Another Voice

1 August 2009

I am proud to have joined the Totnes Tories in a pioneering political evening

I was lucky last Saturday at 10.30 to become a West Country pioneer. For some years the Conservative party has been experimenting with open primaries for the selection of their prospective parliamentary candidates. I’ve acted as ringmaster for a few of these, supplementing questions from the floor with my own: a sub-Dimbleby figure, putting them through their political paces. Whatever the theoretical objections, the idea has in practice worked well — tending to discourage candidates from pandering only to the solid Tory core. But these meetings, typically attended by no more than a few hundred people, could in theory easily be ‘packed’. They still feel a narrow base for so important a selection.

Totnes Tories, now seeking a candidate, have just taken the logic one step further. Encouraged by the party leadership, they agreed to road-test a bold (and expensive) idea. Not only is everybody on the constituency voters’ roll, regardless of their politics, invited to attend the hustings meeting where the finalists speak and answer questions, but every local elector has been sent a postal ballot form and a personal leaflet from each candidate. And the final choice will be determined by those ballots returned. The meeting itself is just a chance for all who wish to hear and cross-question the three finalists: an eve-of-poll hustings. By hugely widening the effective electorate, this system makes the process hard for any candidate’s supporters (or rival political party) to rig or pack.

But does it work in practice? Well, the hustings happened last weekend, and I acted as ringmaster. On Saturday morning at 10.16 I arrived at Totnes from Derby on the Plymouth train, in the nick of time, and was whisked to a cavernous local leisure-centre, and handed the candidates’ CVs and personal statements, plus a big sheaf of pre-submitted handwritten questions from the audience, which I was to invite their authors to direct personally into a roving microphone. Those attending the meeting could, if they wished, cast their completed ballots after it; but these would simply be added to those returned by post.

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ADB

August 5th, 2009 2:46am Report this comment

... "the EU — where all three candidates, though declaring themselves Eurosceptical, resisted invitations to promise to get Britain out, and even steered clear of promising a post-Lisbon-ratification referendum, if the Treaty went ahead."

Nothing new there, then.

What's the point of voting for a party that will not be able to actually govern Britain, because it has handed all poltical power to an un-elected, corrupt EUSSR?

The Tories shuld win the next election in a landslide - but if you don't give people a referendum on the EU, and halt immigration, your reign (and Britain) won't last long.