Politics? It's boring?

One of the things that has struck me as the hustings proceed towards the casting of our votes next week is the changes in the way election is done in our nation.

Thus far I have had a rain forest full of paper wedged through my letterbox in the form of personal letters from my candidates, the majority of which were addressed to an anagram of my name!

I have received telephone calls from people purporting to represent one or other of the parties.One of these telling me how I should 'encourage' those in our church to vote for their party as it was the 'only' choice open to Christians (and they weren't one of the 'Christian' parties either!).

We had the last of the personality/reality shows 'I'm a nice bloke get me into there (No. 10)'. I was confused because I seem to have missed the bit where they have to sing an operatic song, do the ice-dance routine and then find themselves sharing a house with the others so we can vote them out one by one.

What I haven't had is the canvassing visit that so typified elections campaigns of old. The man or woman who went door-knocking to convince the undecided that their candidate was the best choice.

I haven't happened across any of the candidates in any of the places I have been. That said I understand one of the leaders visited but it was short, sharp and nowhere where I was. But where are the candidates?

There's no baby-kissing, something I'm sure the babies are grateful for.

So what has this done for the younger generation? Those first-time and not far off voters? Do we now have a generation who are informed, excited, determined to make a difference with their vote? Are they understanding what the situation is and how the different parties propose to manage UK plc?

Not from what I encountered last night. "Politics is boring and doesn't have anything to do with us," was the overarching response. They didn't have a clue about policies and thought they were voting for the incumbent of number ten, who would then be 'famous!'. Interestingly, one thought all the parties had to have the same policies and it was merely a matter of choosing one of the colours. No hope if you're colour blind then!

What hope do we have when we elect our leaders using spin, stage management and the political equivalent of these ghastly shows where a bunch of hopefuls are slowly weeded out until one of them gets a 'one hit wonder' record deal or the starring role in a show? We need sound policies and honesty.

A parting thought (courtesy Private Eye):

13.6% - Budget deficit as a percentage of GDP in Greece
11.5% - Budget deficit as a percentage of GDP in UK

Now, who's going to give us some honesty about the economy and what they will do to remedy this situation and who's going to pay (I know it's us, but how and where?)

Pray, pray and pray again I guess - oh yes, and ask questions - Tamworth Hustings tonight (30th April - 7:30pm, St Editha's Church, Tamworth).