Ok, so I’ve had a couple of weeks to mull it over and frankly I’m still reeling.  I cannot believe that the North West, traditionally such strong supporters of lefty politics have done a complete 180 to enable the BNP  to win 2 seats in the European Parliament, 2 SEATS!  And to rub salt into the wound they won them with less votes than they got in the last election.  What is that about?! 

Having recently commented about the MEN anti-BNP campaign (29th May) I think it’s only right that I first and foremost express my disgust at the result and secondly give it some consideration as to how it could have happened; I’m just not ready to believe that the majority of the North West could possibly support policies that encourage white supremacy and have commonly been accused of inciting racial hatred and societal unrest.  Having had many heated rants about it in and out of the office there are a couple of issues that I’d like to highlight before I make my (eventual) point that you might be amazed to know actually links to marketing and design.

1.  The lack of turnout at the elections generally.  In the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber where the BNP gained seats just 31.9 and 32% of those eligible to vote bothered to turn out on polling day.  Less than a 1/3 in both regions.  It’s not even as thought his has never happened before, we watched as France experienced the same level of outrage when far right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen polled 2nd in the 2002 presidential elections, actually beating his major left opponent in the first round of polls.  The moral of the story?  A society should never rely on its liberal past, post humous regret at not voting is too little too late, if you didn’t bother wyhen you had the chance you have no right to moan about the outcome.

2.  The general mess that politics has found itself in this country.  The expenses scandal did no good at all for political relations.  Conservative Anthony Steen’s claim that the public fury was down to jealousy added fuel to the fire and that coupled with the general lack of leadership exhibited by the PM we are essentially in political limbo with neither of the traditionally dominant parties delivering the goods.  and, what a susprise, the Lib Dems failed to capitalise.  Is it any wonder therefore that voters chose to stay away?  Why would you vote for something you had no faith in?  Bear in mind of course that although the BNP won the seats they did so with less votes than they got in the last poll, and only 34% of the entire eligible population bothered to vote at all; a right wing birth or total political disillusionment?  I’m going to go for the latter although this only makes me feel marginally better; the 66% could have spoilt their balot, at least indicating that they cared enough to make some kind of statement.

3.  Which brings me to my final point.  General apathy.  I was chatting to a friend (replace chatting with ranting and you’re closer to the mark)who is equally furious about the whole thing and he mentioned that most of the people he spoke to simply failed to realise the significance of the far right gaining a foothold in Europe.  In my experience a few of my friends only voted because I made them come with me, not to mention the fact they were laughing at my fear that the BNP would get in.  Couple this with the fact that the under 25s are among the least likely to vote in the country and we should all be concerned about the way we’re heading over the next 20 years.  Will an apathetic younger generation turn into an apathetic middle one and and what can politicians do to engage with the young people of today and indeed tomorrow?

And so onto my point (I told you we’d get there).  Ultimately UK politics needs a revamp, a new image and if not a new message then the very least a new way to get that message across.  In the lead up to the election I didn’t see any advertising bar that for the UKIP (using an image of Churchill that his family denounced) and the BNP.  In a society that is used to having brand messages pushed onto them everyday how can politicians afford to shy away from such techniques?  If other parties can’t be bothered to publicise and market their own policies then how can they be expected to generate votes and support?  Perhaps the government can invest the regained expenses into a positive PR and marketing campaign that makes politics once again appealing to the population, after all, it affects us every day and permeates all aspects of our lives, if they can’t make us care about it they are without doubt the wrong people for the job.

Tags: BNP, european elections, North West

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 10:19 AM and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.