Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about elections.
One of the main things that always worries about elections
when you have a perceptibly awful option that people presume that awful option
doesn’t stand a chance and consequently they don’t bother to vote. Whenever people
do that, that awful option regrettably stands an incredibly good chance.
The most memorable example of this for me (aside from the
2016 US Presidential election) will always be the 2002 French Presidential
election. For this, the options were the incumbent Jacques Chirac, his sidekick,
Lionel Jospin, and National Front candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen. It was believed
Le Pen didn’t stand a chance – who wants a fascist for President, right? – so the
French people think they needed to vote. The result was Le Pen beat Jospin in
the preliminary election to get through to the final round of voting. This shocked
the French into action and Chirac won by a landslide but their initial
laissez-faire attitude nearly meant a fascist taking control of their
government.
In Britain we face the apparently obvious choice of Sunak
and his self-serving, elitist cronies – who have crippled this country with their
obscenely apparent money-grabbing ways – or frankly anyone else. Yet it is not a
foregone conclusion that they won’t win. Aside from the fact that people still
doubt Starmer’s credentials mean he’s a better option (even though it’s meant
to be about policies not people and not a popularity contest), the polls confidently
predicting Labour success has the potential
to produce the exact opposite effect to that it intends (as I fear).
Also, a big difference between us and the French election is
the French get 2 goes – we don’t – that’s why we have to make it count.
So, on July 4th, it’s imperative we learn from the
almost-mistake of the French. Whether or not the think the Tories stand a
chance (and regardless of thoughts or opinion of Starmer and his promises), in
order to make sure the Sunak et al aren’t allowed to continue running this
country into the ground like it’s their own personal piggy bank – you must go out
and vote. If you don’t, their supporters will – just like Le Pen’s.
Remember:
- Never take election results for granted.
- Never assume you don’t need to vote to get the result you
want/expect.
- Never let those who are out to serve themselves be allowed
to continue in their way unchecked and unchallenged.
And, as a helpful hint, try this website to help get the
Tories out: https://tactical.vote/
