If you stand in the London Borough elections as a candidate for a council seat, you have to live in the ward in which you stand. Why then do you not have to live in the constituency you hope to represent when standing in the London Assembly elections? It is, after all, also a local government election.
In a rerun of the Bromley & Chislehurst Constituency parliamentary by-election in 2006, neither the Conservative nor the Labour candidate for the Bexley and Bromley constituency live in the area, living instead in Lewisham and Shoreditch respectively. Why should anyone vote for a candidate who does not experience first-hand the concerns of the local residents?
12 HOUR VIGIL on 20th September 2008. Over 400 signatures collected.
photo copyright News Shopper.
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2 comments:
"If you stand in the London Borough elections as a candidate for a council seat, you have to live in the ward in which you stand."
No, you only have to either live or work in that borough/authority. Think you will find that most of Bexley council don't actually live in the ward they represent.
Hallo anonymous. For "live" read "live or work". There are other qualifications as well but I was focussing on the living aspect. However, I stand corrected on your main point. To their credit, all three of the councillors in Chislehurst ward live in the ward and that's why I was mistaken. It doesn't alter my main argument though. Why should anyone be permitted to stand in a ward or constituency if they don't actually live there? And if they don't actually live there why should anyone take seriously their claim to be able to effectively represent the electorate in that area? John Hemming-Clark
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