I last updated you on the political goings-on in Brighton Pavilion back in June, so for those of you that are interested (and lets face it, you’re still reading) today is update day.
Last time out my post received a comment from Andrew Falconer, the then Lib Dem candidate for Brighton Pavilion. Have you spotted the important piece of information in that last sentence… yep… I said the *then* Lib Dem candidate, as in, he isn’t now. I have absolutely no idea what happened to Mr Falconer, maybe I was right and he doesn’t exist at all, but the Lib Dems have decided to choose his replacement from an all female shortlist. Positive discrimination is a misnomer IMO, as discrimination of any kind is never positive, indeed I am fairly certain that an “all white male” shortlist would be rounded on rather rapidly! Still, the Lib Dem shuffle is not the only change to the list of Brighton Pavilion parliamentary candidates, nope it’s like Whac-A-Mole down here, as the Conservatives have finally chosen David Bulls replacement in Charlotte Vere. A rather rather polished website/twitter feed combo makes a pleasant change from some of the others “websites” I have battled against in my quest to make an informed decision in 2010, but both are lacking when it comes to explaining what Miss Vere stands for and to differentiating her from Darth Cameron. This distinction is a real problem for me as since Dave changed his no policies policy I find myself liking him less and less, for sure Gordon Brown was foolish to attempt to start a class war, but if repealing the ban on fox hunting is a priority for the Tories then they are just as foolish (and Gordon Brown is right!?!).
So what of Nancy Platts, the Labour candidate? Well she has a nice new website too, although it is not quite as polished as Charlotte Vere’s (I read the same sentence in three places within three clicks), and hang on… wait a minute… some bollocks about how voting Green will mean a Tory MP for Brighton. How can the voting figures from 2005 be the best source of information when the last time we got to have our say was in European elections where the Greens romped home? I also take exception to the Q&A section about greed, prosperity and Thatcher. In case you haven’t noticed, Labour haven’t done a bad job of emulating Thatcher’s Britain, we have unemployment, disputes with Unions, there are plenty of people losing their homes and you can chalk up two for greed – between the bankers, the fiddling MPs and the spending patterns of Gordon Brown it’s a wonder we have anything left (it reminds me of the Sheriff of Nottingham knocking the coins out of the dogs plaster cast in the Disney version of Robin Hood). I absolutely want to nix Trident and ID cards and use the money for something better, but I simply don’t trust Labour to do it because I don’t trust them to deliver on anything, plus I still don’t think they appreciate how out of touch they are.
So once again readers the only remaining option (hope?) is Caroline Lucas, who incidentally declared her intention to run as MP for Brighton back in ’07 and has stayed true to her word, meaning that the only really interesting development is that the 2010 election will be the first time that all of the main parties will have put forward female candidates for a constituency*, which isn’t really of any significance at all.
In summary, Labour still don’t get it, the Conservatives do but are more worried about fox hunting and the Lib Dems are trying to work out which one of them may or may not bet getting it! Frustration and exasperation reign supreme!
*According to Wikipedia, which instantly makes it as true as the gospel ;)
