Seaford Town Council has received some press from Dizzy Thinks today after its computers were hacked by an indiscreet techno. However, this isn’t the only reason the council should be making the headlines.
Today they are having a by-election. Just three months after the Lib Dems partnered with the Conservatives, Lib Dem-led Seaford is going to vote for a new councillor. But what can this election tell us about coalition popularity?
“You hear on the knocker that people are not happy about the coalition. People who would usually vote for us are likely to vote Labour which means that the Tories will probably win our seat,” said the leader of the council, Jon Freeman. The Lib Dems dropping popularity is being reflected nationally.
But, where Seaford’s Lib Dems and Conservatives differ (the council is 11/8 LD/Conservative) is that this by-election seems rather at odds with the coalition’s own agenda. At a time when local authorities are having their budgets slashed, this council is spending (officially) almost £4,000 on the by-election. “It’s an utter waste of money. No one wanted an election in August,” one councillor told me. Add to this the fact that the next council election will take place again in May, this by-election seems rather futile and extremely extravagant.
Local Lib Dems feel that they have taken the brunt of public disapproval over cuts and waste. Sussex alone is said to be losing 75,000 public sector jobs in the autumn. And it was the resignation of liberal councillor Rosemary Collict that caused this costly by-election. Collict left the council for “personal reasons” however, no wonder then that Lib Dems popularity may be dropping, the public probably feel that the exorbitant amount of money spent on this election could be better spent on staff.
Perhaps the timing and expense of by-elections should be looked at by Eric Pickles as an example of how to improve government efficiency.
I’ll update this post tomorrow when we know how the election turns out. But the result doesn’t really matter (after all, it’ll happen again in May). What is significant is the reasons for the election and its cost.
With so much being spent on unnecessary admin, maybe the hacker’s decision to halt Seaford’s online communications was a bit more politically-driven than first thought?
After all of that, the Lib Dems held the seat!
Are by-elections just a waste of money because lots of LibDems will be thrown out once the Recall Law comes in and you don’t want Labour MPs taking their seats? Should Cleggeron actually go through with the Recall Law (which they may well not considering other massive LibDem policies that they’ve agreed to shelve in the pursuit of power), there will be by-elections up and down the country.
Most people consider by-elections an absolutely essential part of the democratic process.
Well as the LibDems held the seat it appears there is no great lusting for Labour…unless you are a Labour voter of course