Absent candidates

26 April 2012

We have had two hustings in two days in Inverness.

There were nine candidates present at the Ward 18 hustings in the Culloden Library last night.  At least three of the candidates were Christian.

Two of the eight candidates did not attend the Ward 20 hustings in Cradlehall Primary School tonight.  One of these was the Labour candidate who was nowhere to be seen in the Nov 2011 by-election, and cannot be seen in this contest either.  The other one was the second SNP candidate who does not live in the ward and probably didn’t want to face questions which he could not answer.  As the second SNP candidate, he will probably pick up votes from loyal SNP supporters and ‘spill over votes’ from the number one SNP candidate.

Each of these absent candidates will probably pick up party machine votes without facing the electorate.  It will be interesting to see how many votes they are given.

Why are people voted into office without facing the electorate?  If the media follow every statement of the prime minister and prominent politicians, why does local media not follow local politicians?  Local journalism needs to improve.

However, the system needs to improve as well.  The SCP is considering a policy that there should be a compulsory hustings at which candidates are expected to attend and speak, so that the public can judge them for themselves.  This may improve public attendance and participation in local democracy.

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