The result of the by-election in the North Deal ward for a vacancy on Deal Town Council saw a massive boycott by local residents, with a big majority refusing to vote. Eight of ten voters gave the election a miss.
Despite publicity in the local papers and campaigns from three Parties, 80% ignored it all, with only 20% bothering to turn out and vote at the three polling stations - one of which was a school - meaning that around 3,000 residents, who pay a proportion of the rates to the council, gave the parties a big thumbs down.Was the campaign by the Conservatives and Labour partly to blame? "The tone sunk into the gutter at the end, with a final leaflet with a cartoon of a lavatory and the heads of councillors, people who give their time for public service, being flushed down the toilet," said Nathan Sewell, the Liberal Democrat candidate. "It can't get more basic that this, and made up quotes from a "Wayne" of North Deal - if he exists, why not use his full name - making cheap swipes at Labour to 'bog off' is what it comes down to in the end, not surprisingly this is not the sort of thing that is going to get anyone other than the party-faithful to turn out.
"On the District Council, the Conservatives call all the shots, they are the majority party, they are the leaders, they can decide what goes ahead - yet the Conservatives suggest that their Parliamentary Candidate Charlie Elphicke and the Town Council candidate are suddenly against the massive housing development on green-fields at Whitfield Sholden where the Conservatives have pushed forward plans for 1,000 houses. Remarkable. None of the District Councillors have heard from these two individuals, the Planning Enquiry certainly didn't hear formal objections, but, guess what, they now disagree with their own fellow Conservatives who have been pushing this forwards.
"The cynical would say "well they would, wouldn't they, there is an election on and votes to be had" so is it any wonder they can not get any more than a tiny minority supporting them?"
The result will be trumpeted as a "convincing win" for the Conservatives. But, is it really? They failed to inspire even a third of the electorate to turn out, of the 20% who did, half of those voted for someone else. It was a victory for party machines, with their fake "polling cards" made to look like the real thing, the telephone canvassing, the wheeling out of the sick in wheelchairs. "Apathy is something that should concern all parties," said Nathan.
The results were: Conservatives 529, Labour 337, Lib Dem 198. Turnout 20%.