Simply Smith

The tension was as tangible as a pineapple jelly, and the interest shown by the voters was just a little greater than an orange's curiosity in a marmalade factory.

Thirty per cent of the electorate massed at the polling stations, with the lowest turnout shown at Tong with sixteen per cent and the highest turnout at Toller with forty-six per cent.

Polling staff, under-whelmed by voters whispering to cast their vote, fought to stay awake.

Candidates bravely weathered the gentle breeze created by an electorate more interested in Coronation Street and Eastenders than in local political issues.

It has to be admitted that, traditionally, the turnout at local elections is less than normally seen at a general election, but, sixteen per cent! What kind of an election is that?

This country is proud to call itself democratic, proud to acknowledge that those in authority are accountable to the people.

However, democracy is a hot-house plant. It requires the right conditions to flourish. It needs the water of enthusiasm, the sunshine of policy and above all to be grounded in the earth of participation.

Some of the majorities seen at this year's elections were in the hundreds, some in the tens.

If only half the electorate had bothered to vote the ultimate picture could have turned out very differently.

However, I can guarantee that in the months to come people across Bradford will be moaning and groaning about how the council is doing nothing for them, how their local councillor doesn't care about the dog mess in the park or that Bradford Metropolitan Council is only interested in Ilkley's and Keighley's contributions to its coffers.

A phrase including 'penny' and 'bun' springs to mind. If you don't vote you can't complain.

I suppose part of the problem lies with the way in which successive Governments have stripped local government of its decision-making powers: much of what local government does is as a response to Central Government initiatives.

Perhaps the electorate thinks that it doesn't matter which party controls the local government machinery, it won't affect my life one jot.

But this thinking is wrong.

Strong local government with a solid and widespread mandate from the community can and must make a difference to people's lives. Otherwise, what's the point?

You might as well have committees appointed by the various secretaries of state.

In the present political climate of devolved government it is even more important that local councils be imaginative about serving their communities.

That means local councillors seeking the views of the ordinary person and, crucially, acting upon those views.

Only when local politicians see their constituents' problems are their own problems will the voters return to the polling stations.

For two out of every three voters to stay at home is simply an invitation to local politicians to keep stirring the same party political soup at the expense of the meat and two veg demanded by their communities.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.