Don't let apathy be the winner
IT is, perhaps, a little predictable to say that those who fail to use their right to vote also lose their right to moan. Predictable but true.
Like it or not it is make-your-mind-up-time in the race to elect the first Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall - tomorrow you need to cast your vote.
It is a campaign that has failed to catch the public imagination, not least because the appointment of an £85,000 a year commissioner seems to be an expensive attempt to solve a problem that doesn't exist. The problem with policing is not a lack of bosses or a lack of political involvement - far from it. Anyone with half an interest in modern policing knows the problem is that our police are expected to do more and more with less and less.
We don't need a glorified sheriff exerting political influence - we want a force dedicated to fairness, law and order led by experienced and competent senior officers.
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However, the ballot box awaits and it is up to you to make a decision. The Herald has published profiles of all 10 candidates which are still on our website to help you.
Our democracy makes few demands on the private citizen - pay your taxes, obey the law and vote for what you believe.
Many are anticipating a low turnout and some have already started to dismiss the result of an election we haven't even had yet as unrepresentative. The turnout may well end up being low but it won't be unrepresentative - it is up to each and everyone of us to go out, cast our vote and make sure this election does not end up representing a victory for apathy.
Comments
by jabbathebutt
Monday, November 19 2012, 12:08AM
“You got it wrong on this one . There was a fantastic turnout of people who actualy spoiled their vote ... therefore given their own "vote" to the whole thing . Well done to those . Spoiled votes can work . For those that say you must vote for only those listed .... it is an eye opener that democracy still exists and a disgust at the system and total waste of your tax money money that could have been used elswhere for our taxpayers ( and not abroad for people who proclaim to be thousands of years ahead of us - but yet to show how far ahead of us they are ) .”
by Nevman
Sunday, November 18 2012, 11:54PM
“In other words, yes, you love a man in a uniform.
And this qualifies him to run a police force how?”
by CharlieDodd
Sunday, November 18 2012, 10:48PM
“Tony's stunning credentials show that people recognise quality when they see it..:)
..'Tony Hogg, the Conservative candidate, took 69,419 votes,
he was Royal Navy veteran and former commanding officer at RNAS Culdrose,
his 33-year naval career included five ship commands including HMS Chatham based at Devonport. He saw active service in the Falklands War and the Arabian Gulf, and was awarded the Air Force Cross for his role in a 1978 air sea rescue in 1978.
Since leaving the Navy, he has run a charity offering adventure activities, including behavioural support to Cornwall's "hardest-to-reach" young people'..”
by Nevman
Sunday, November 18 2012, 9:42PM
“Sure, CharlieBob, sure. Now perhaps you can tell us exactly what it is that's so complellingly special about this particular stuffed shirt that made you drop your very public loyalty to UKIP, because all that 93% of us saw and heard was some ex-navy officer from nowhere, spouting the same insight-free truisms about policing as almost every other candidate in the entire country.
Or do you just love a man in a uniform?”
by CharlieDodd
Sunday, November 18 2012, 8:40PM
“On rare occasions individual politicians stand out who I admire regardless of what party they're with, and Tony Hogg is just such a man; in fact I'd like to see him replace that overgrown public schoolboy in No.10..:)”
by Nevman
Sunday, November 18 2012, 7:26PM
“So because you couldn't be a*sed to spend five minutes on the internet looking up the UKIP candidate's 'credentials', you were all set to vote for an ex-Conservative, but then you voted for the official Conservative.
Would that be the same Conservative Party which comprises half of the two-party system you laugh at others for supporting, CharlieBob? Because that would make you both a fool and a hypocrite.”
by josdave
Sunday, November 18 2012, 6:40PM
“I did vote but spoiled my paper saying that I disagree with politicising the police.”
by CharlieDodd
Sunday, November 18 2012, 3:19PM
“I was going to vote for MacPherson til I heard he owed people money, and as I couldn't find a detailed list of the other candidates and what they stood for in time, I never voted for anybody. I could have voted for the UKIP bloke but didn't know anything about him, and voting blind is not my style.
But it's all turned out great because Tory Tony Hogg blew all the others out of the water and got the job, his credentials are impeccable..:)”
by Nevman
Saturday, November 17 2012, 9:20PM
“So, Charlie, after telling everyone ad nauseam what a staunch UKIP supporter you are and how we should all support them... you didn't even vote for them yourself!
Were you thinking of voting for ex-Conservative cheque-book dodger Tam?
Are there some dodgy tales about the UKIP candidate you'd like to share with us?
Or did you just not vote because there was no BNP candidate to vote for?”
by Foldart
Saturday, November 17 2012, 5:30PM
“And I spoiled my ballot paper and will still moan.”