Independence Day

Today, I held in my hand my son's polling card. The news was burbling on about the latest round of scandals routinely cuddling our politicians like cacky loincloths. As I gazed at the card, I was wondering whether to bin it, contact the authorities about his new address, or leave it for someone else to deal with. It was raining outside, and a security light blazed into my retinas.

It seemed as though virtually everything was going down the pan: politics, money, the planet, the neighbourhood, hope, and ideals. I wasn't getting any younger either...

Then this chap comes on the box. He's an ordinary bloke being given airtime. He's standing as an Independent MP, 'like Martin Bell' (I'm sure he said 'Jon Snow', but no matter) - nothing to do with the (oxy)moronic Independence Party (UKIP), or indeed any party. The man was standing for 'ordinary folk', with the idea that if every constituency had such a candidate, we could decimate the parliament of self-interests and replace it with real people on behalf of... the people. This appealed to me momentarily and I silently wished him good luck.

Whilst researching my MA essay on 'Is there such a thing as historical Truth?', the thought kept recurring: is anything worth standing up for? Gradually the idea of standing for ordinary folk started to rise, like a sunken battleship freeing itself from centuries of sand and lurid encrustation. It may be a little out of date, in fact it is positively old-fashioned, but it seemed to have striking contemporary relevance, a very simple idea: stand for people, if you can stand them.

I checked out what I needed to do to stand as an Independent MP for Leeds West in the next General Election.

1. Get 10 local people to sign a nomination form. That shouldn't present a problem even if I have to knock on a few doors.
2. Be prepared to pay a £500 deposit that will be forfeited if I don't get over 5% of the vote. In my case that would be around 1700 votes on the basis of 2005 figures. Not being a defeatist, I don't think 1700 votes would be that difficult to achieve - especially having recourse to the internet. In any case, the fee isn't payable until 'about two weeks before polling day', according to the official blurb.

So, there it is. I intend to stand as an Independent MP for Leeds West. A vote for me will be a vote for you, if you live here. I don't think we need any dogma or posturing, what we need is clear thinking and honesty... and that forgotten art: the ability to listen. As an oral historian, such requirements are bread and butter. I popped my son's polling card on the old sea chest with a wink.

I hereby champion/espouse/agree with the cause:

LET EVERY CONSTITUENCY HAVE AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE, AND LET'S GRAB POLITICS BACK FROM THE POLITICIANS!

... and if you live in Leeds West - do drop me a line, I need to hear what you'd like.

Leeds West 2005 results:
Turnout: 62,888 53.6% of Electorate
Labour win: Rt. Hon. J.D. Battle, with 18,704 votes (55.5% of the vote)
The BNP got 1,166 votes, beating UKIP on 628 into last place. There was NO independent candidate!

Check your constituency votes here: http://www.election.demon.co.uk/
Not sure which one yours is? Here's a map: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/flash_map/html/map05.stm