Lichfield District Council election candidates round-up

The results are in – well, for our quest to find out about the candidates bidding for a spot on Lichfield District Council, at least!

A few weeks ago, we embarked on a bid to try to see if we could lift the lid on some of the names on the ballot papers who will make key decisions for local residents after May 5.

It’s probably worth explaining a little bit about why we’ve done what we’ve done. The mission to begin with was not to try and drive more people to the ballot box or take some democratic stand about the need to vote. The Lichfield Blog has never been about political persuasion. Instead, what we wanted to do was try to put some meat on the bones of the people standing.

Much of the idea came because, despite living in Lichfield for several years, I’ve never personally seen a political candidate on my doorstep. So when I go to vote, how am I supposed to make my decision? There’s also the fact that much of the information comes from who has the best media contacts and the loudest political voice. So by levelling the playing field and asking set questions, we hoped the result would be the opportunity for people to compare and contrast the responses of candidates in their ward and beyond.

We tried to get email addresses for as many as possible. Some candidates got their questionnaires direct, others had them distributed by the local agent or regional party organiser (at the request of the political parties concerned). Others outside of the main parties had to settle for a good old-fashioned letter with a stamp on from us. Hopefully, you’ll see from the responses that we’ve been publishing that we’ve had a mix of replies from across the political spectrum.

So has the plan worked? In terms of getting all candidates to respond, it’s a no. But in terms of allowing voters to make up their minds about the responses of candidates – or lack of them – then it’s a definite yes. I do hope that you will think seriously about those who did not respond. What does it say about their communication skills?

You now have the chance to make a slightly more informed decision. Does your candidate care enough to give a response? Does your candidate speak for themselves or just trot out a standard party line? Do they have opinions that resonate with yours?

Although our deadline has now passed for responses, we’re going to give those who did not reply a final chance to tell people why they should vote for them. We’ve already heard some whispers from people saying they didn’t get our questionnaire. Unfortunately, the parties wanted a central contact within their own organisations to handle our request, so any that haven’t reached the candidates can only be because of a breakdown in communication within their own organisations. However, it’s not rocket science – the questions are standard so people can email me their responses if their organisations haven’t passed our questionnaire on. So if you’re a candidate who hasn’t responded, now is the time to do so!

We’ll be updating our master list (below) until May 4. That means you’ll be able to see – by looking at those who do not have a link to their published responses – the ones who didn’t feel that it was worth taking the time to tell voters what they were all about. Perhaps you may want to ask them why they didn’t reply next time they come knocking asking for your vote?

All Saints