Come on now, time to fess up. Who voted yesterday for your police commissioner? I never made much of an effort as I have a postal vote. But to make the best of a bad job I used my vote to tell the conservatives of my dismay at the way they are running things and voted for the two independants standing in my area. They did have some good points to vote for anyway. But as the main conservative is under suspicion of fiddling expenses he was a non runner anyway. I did hear that one polling booth that usually handles 1600 to 2000 voters only got 16 people through the doors. That works out quite expensive. 4 people at £100 a day to man the station, £150 for the hall, at least another £200 to collect boxes, count votes, oversee the procedure etc. Nearly £50 per vote
We did and like you voted independant,we even managed to take along an elderly neighbour who doesn't usually vote
Ours was postal and yes, we did vote :toothy10:
Londoner here - no vote for us...
Yes, I voted - and only gave one vote and that was to the only candidate who bothered to put a flyer through my letterbox. IMO the whole thing was grossly mismanaged from the start. Our local TV station spent less than two minutes interviewing each candidate and then told the viewers that more details were available on the website. What about the many who don't have internet access?
At my polling station there were three people, one to cross my name from a list, one to hand me the voting slip and one to make sure I didn't put anything else in the ballot box! When I asked how many of the younger generation had been in to vote I was told 'a big fat round number'.
Tricia
Absolutely no vote from me...there wasn't no chance to say anything about if 'we' even want any commissioners...nor did we have any chance to say anything who may qualify to be candidates..all the candidates that I saw in TV just repeated same mantras and none of them sounded convincing. One of the candidates is my GP..or was, he just retired, and knowing what he was like as doctor...well, in no way he gets my vote!
£100K is too much for the job anyway...and it all sounds like 'job for the boys'.
Normally I'm always voting, but this time it was exception and I'm not wasting my effort for such a rubbish!
Rant over.... :angel11:
No vote from me............one more snout in the trough.
I voted as well
I mean one has to vote to be able to complain lols :BangHead:
I read about the candidates on the internet and also in the local paper and chose two independents.
We only had one leaflet through the door - and that was this morning, the day after voting!
Since one of my ancestors was heavily involved with the Chartist movement and one of my wife's was a Suffragette, we feel that it is wrong for us not to use the right to vote which they fought to get for us. So, yes we voted as we have in every Election since we became eligible.
Yes I voted.
I was unhappy with the idea of candidates who were affiliated to political parties. I was even more unhappy when I read the pieces on each candidate on a website that I eventually found and discovered that said political candidates did not even write their own bits.
There were two independents. I just voted for the one who had some experience of the criminal justice system.
We voted for the reasons (no family ties I am aware of ) that Palustris outlined. I understood from Mr PKL that the candidates were not allowed to campaign?
Anyway there was no literature and we never saw anyone on television, no LibDem stood and we voted independant.
I'm sure the police have better things to do, it is another waste of money when we are told there is none.
ETA - I got it wrong, the government did not fund any electioneering, so if a candidate wanted to thye had to pay themselves. None of our candidates did!
I didn't for the simple reason that if the whole thing goes pear shaped the powers that be will say;
Well you picked him/her....................so I didn't
Plus the fact I haven't a clue about the candidates, they might be a bunch of right reprobates!
Then there is their 'political party' connection!
Why does this have to be?
We had an 'independant' standing and I thought of him, but as I mentioned above....I know nothing about him!
I have had a check on the result in my area (West Yorkshire) and it is not in yet!
A bit slow I would have thought considering there was only a 13.8% turnout
yes I did but only out of respect for those who fought for the vote for women.
Voted here too, but ....... Not convinced this is a job that needs doing at all. Not convinced on the party thing either, given the police should be wholly independent. Not convinced that we had enough information given before hand.
Are these the guys that are going to decide which way the axe will fall on imminent future police spending cuts? Is this what this is all about? Like, its our own fault because we voted for xxx who stopped payments for yyy policing aspect - had we voted for zzz, they would have let the axe drop somewhere else entirely!?! Maybe this is just me being cynical again. But apart from not knowing the candidates, we were given so little information what these commissioners are supposed to do with their powers - and that fills me with some dread!
We're voting for what now?
I didn't vote- intended to then forgot. Didn't get any information about the candidates but had a look online. Wouldn't have made a difference since North Yorkshire is so Tory it was a foregone conclusion- at least both candidates were women. OH had a postal vote and spoilt his by writing "Keep politics out of policing" on it.
Whoops
Another
QuoteI didn't vote- intended to then forgot.
here.
No idea who/what I am voting for.
But the independant guy won here rather surprisingly, had decided to vote for him anyway not convinced I think that the police should be a polical matter.
We didn't have this in Scotland but I think I would have been asking why we suddenly need this new layer of government intrusion, why they are affiliated to political parties, why there was so little information out there about who they are and what they are going to do?
I think there should have been some kind of consultation beforehand about whether these posts were deemed to be necessary by the electorate.
But what do I know! :happy7:
Apparently it was a major part of the Conservative manifesto at the last general election, which is why it has been implemented. I think most people didn't vote because they weren't given enough information about the candidates. Anyone without access to a computer would have found it very difficult. I did vote, as a matter of principle (Emily Pankhurst and all that), but the very low turnout has produced a rather unrealistic picture of what most people really want.
I voted independant.
On first vote had 4 times as many votes as the Conservative, on second part had twice as many votes.
I always vote......women died to get the vote.
Waste of money though.....typical Tory idea.
I vote independant. Don't see why we need them. Feel the money could have been better spent putting a few more bobbys on the beat. Getting to much like the yanks for my liking. Never imported anything any good from there yet. :BangHead: :BangHead:
I agree with what many others have said on here and that is that politics shouldn't come into it. With this in mind, my OH and I voted for the two Independents. However, the Con man got in anyway as we are in Wiltshire.
Most of the Independents are ex-police or related to the police force in some way. I am not so sure I would vote for them either.
Quote from: Kea on November 16, 2012, 22:54:07
Waste of money though.....typical Tory idea.
:thumbsup:
Very annoying! After 40 odd years of never voting for the winning candidate in any election I broke my duck. Rats!
Went to the voting station and spoiled my vote by writing a message that I considered short and to the point.
I'm just glad we didn't have these difficult decisions to take here in Scotland. It kind of seems a bit like playing at democracy at a cost but, like many others, I would have felt compelled to vote simply because the right to vote is such a precious and hard won thing.
Policing should not be politicised but it is as subject to abuse, with or without elected commissioners, as any area of our society.
I would vote for morality and moral integrity. That seems to be what is lacking in our society which is all about instant profit and getting something "over" the law or even hiding behind the law to behave in an unethical way (tax avoidance - legal but morally reprehensible).
Getting on my soapbox here a bit but I also think the parliament should not be telling us what we ought to believe (ethical matters such as e.g. abortion).
If you use Facebook you'll know what I mean when I say I miss the like button.
Even with 14% turnout we got CONned!
We didn't get a vote either. :tongue3:
Apparently it was in the Conservative party manifesto at the general election. I suspect the theory of police commissioners being elected by the people is better than the practice of selecting local police committees from local politicians with axes to grind but the execution of this idea has certainly left much to be desired and they've still ended up with political affiliations.
I don't think politics and policing mix too well.
As for parliament telling us what we should believe - allowing women to get a safe abortion is humane but does not require the entire population to believe in it if they disagree. Abortion is about personal choice and no-one's business but the woman in need.
On the other hand, sometimes it takes the passing of a law before certain moral behaviours become the norm in society - slavery, women's votes, racism, sexual discrimination, drink driving and so on.