any of them. The GLA is a complete waste of time and public money and should be abolished. I suspect that the Greater London Authority referendum of 1998 would produce a different result if held today. All it has achieved is to create a monster trough for politicians to stick their snouts in.
Ken Livingstone has alienated so many people in this campaign - many of them natural Labour voters - that this could have a knock on effect for the GLA results if people decide to abstain. Dismore has to overturn a 20,000 majority. This is clearly achievable given the size of the constituency. Whether it will be achieved, however, is another matter. He’s not known as dismal Dismore, for nothing and his campaign has been lacklustre, to say the least.