‘Politicians should want challenge from an engaged, interested electorate comfortable that their vote counts for something’

LIFE in South Hampstead ward has felt a little different to usual in the run-up to today’s (Thursday) by-election.

We’ve seen that phenomenon where the streets are filled with tribal groups knocking on doors, fist-bumping and crossing off names on clipboards.

Several leaflets, each with various bold claims, have been posted through letterboxes while social media has been awash with pictures of candidates and canvassers all insisting they have had a great response from residents.

All maintain they stand for something new, but it will be hard for any voters to distinguish how the result will make much difference at all to life at the council.

And so it might be fair to say that the enthusiastic fervour on NW6 doorsteps this week has not been matched by residents, who seem to be more bemused than engaged.

Labour cannot be faulted for trying to win every election it stands in.

But whether you support the party or don’t, the most lop-sided council chamber in recent times is already showing signs of a lack of challenge and debate.

This would be a problem whichever party held such dominance. Here, we have seen evidence of Camden’s scrutiny committees becoming toothless – the recent e-bikes contract was agreed before a panel got to ask their questions.

None of this will change on the result of today’s poll.

One of the factors behind the level of surprise that met the vote to leave the European Union was a blindness to the problems with the way we do elections.

Having never really had a say in any ballot – as most people live in fixed, safe parliamentary constituencies – the public used its singular chance with the referendum system to desperately press the button on an unknown, shaking up a status quo and establishment complacency.

Who knows how the vote would have gone if they regularly had a meaningful say on election days.

We celebrate democracy in the UK as if it works for all, but as each poll passes the argument for electoral reform grows stronger.

Needless to say nationally, ‘first past the post’ has hardly delivered the strong and stable governments it is supposed to.

The call for some form of proportional representation might not suit all politically, but is a fair and reasonable request.

The easiest thing to say is that in a cost-of-living crisis people are not worrying about changing the voting system. In reality, it is all tangled up as one.

Politicians should want challenge from an engaged, interested electorate comfortable that their vote counts for something.