Who will be this year’s man in the white suit?

19/04/2010

The stagnation of the major parties is driving many to consider independents offering DIY politics

By Adam Forrest

So toxic is the reputation of Westminster’s professional class, it has become difficult to sound the letters M and P together without a bit of a sneer. Unpopular even before the expenses scandal, politicians now rank somewhere between traffic wardens and dangerous dog owners in the long list of national hate figures. And yet millions will shuffle along to the voting booths on May 6. Fed-up, but unprepared to storm the citadel along the Thames, the British electorate will once again allow parliamentary democracy to do its little turn.

However, some believe a quiet revolution is happening, undetected by the Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat-orientated radar. Is our decrepit and discredited system about to be enlivened by an injection of independent representatives? With the mainstream parties struggling to overcome unprecedented cynicism, polls show the grey-designated block of “Others” figuring more highly than at any general election in living memory. An indication people are looking for alternatives, and an opportunity, perhaps, for the foolhardy souls prepared to stump up their £500 deposit and knock on doors day and night without the safety or support of even minor party affiliation.

Martin Bell, perhaps the most famous independent MP of the modern age, explains why the circumstances are so favourable for a new wave of outsiders in the 2010 campaign. “The big parties are shells and husks of the great mass movements they used to be. So it is easier for an independent to make an impact. You have to be well-known locally, your cause has to be a good one, and [you have to face] a vulnerable incumbent,” says Bell.

There are now 26 people signed up to the Independent Network, an organisation designed to promote non-party candidates and backed informally by Bell, who has decided at 71 that he is too old to stand himself. It is the brainchild of Brian Ahearne, a London PR man frustrated by politics-as-usual, who insists the network is only a very loose association of lonely but truly autonomous voices. “I wanted to get a unifying system of support and identity for independents, but certainly not to determine policy or anything like that,” he says.

Neither Ahearne nor Bell is willing to criticise the Jury Team – a similar network of candidates pledging to let their constituents determine their actions, as far as is possible. Yet the project formed by ex-Conservative Party Director General Sir Paul Judge has forged an alliance with the English Democrats and the Christian Party, highlighting the difficulty in remaining truly self-reliant.

Ahearne points toward the UK’s 2,000 independent councillors and the clutch of independent mayors, MSPs and Welsh Assembly members – beacons of a new willingness among voters to go for the individual over ideology. He seems annoyed by the pessimistic suggestion that ticking the box for an unaffiliated candidate is a wasted vote. “Yes it’s bloody hard to get elected as an independent, but it’s bloody hard for anybody. Remember, around half of Labour candidates and around half of Tory candidates won’t get elected next month,” says Ahearne.

“This is the most important opportunity yet not to waste your vote if you want change. If you don’t look at the character of the person, their experience or their routes to decision-making, but instead just the colour of their party tie, then I’m afraid the electorate gets the representatives they deserve.”

A solitary individual with a just cause can cut an attractive, even heroic figure. Richard Taylor, one of only two independents currently in the Commons, was just that in 2001 when the consultant doctor campaigned to save his local hospital from cutbacks. The other, Dai Davies MP, won Blaenau Gwent in heartland Welsh Labour country (the seat of Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot) at a by-election in 2006 by articulating resentment that the party had forgotten its roots. “The whip system has destroyed democracy,” says Davies. “If we had 10 independents, in a hung parliament, that would be a very powerful force."

Gordon Kennedy, a Scotsman who is standing in Dagenham, the London suburb he now calls home, has been running his own one-man campaign for more than a year. Kennedy believes he reflects the kind of popular disillusion and anger that isn’t infected by the BNP, also active in the area.

“I grew up on red Clydeside and habitually voted Labour for years,” he sighs. “The more I looked into politicians, I realised they leave university, decide which party is going to be in power and join up. It’s not about conviction, it’s about self-interest. There’s a groundswell of people who tell me they feel exactly the same, except they put it in terms I can’t put into print.”

Kicking against the party machine may be a compelling narrative this time around, but if there is to be a significant shift toward independents, constructive ideas are also needed. As Martin Bell puts it: “It’s quite obvious what independents are against, but people will of course ask what they are for.” Kennedy appears to have a well-informed set of ideas on everything from housing policy to re-equipping the armed forces, but concedes the lack of simple, broad ideological brushstrokes makes it difficult to paint a picture on the doorstep.

In the north London seat of Hampstead and Kilburn, Tamsin Omond is waging an eye-catching campaign against Glenda Jackson, who she calls “the laziest MP in London”. The 25-year-old activist, founder of green campaign group Climate Rush, was arrested in 2008 for scaling the roof of parliament in protest at runway expansion at Heathrow. Despite her familiarity with the inside of a police cell, Omond does not feel voters are unduly intimidated by radical methods.

“It shows I engage with our society and care deeply about our democracy,” she says. “People on the doorstep do recognise that – they’re happy to see someone that’ll be active, rather than just sitting in parliament enjoying the perks. If 50 per cent don’t feel engaged enough to even bother to vote then democracy is failing. Rather than following a party whip, I want my constituents to be my whip.”

Omond and her supporters have been walking around the area with a sandwich board inviting people to jot down their views. She pledges to be more than a climate change protester and has promised to give a third of her MP’s salary – £20,000 – to community projects, and spend one day a week volunteering in the constituency.

However, Omond has been accused of splitting the progressive vote by standing herself rather than supporting Green Party candidate Beatrix Campbell. “The Green Party are focusing on four seats elsewhere, and I hope they win,” Omond says. “We’re trying to engage a new vote, reconnecting with people who don’t feel part of things.”

Much has been made of 2010 becoming the first ‘e-election’; one in which online efforts determine the shape of the debate, perhaps even the make -up of the next parliament. Most independents’ activity on the internet will not replace the real-world canvassing slog, but fresh ideas are developing. The Power2010 campaign, backed by Helena Kennedy QC, asked people to vote online for five key reforms (proportional representation came top) before asking candidates to work to implement them if elected.

Director Pam Giddy says around 300 candidates from across the political spectrum have signed the pledge. “People don’t want rid of all politicians, but they want a greater voice. We want a new batch of MPs who know that rebuilding our democracy is a key task for them,” she says.

Comedian Mark Thomas developed his own manifesto by inviting audiences to vote for policies each night of a UK-wide stand-up tour.
The publisher of the resultant book agreed to fund an independent to run on behalf of ‘The People’s Manifesto’. Danny Kushlick, a former drugs counsellor, was chosen to stand in Bristol West. He describes the project as “a party for those who aren’t usually invited to the party”.

Kushlick thinks Iraq has eroded trust more than the revelations about duck ponds and bell towers. “A lot of people began to think, ‘What the hell do we do now?’ But I think we’re beginning to see a resurgence in participation. These are exciting times. We need something more than Tory, Labour and LibDem if we’re to have a healthy system. All power to anyone giving it a go on their own.”