“Voters are disillusioned with a malfunctioning democracy. The system must change so independent candidates have a fair chance of election:
It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s clear that people are looking for a new kind of politics that goes beyond traditional party lines: a politics first and foremost of engagement and transparency, not reducible to the old left-right divide. …
… Change is long overdue. In the 1950s, politics was simpler. Workers voted Labour, the middle class and the wealthy voted Conservative. About 90% of votes went to one of these two parties. But by 2015, the combined total had dropped to just over two-thirds. Voters today are searching for new options beyond the two-party model. …
… In today’s age of nearly unlimited information, our world views are nuanced and sophisticated, but our creaking democratic processes struggle to reflect this. Where do you go if you are a Conservative on the economy, a Green on the environment, Labour on social justice, Liberal Democrat on human rights? That is not an unusual combination. But Westminster politics still pushes a false, binary simplicity. …
… Even if an independent candidate does get on the ballot, it’s next to impossible for voters to discover that there might be someone outside the two-party system who genuinely matches their views. …
… In today’s age of nearly unlimited information, our world views are nuanced and sophisticated, but our creaking democratic processes struggle to reflect this. Where do you go if you are a Conservative on the economy, a Green on the environment, Labour on social justice, Liberal Democrat on human rights? That is not an unusual combination. But Westminster politics still pushes a false, binary simplicity.
This is where the corruption comes in, because the principal barrier to a more open and diverse politics in the UK is money. Thankfully, it plays a far lesser role in Britain than America – where money from fundraising Super Pacs dominates campaigning. But even here, you need cash to stand for office, to run a campaign, to get elected. Who can afford to do that? Only the centralised party organisations. And where do they get their money? The same old sectoral interests – the financial industry on the right and the unions on left. …
… Even if an independent candidate does get on the ballot, it’s next to impossible for voters to discover that there might be someone outside the two-party system who genuinely matches their views. …
… If we’re ever going to see the kind of modern, responsive and open-minded politics that people are crying out for, we have to break the grip of the party machines and get more independent, and independent-minded, candidates elected to office, at every level of government. But such candidates face enormous obstacles. Only parties have the muscle to win most elections, and party insiders control candidate selections tightly.
The barriers to political participation must be removed and the stranglehold of the big party machines broken, so that the power can be taken out of the hands of the insiders, the moneyed interests and the Westminster power brokers – and put where it belongs: in the hands of the people.
East Devon Watch 