THE sheer arrogance of many politicians never ceases to amaze us. The closer we get to the general election, the more we hear politicians warning people not to waste their vote.
These pleas are born out of fear. More often that not the wasted vote card is played in constituencies that have been dominated traditionally by two parties. We do not necessarily mean Labour and the Tories – plenty of seats are a straight battle between the Lib Dems and one of the other two main parties.
When either or both candidates in an apparent two-way fight fear defeat they warn the electorate not to waste their votes by backing any other party. It is breath-taking arrogance. The same arrogance is currently being portrayed by the attack dogs of the Tory and Labour-supporting national press because of the rising popularity of the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.
This newspaper’s view is clear. There is no such thing as a wasted vote. One person’s vote is as important as the next. Our beliefs and backgrounds inform our choices. But they are our choices.
It is time politicians began to show some respect for the electorate. Voters should never feel their views are invalid just because they have not voted in the way politicians would like them to.
The longer this election campaign goes on the more obvious it becomes that voters have had enough of being told what to do by politicians who have lost all moral authority. Humility may well be the most attractive characteristic for candidates to display in the run up to May 6.
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