I love elections though they can be difficult events to go though, campaign in and be a candidate for. I appreciate that not everyone has the same fondness for this aspect of our democracy but it is rather important for us all and the future of our country.
At the moment, and much to my relief, we are not having a General Election – just one for the leadership of the Conservative Party which will determine who is the next Prime Minister.
The Government fractured with fifty resignations and the Prime Minister decided to step down. He is maintaining his position as the leadership race finishes the Parliamentary stage and then goes to the Conservative membership over the summer.
Some people think that there should be a General Election or that they should have a direct say over who become the next Prime Minister. It the system in France and the United States of America to have a President but we have a Parliamentary democracy so the electorate do not directly appoint their head of Government.
My experience of the leadership race, which has been an extraordinarily quick process so far, has been that it is rather uplifting in many ways. There has been serious discussion about every topic from health to nuclear energy and from education to taxation.
The televised debates have not been nearly as good as the hustings within the precincts of Parliament so the country is not getting as good a view as Members of Parliament so I do understand why people would not be as positive about this process as I am. Too often, due to the nature and format of the broadcast debates, the discussion and points made can become a little inward looking.
Thinking of that, when the Conservative Party is debating about the future of the country and what we can do to improve it, Labour have increasingly become self-indulgent.
They are demanding a snap General Election, which is fair enough for the opposition to do, but they have no vision for the country. They are still, for better or worse, going though the process of blocking out memories of Jeremy Corbyn whilst covering up their despondency over having Keir Starmer as leader.
To make their contribution to our national life even more pointless, rather than using Parliamentary time to set out their vision for the country, they are engaging in political theatre. On Monday, we had an opposition debate on the motion of Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government. It had zero chance of winning and has zero contribution to our national debate. It was only ever going to be an opportunity to condemn Boris Johnson who is already counting down his final days as Prime Minister.
Labour, when they do talk about the Conservative leadership race, spend most of their time complaining about us discussing taxation. As we think about the cost of living, Conservatives want to cut taxes which upsets Labour and that says it all really.
This article was originally published in the Wigan Observer.
