One of the major problems with regards politics in the United Kingdom is that of electoral apathy. Voters thinking ‘I can’t be arsed with voting’ has helped to stagnate British politics into a two party system. Voter apathy has often landed constituencies and regions with politicians who may not fully represent the wishes of the majority of voters.
When you have appallingly low turnouts for elections, both local and national, it becomes all too easy for those who are motivated, either for political, cultural or communal reasons to dominate the political scene. If for example, those opposed to the Labour Party or the Conservative Party, do not bother to get out and vote, then all that is being achieved is handing the seat to those who may not have your best interests at heart.
The apathetic voter may stay away from the Polling Station but the more motivated supporters of political parties on the other hand will turn out. It was voter apathy that ensured that Sadiq ‘Saracen’ Khan got the mayoralty of Greater London where only 45.3% of the possible electorate bothered to get out and vote. Voter apathy at the 2017 General Election was also partly behind the win for Fiona Onasanya in Peterborough. She was elected on a very slim majority of 607 and on a relatively low turnout of 67.5%. If only a few more people had bothered to turn out and vote Conservative at the General Election of 2017, then the people of Peterborough may have ended being represented by someone decent, and not someone who subsequently behaved in a criminal manner.
However, I am very pleased to see that the people of Peterborough have managed to slough off their voter apathy and take part in a recall petition to force Ms Onasanya out of the House of Commons. The electors of Peterborough chose to recall Ms Onasanya and force a by-election after she was convicted of perverting the course of justice over a speeding ticket.
It’s gratifying to see that so many Peterborough voters took the time to sign the recall petition. The petition to remove Ms Onasanya got far far more votes than the threshold of 7,000, or ten percent of the available electorate, that would be required to put the seat to a by-election vote. According to press reports, the number of people voting to remove Ms Onasanya was 19,261. This is 2.7 times more than the required number of votes, which says a lot about how the voters of Peterborough feel about their criminal now ex-Member of Parliament.
Apparently the by-election in Peterborough is due to be held on the 6th June. Let’s hope that the voters of Peterborough give the Labour Party, who picked this criminal moron for the seat and the shameless Ms Onasanya herself (who has declared that she stand as an independent), a memorable electoral beat down that will stand out in the history books. The people of Peterborough, who voted for Brexit in the 2016 Referendum, deserve much better than this dodgy Remainiac who tried to cling onto her seat despite being patently unsuitable for carrying out the task of MP.
