LORD HAYWARD: ‘May elections a very powerful and difficult ever’
‘The starting gun on the elections will fire this Thursday, but the battle to survive for the political party leaders won’t begin in the early hours of May 8’, Lord Robert Hayward writes
The May elections are the ‘most important’ Lord Hayward has ever seen(Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Every year it is said that the May elections are important but this year political allegiances are weak and we now have truly multi-party politics. This year’s Scottish, Welsh and English locals on May 7 are therefore probably the most important and challenging I have ever seen.
Will Sir Keir Starmer’s future as PM be decided by massive losses across the country? Is Kemi as secure as she seems? Will the low level rumblings against Ed Davey continue to grow? Is the Green wave any more than a ripple? Can Nigel Farage stop the apparent decline in support and outperform last year?
Above all, could the results in Scotland trigger a further referendum. On this occasion there really are many political futures in doubt.
READ MORE: ‘Good riddance’ verdict as Nigel Farage sacks housing chief over Grenfell insultREAD MORE: UK households warned food bills could surge by 10% this year because of Iran war
What makes it even more difficult for the parties and their leaders is the lack of commitment to any cause. Canvassing myself and conversations with other politicians confirm the public don’t know if they will vote and if so for which party. It is a sad day for us all that allegiances are so weak primarily because the messages and delivery has been so poor in recent years.
On the days after the elections, each leader normally points to places to say they have done well and others have performed badly. This year the options will probably be even greater but sadly the victories they identify will have been won on very small majorities with extremely low levels of vote share. This is likely to be made even worse by the fact that turnout will have been so low.
In an average year, the battle for the voters’ minds goes on largely unnoticed by the public through March and April. Yes there are campaign launches with a few leaflets and canvassers but little more. This coming week will however see a real start to the campaign. The battle is to achieve the headlines of having the most or nearly the most candidates across all parts of the country. Nominations close on Thursday afternoon.
How far will alliances that operated in the Gorton and Denton by-election go? Will the Greens work with Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party and the Gaza Independents? All will want to avoid the problems that Reform has experienced in the last few days. Nigel Farage had a major launch of his candidates in Scotland only two weeks ago. Since then, he has already lost five of those. In Wales, Reform’s launch was last week and since then three candidates have withdrawn.
The starting gun on the elections will fire this Thursday, but the battle to survive for the political party leaders won’t begin in the early hours of Friday May 8.
‘Britain a better place when individuals can be themselves’
I have been fortunate to have been involved in the Kings Cross Steelers rugby club since it was founded 30 years ago. ‘Steelers’ were the first of what is now 100 gay/inclusive rugby clubs across the world.
We were welcomed into the rugby community by most clubs with curiosity. Yes, there has been homophobic incidents but we have got through them with the support of the RFU and players.
What pleases me most is that when we were formed the curiosity was most often displayed by members of other clubs saying that ‘they didn’t know any gay men’. Now it is normal for families to say, as a matter of ordinary conversation, that a son/uncle/brother is gay.
This country is so much a better place that individuals can be themselves and comfortable within their community. Steelers wanted to be just ‘another rugby club’. We have achieved that. All minorities should want to be just another but distinct part of the British community.
‘Clean up the kerbside’
Unfortunately, I don’t get out of London as much as I would wish. Last weekend I had the joys of a rail replacement bus service into Essex! I was depressed to see miles of kerbside covered in litter of all forms.
When I reached rural Essex I saw what a beautiful country we can have. Come on, politicians, when it comes to local elections, campaign on potholes but also cleaning up our nation’s verges.
‘MPs mouthpieces for party’
When I entered the Commons, MPs sat for hours in committee discussing the meaning of every Bill. That role has now been passed to the Lords.
MPs have sadly become mere mouthpieces for party whips. The Lords therefore receives badly drafted legislation which requires careful scrutiny.
Yes reform the Lords, but MPs must take back a role they should perform.
