Was 38 degrees overdue ?

No, it had already happened here in Stoke in 2002 when we formed an organisation (democracy4stoke) which fought against the provisions of the 2000 Loc Gov Act (which sought to impose the US-inspired directly elected mayoral system on us).

We lost the first referendum but continued a watching brief until our re-launch in 2006 when we embarked on a campaign to get enough signatures (coincidentally, also 10,000) on a petition to force another referendum.

This was presented to Phil Woolas in January 2007 and we were told that the legislative prescriptions were “not set in stone”.

Alas, neither was that particular minister’s brief, and his replacement (John Healey) ignored that particular commitment.

Indeed, the Government had set up a ‘Governance Commission’, infested with ‘patsies’, which produced a report to broadly support the conclusions of the 2000 and the 2007 Acts.

However, we (D4S) persevered and persuaded the Council to hold a referendum last October – which we won by a 2:1 ratio.

This led to the creation of a ‘Transition Board’ to ‘oversee’ the recommendations of the Commission. This was (again) stuffed with people who would nod through the wishes of central government against those of the local citizens.

The abolition of the directly-elected mayoral system led to the Leader/Cabinet model which took over on June 8th with the Leader of the Tory/Independent Group (with 8 out of the 60 councillors) as Council Leader. And although the Government calls for more ‘diversity’ we feel that with no less than 8 political groups we are diverse enough ! (No-one is giving odds on how long this will last !)

Now a ‘consultation’ has just started, being conducted by the Boundary Committee, to determine just how many councillors we need. This will be followed by further exercises to give the number of wards and how many councillors in each (”cart”, “horse” and “before” come to mind).

Needless to say these figures will comply with the favoured option of whichever policy wonk at the centre is in fashion. However, it is too early to say whether the replacement of Hazel Blears by John Denham will make much difference.

Democracy4Stoke (D4S) is monitoring and submitting to these various processes but is finding very little attention from central government or the agencies which are tasked with conducting the exercise. This is despite the fact that we quite demonstrably speak for the people of the area and enjoy support from people of all parties and none.

We do take some inspiration from the situation in Blaenau Gwent where a successful ‘People’s Voice’ organisation has confounded the machinations of the faceless and unelected people who are really ‘in power’ nationally.

I have had to go on at some length to give a picture of what is happening in just one part of the country – but outside London – but hope that it illustrates the need for a wider-based organisation than we have been able to generate until now.

Perhaps 38degrees will satisfy that need and your approach will be discussed at our next meeting – and adapting the old slogan “think global, act local” may seem appropriate.

In democracy,
Mick Williams,
Convenor, D4S.

MISSION STATEMENT.
Democracy4Stoke exists to co-ordinate and support the efforts
of those (of all political persuasions and none) who seek to
establish a form of governance for the area which is
decent, honest and legal and which truly reflects
the wishes of its citizens.

…..informed, rational decisions ….

OUTLINE OF PROPOSALS FOR A REVISED METHOD OF ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Edward A. Vickerman August 2009

Many authorities think that the present chamber is rather too large. It is here suggested that the number of members be reduced to 500.

The Boundaries Commission will divide the country into 400 constituencies of approximately equal population. At a General Election each of these will return one Member of Parliament by the “first past the post” system used at present.

Before an election the political parties will publish ordered national lists of general candidates. When the votes have been counted candidates elected will be deleted from the general lists. The so far unrepresented votes, that is to say all votes for candidates not elected, together with the majorities over the next candidate gained by successful candidates, will be counted nationally according to their party affiliations. The 100 as yet unallocated seats will be shared between the party lists according to their proportional share of unrepresented votes.

This scheme is a compromise between the present arrangements and full proportional representation. It ensures continuance of the “Constituency MP”, someone to whom any member of the population may turn when in difficulty. It also ensures that as far as possible every vote is worthwhile, even in a constituency where one party always has a large majority.

Notes

1. The Constituency MPs will bear an extra workload and might be recompensed accordingly by a salary benefit of in the order of £20-30 000. They could also be discouraged from undertaking outside employment by a limit to further earnings,
perhaps £20 000 would be appropriate here also.

2. General list members would be better able to understand life outside politics if they had outside interests and no earnings limit need apply to them.

3. Although not essential, consideration should be given to holding primary elections in constituencies, so that candidates there could not be dictated from a party’s national headquarters, which would have full control over the national lists.

4. This scheme does not consider the powers and respon-sibilities of MPs, such as the anomaly that some MPs can vote on issues which do not affect their own constituents.

That is what I want 38 Degrees to focus upon please.