Keeping in Touch.

It’s local election time again on Thursday so it isn’t much of a surprise to see those familiar red, blue and yellow coloured leaflets popping through letterboxes across the country, each one attempting to persuade us all to vote for so-and-so in any way possible.

My local area has predominantly been Liberal Democrat territory for many a year both in both local and national level. Andrew Stunell has been the local MP for 15 years now and they’ve controlled the local council for a very long while with my councillor in particular being a Lib Dem too. His name is Dave Goddard and he’s the leader of Stockport Council.

Now, I’ve voted Lib Dem at every single local election in the past but on Thursday my cross will not be going into Goddard’s box. Not because the Lib Dems voted in favour of the student fee increase, though that would usually be a good enough reason, but because the communications representing his campaign are disgusting.

Over the last two weeks I’ve been bombarded by Lib Dem literature, with more pamphlets than the Tories and Labour combined, and every single one of them has been an utter disgrace.

First and foremost they are full of lies about both Labour and the Conservatives. Apparently the Tories will be turning off our street lights if they get into power, something that neither the party nor their candidate Steve Rodriguez have EVER said, and Labour candidate Laura Booth will be hell-bent on taking money out of services which is completely unfounded and appears to have been plucked from thin-air. I wouldn’t mind but the Lib Dems have taken money from services like crossing guards leaving many dangerous roads unsupervised when kids are on their way to and from school!

All his leaflets bother to communicate is how bad the other parties are and what they might do if they were allowed into power; and if he isn’t telling us how Labour will release the Kraken if elected he’s taking credit for other people’s work. One point he is quick to tell us all is how he managed to freeze the council tax for the last two years which I thought was strange seeing as I’m fairly sure that was the work of the government.

I really hate how he is treating the electorate like idiots, and it just seems like his painful arrogance knows no bounds. In an attempt to gain an influential advocate, Dave can be found on every leaflet stood next to Stockport County manager Jim Gannon on the pitch at Edgerley Park with the robotic quote: 

“Dave Goddard is a real friend of Stockport County.” 

Obviously Goddard has pulled the strings at County as the council themselves sponsored the team for quite a while. Seems legitimate doesn’t it? Until you take a look at the Labour literature where Jim Gannon has been given a whole column to express his views and talk about the potential future of the local area! So then, who do you think Gannon supports here? The bloke he stands awkwardly next to on a pamphlet, or the party he writes a column for?

The thing is Goddard knows he’s on the ropes, he knows Labour are closing in for the kill. Nationwide the Lib Dems are ranked above mother-in-laws in the league table of comedy punch lines as they continue to go against their principles and generally get thrown to the wolves by the Conservative Party. Labour are only 201 votes away from topping the Lib Dems in Offerton and if the Lib Dems take the hit that has been predicted, it’s quite likely Dave Goddard will lose his seat on the council.

For that reason they’ve been dwelling in the horrible swamp that is tactical voting. Yes, they’ve been targeting Tory voters in the area with leaflets directly addressing Conservative voters asking them to lend their vote to the Lib Dems to keep Labour out. This is, in a word, pathetic.

However, all of these problems pale in comparison to what is the absolute WORST offense in my eyes. Only today I received yet another leaflet which had the gall to include a quote from one of Goddard’s supporters saying:

This is an absolute joke! I haven’t heard from Dave Goddard once before two weeks ago; the fact he calls his leaflets "Keeping in Touch" while managing to be so out of touch is an irony that isn't lost on me. Labour's Laura Booth has been in constant contact with us. She sends out leaflets every couple of months to update everyone on Labour’s progress, what the council is doing that they don’t agree with and actively ask people to get in touch with them regarding local issues. Not only that but I even received a phone call from her about seven months ago asking how I felt about the council, what I’d like to see changed, and if I had any local issues on my mind. She even gave me her mobile number so I could get in touch should anything arise.

Labour’s literature is the only actual way I get to know what’s going on in my council, I’ve not heard anything from Goddard, for all I know he’s been in the Town Hall spinning round and round on his office chair for the past 6 years.

The very fact that he can claim that he keeps in touch with us while at the same time saying Labour only pop out during election season is not just arrogant but a complete and utter lie! Quite frankly the Lib Dems should be ashamed of themselves. I’m surprised they’ve stooped to this level to be honest; I suppose it shows just how bad a state the party is in right now.

So people of Offerton who read this blog, yes both of you, I urge you to not to vote Liberal Democrat in this local election. Show them that these deceitful communications will not be tolerated. I’m not a Labour man, or a Lib Dem man; I’m just a guy - a guy who has been treated like a moron by Dave Goddard for far too long.