Something strange is happening in Hedge End: not only is there a local election with a choice of four candidates, but three of them have agreed to campaign online! In previous local elections there hasn’t been any choice at all but this time most of the major parties are represented, and there’s an independent candidate!
Impressively the only current independent councillor managed to convince two of the candidates to answer a few questions on his blog. One other candidate didn’t accept the premise of the question and instead submitted a statement, while the remaining candidate declined to take part at all. So thanks to Keith Day, here’s who you could vote for in the Shamblehurst by-election:
- Michale Steven O’Donoghue of Melbourne Gardens (UKIP)
- Paul Redding of Newcliffe Gardens (Conservative Party)
- Raymond Ronald Turner of Newcliffe Gardens (Independent)
- Richard Sean Effeny of Walker Gardens (Liberal Democrat)
It’s fantastic to see such a simple and effective use of a blog for some constructive local politics, and it’s also nice to see a bit of discussion going on between the candidates in the comments!
If only the Liberal Democrat candidate could have taken part as well. Given the recent Liberal Democrat community speedwatch campaign, it would have been nice to have been able to leave him a comment to see what his views are on an alternative approach to road safety near schools. Admittedly, he may not have been that interested in my comments given I can’t vote in this election but I might have omitted to mention that! Hopefully there’ll be even more participants in time for the next local election I can vote in.
Photo © Roo Reynolds (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Notes from a small field 