SNP beat Labour in Glasgow East – so what?

Well, the implications for the SNP and for the Labour party are obviously quite  important, but for the general public – so what?

With voter turnout being just 42.25%, down on the 48% figure at the last election, with 26,219 votes cast in total, it seems like the winner is once again the couch/tv/gardening/kids….

So I ask for the nth time, just how do we get people to vote? Is it about having time and energy as we see in some of the interesting motivations to participate work done by Michelle Harrisson of IIPS/Henley centre. See ParticipationNation article.

I think there’s something to be said about changing the framing of the task – it shouldn’t be about ‘getting’ people to vote, ie. badgering, cajoling, appealing to guilt, but rather taking a lesson from the charitable sector – should be about inspiring and moving people to make their vote count – to feel part of something bigger than ourselves.

We need some inspiration in British politics, cause at the moment I’m not alone in being far more interested in voting Obama at the next election…

When I worked in the now largely defunct  Youth Outreach division of the Electoral commission we tried to stimulate interest directly with good initiatives such as the Democracy Cookbook – alongside targeted campaigns. It seems clear to me that this democratic advertising simply isn’t enough – and here’s yet more evidence to back that up.

It might be a bad day for Labour, but its a worse day for democracy.

Power of Social Media : Zimbabwe

This site (Sokwanele) is one of the most powerful campaign sites I’ve come across.

Superb use of flickr, twitter, mapping, e-cards and blog to get the Zimbabwe pro democracy message out.

Zimbabwe 2008

 

“Sokwanele – Zvakwana is a peoples’ movement, embracing supporters of all pro-democratic political parties, civic organizations and institutions in Zimbabwe. Sokwanele and Zvakwana both mean ‘enough is enough’ in the vernacular.”

Thanks to GalloManor for original heads up.

Mayoral reactions : Election shocker – People care!

I couldn’t resist picking up on a few of the reactions to the Mayoral election results. It’s refreshing to see this democratic exercise has actually made people feel passionately about politics!

Here are some of my favourites:

• A Henley-on-Thames view can be read here. Ending on the comment: “Whether (in spite of his goodwill and determination) Boris will really be enough to reduce the number of young black men being shot in London remains to be seen.”
• ‘Have we elected the snorkmaiden?’ Find out here as JonNagl points out – ‘he’s the kind of candidate Nathan Barley would vote for isn’t he?’
• A Lib Dem standpoint from James Graham of quaequam blog can be read in the Guardian’s Comment is Free
• David Thompson’s round up of comments worth a look, including an interesting quote from Vivienne  Westwood saying the results “expose democracy as a sham. Especially if people don’t vote for Ken.” Which does seem to indicate a delightful misunderstanding of the entire democratic system.
• An alternative, green viewpoint from philobiblon
• ‘What a disgrace!’ – an angry reaction against Boris’ racist comments from Charcol Ink
• ‘Bertie Wooster elected!’ runs the headline on John Naughton’s blog. He also makes the point that ”Labour has been in power so long that it’s become boring. The man on the Clapham omnibus thinks it’s time for a change. It’s nothing to do with a belief that Cameron & Co are wonderful, or even competent.”
• A totally different mini-insight into the election observers – backroom bods behind the headlines.
• A brief thank you to Ken from Miranda Grell.
• News Post India’s view on Boris’ win, the successes of the BNP and the acheivements of Ken