Well, Gordon made it official today. Not much change for campaigners here though, as we’ve been out knocking on doors for a couple of weeks already; still, it’s nice to be able to answer residents when they ask about the General Election, and not have to persuade people that council elections are just as important – which they are!
No one would be surprised if I said that I was getting a good response on the doorstep – no candidate could possibly say anything else in public! But I genuinely enjoy getting out to meet people and find out their views, and generally speaking people are polite and friendly when they answer the bell, and that’s pretty much the same this time as last.
The three things I’ve noticed this time around are a greater disillusionment with, and disengagement from, politics than I’ve come across before; a real lack of conviction that David Cameron is ‘for real’; and a wish, almost a hunger, for a hung parliament.
The first isn’t surprising, although it is disappointing. It’s not just young people, but increasingly a generation of 50-plus people who are retreating behind their front doors and refusing to engage. All I can offer them is that I’ll try to restore some faith, and not promise what I can’t achieve. Understandably, it’s a hard sell.
The second carries on from the same reaction I encountered last year, but I really think he’s running out of time to change views; and the critical fact is that it seems to be Conservative voters (not all of them, but a significant number) who feel like this. I expect many of them will probably vote Con anyway, but perhaps some of them will stay away. Could have an interesting, and unexpected impact, in some places – I suspect that last year it was these voters, rather than UKIP transferrers, who did for the Tories in a few key county seats.
The last point is the most unexpected to me. The common wisdom seems to be that people don’t want a hung parliament, and this is certainly what’s being talked up by the Tories, but it’s being brought up spontaneously by voters, and they seem keen on it -they want politicians who talk to each, and don’t shout at each other, and frankly, I’m with them. For the record, I still don’t think it’s a likely outcome – but I’ll be watching the polls as keenly as everyone else over the next few weeks!
Please will you pledge your party’s support for measures to prevent multinationals from evading tax.
Thank you.
It’s appalling that so many big companies evade a corporate responsibility to pay proper taxes – I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those company chairmen bleating about NI increases are among those whose firms aren’t practicing what they preach.
I fear it will be a complicated task – but I would do anything to support moves to make companies, and individuals, pay tax proportionately.