Judge - and Jury
Sunday, March 8, 2009 When I attended the fifth anniversary bash for the TaxPayers' Alliance on Thursday night, little did I realise that our host - "City zillionaire" Sir Paul Judge whose magnificent Thames side flat we had invaded - was about to announce the launch of a new political movement:
The Jury Team is an umbrella organisation for Independent candidates who want to run for public office. We’re a group of people who are sick of the way politics is conducted in this country - where politicians show greater loyalty to the party whip and climbing the greasy pole than voting in line with their constituents’ needs and priorities.
As someone who feels disenfranchised from the political system (ie there is not a single party I would vote for with any enthusiasm), I'm all for new initiatives. In my dreams, for example, I would LOVE to be able to vote for the socially and economically liberal Enterprise Party. Conceived some years ago by a politically active friend of mine, it never got off the ground, but I live in hope.
In the meantime I have to agree with Jonathan Isaby, writing on ConservativeHome HERE, when he says of the Jury Team:
The idea that political parties could disappear and a democratic country of more than 60 million people be governed by a hotch potch of random people with assorted views on absolutely everything is utterly unrealistic. Even more absurd is the notion of running a "party list" of Independents at the European Parliament election.
Whilst that electoral system is far from ideal, Independent candidates surely should be by definition exactly that - independent individuals each fighting on their own ticket. Why would anyone vote for the Jury Team party list of candidates when the individuals on the list are all liable to have completely different and opposing views on the whole range of issues of the day?
Everything about the Jury Team seems well-meaning but bizarre, if not preposterous. Sadly, I am reminded of Your Say, that ill-fated venture led by Saira Khan from The Apprentice. And look what happened to that.
Reader Comments (2)
"... there is not a single party I would vote for with any enthusiasm..."
And what is it about the Libertarian Party manifesto that you disagree with, I wonder...?
DK
DK
It is one party too many at the moment. It could split the UKIP vote and allow the present EU controlled three party whip to continue.
Plenty of time for new parties to enter the scene once we have got rid of EU domination.