Where Is The Campaign?

With just two days to go before not only the Alternative Vote (AV) referendum, but also local elections which are “all up” in Cheshire East, the campaign in Crewe has achieved a visibility level of precisely zero. Zilch. Nada. I kid you not.

No literature has come flying through the letter box from either side of the AV debate, and unless I missed them, no posters around the town are advertising the virtues of change or status quo. It’s as if there wasn’t a campaign at all.

And things are no better on the local election front. Right here, the Lib Dems are defending two seats and Labour one, with the Tories never having had a sniff. There is a distinct possibility that Labour will gain both those Lib Dem seats – if only they could bother themselves.

Because here, too, there has been no leafletting, no posters, and no knocks at the door. The contrast with the 2008 by-election could not be more stark: then, it was impossible to avoid the tide of propaganda, and Crewe town centre was under siege from politicians and the Fourth Estate.

Just to make sure I had not imagined the whole thing, I dug out my poll card, and there it is: Thursday May 5 2011. Election to the Cheshire East Borough Council. Referendum on the voting system for UK Parliamentary elections.

None of you politicians out there want to canvass my opinion? Don’t strain yourselves, mind.

[UPDATE: the local Government poll in Crewe South will be delayed following the death of Councillor Elizabeth (Betty) Howell, one of two Lib Dems standing for re-election. Councillor Howell passed on April 18. The letter notifying electors, received today (May 4) was dated April 7, which does not exactly inspire confidence in the Returning Officer. The referendum poll will go ahead as scheduled tomorrow, May 5]