A Long Time in Politics...

Apologies for having taken so long to publish a new entry. The end of March this year - as with so many previous years - was a time where I had to hurriedly take as yet unclaimed annual leave, so spent a week in Snowdonia, Wales and a week (of extraordinarily hot temperatures) in Cornwall with my partner. On returning to Exeter, my boss - the Chief Executive of Exeter CVS - was off sick for a week, so I have been acting up in running CVS while also trying to do my own job. (Ok, enough of the sob stories and excuses!)

Of course, we are also into the election campaign "proper" now in Exeter for the city council elections on May 3rd, so every free evening has been spent going door-to-door meeting the residents of Pinhoe. All the candidates for the local election are now announced, and Pinhoe will have a Tory (the incumbent), a UKIP candidate, a Green Party candidate, myself (for the Labour and Co-operative Parties), and of course a Lib Dem candidate. I am tempted to say that in Pinhoe any Lib Dem candidate is merely a "paper candidate" as Lib Dems usually poll less than 200 here, but I rather fear that ANY Lib Dem ANYwhere in 2012 will be little more than a "paper candidate" such is their unpopularity. (Naughty of me, I know.)

Even traditionally "Tory" papers seems to be turning
on the government

Still, as I sit down again to ponder a new blog, I am driven to ponder that the 20 days since my last blog entry is an awfully long time in politics. Since I last wrote, we have had THAT budget. Tax breaks for the richest millionaire friends of our cabinet, an end to tax credits that will hit 40,000 families in the south west, the "granny tax" that asks pensioners to pay more while the wealthiest see their taxes FALL by 5%, and - as my holiday in Cornwall could never let me forget - the confusion on almost "Carry On" proportions regarding what does or doesn't constitute "hot" food under the dreaded "pasty tax". Confusion seems the order of the day in government as leak after leak betrays new government agendas. Francis Maude's advice for people to stock up on highly flammable fluids in "jerry cans" in preparation for the strike that never was led to accusations of ineptitude and arrogance - not everyone has a garage, Francis. Then more recently, it was a leak that let us all know that the government was hell-bent on monitoring emails, web use and mobile phone calls. Even for the government's own libertarian back-benchers this was a step too far. Former Tory leader hopeful David Davis opposed the Bill publicly, and (as ever) the Lib Dems are all at sea on the issue. Lynne Featherstone says the Bill is misinterpreted and we have nothing to worry about, while Lib dem president Tim Farron is saying they will oppose the Bill. (As they so successfully proposed the NHS Bill, presumably!)

A poster from a Cornish campaign against the "pasty tax"

Why is all of this so relevant to Pinhoe? Well, I have been out and about with my team (and I DO mean "team" - I have been humbled by the number of volunteers who have been coming out with me) and I am finding again and again that people are raising national issues on the doorsteps. People are angry about just how out-of-touch this government appears. Whether it is petrol shortages, pasty tax, or top-rate tax cuts even the Tory press is turning on Cameron & Osborne as being spectacularly inept at reading the mood of the nation. The opinion polls, which have previously been oscillating wildly are stabilising, offering Labour a lead of between 6% and 10%, depending on the polling organisation. People are angry. 

"All in this together?" Hm. Maybe not.

This has been reflected in the voices we are hearing on the doors. We have started at the "village" end of the ward, and are working our way west towards the "Whipton" end of the ward. Traditionally the "village end" is the more challenging for Labour, yet we are seeing people who will openly admit to backing the Tories in 2010 pledging to support Labour in May. Most have a personal story to tell. The civil servant approaching retirement who will be personally worse off under Osborne's pension plans, the long-serving police officer who is devastated to see so many frontline fellow officers sacrificed on the altar to the austerity rhetoric or the passionate NHS consultant who, despite standing to be personally wealthier under the new NHS commissioning systems, could see that the NHS Bill was bad for patients and bad for tax-payers. None of these were "natural" Labour people. Yet all, having considered their options, feel the Tory party that benefited from their support in 2010 had got things badly wrong. Whether a protest vote, or something more, all have decided to support Labour in May.

It would be churlish to complain about support based on national issues in what is, after all, a local election. Yet it is not all about national politics. Since my last newsletter went out, I have been busy dealing with "casework" that has arisen from people being under the impression that I am already a councillor. Whether new road links, charges at recycling centres, damaged pavements, flytipping concerns, cuts to local youth services, or issues with anti-social behaviour, I have been addressing it. One constituent contacted me after my last leaflet went out to raise the issue of fly-tipping locally. 

"I am happy to help," I explained, "but you do know I'm not your councillor, don't you? I am the Labour and Co-operative candidate."

"Oh I know, dear, " came the response, "but I've read your leaflet, and I've spoken with a friend who met you in your day job, and she says you will get things done."

I am interested in, and involved in, national politics as well as local politics. But politics matter most when they impact directly on people's lives. That is what drives me; being an activist that can work together with local people to change things for them in their families, in our communities, in our city and our nation. That's why I am standing on May 3rd, and that's why I want you to vote for me.