Goring-by-Sea
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Now all the excitement (wot excitement was this?) is over, it turns out that the elections to the European Parliament were not about members or what they will do, but an unofficial referendum on whether we want the Euro as our currency. It appears we do not. But for the members the results are in. Turnout was 25%, better than the national average of 23%, and certainly better than at one polling station at Sunderland that only had 15 voters all day.
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A swing to Conservatives. Two minority parties were succesful. No Sussex people. 1,489,799 votes cast out of six million (25%). Details are shown below. We are part of SE England Region with 6 million voters, and comprises: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and Sussex. SE England region is bigger than several complete countries in Europe including Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and should definitely be a force to be reckoned within the European Parliament. The European Elections were be on a proportional voting system; we vote only for the parties involved. In the party lists for the South East there are 11 seats, and there are 11 parties and 101 candidates, all not unwilling to earn a salary of £47,000 and generous expenses. Each voter got just the one tick which must be against the party of their choice. All the votes are counted and the parties get allocated seats in proportion to their total vote. The seats are then allocated within each party starting at the top of the list and working down. Not the best PR system - single transferable vote would have been better. An enormous list of 11 parties; 101 unknowns for candidates; a new and different system of voting; a parliament in Strasbourg wherever that is; doing God knows what.
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So here is the line up with the succesful candidates in red:
In the absence of any person-related criteria, lets look at the websites for guidance. Top is the Green party which is quick to load and I can find the list of candidates without difficulty. Second is the Lib-Dem which has a convenient link to the election stuff at the top of the homepage. Good Third is UK Independence Party which is slower to load but has convenient maps leading me to the list of candidates. Fourth comes the Conservative website which is terrible, slow to load, full of meaningless graphics, but eventually I did get to a list of candidates for the South East. Worst is Labour which starts off with a full screen picture of our leader, eventually you can get to the homepage, but this does not help since there is no mention of the Euro Elections at all, let alone a list of candidates. There is a short South East page under a separate URL, but this is apparently kept a secret. A non-runner is the Natural Law Party of America famous for its belief in yogic flying, acknowledges there is a country called England but gets the flag wrong, and is apparently not aware that we have an election on here. It is quite a good idea for parliamentary candidates to be local to the communities they represent. Eight candidates come from Sussex and it does not really seem likely that any of them will be elected. If voting on this pronciple the best party will be Independent - Making a Profit in Europe, 100% of whose candidates come from Sussex. No change in Goring or Castle. Results below: | ||||||||||||||
| Goring Ward | ||
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Conservative 1741 votes - elected David has lived in Goring all his life and in Goring for the past five years. The 35-year-old is married and works for a multi-national insurance company. Environmental and quality of life issues are his priorities and he aims to fight to preserve the residential ethos of Goring and its landscape and open spaces, particularly the seafront, Ilex Way, and the Goring Gap. |
Liberal Democrat 476 votes Originally from Kent, Ian began working in Worthing in 1987 and has been involved in a variety of local services since that time, including considerable charity work in the town. The Liberal Democrat has also worked for a number of years with various local authorities and care agencies concerned with the placement and welfare of vulnerable children. |
Labour 218 votes Mark is a civil servant who has lived in Worthing for 25 years. The Labour Party candidate is concerned that Worthing Borough Council's environmental policies are not sufficiently 'green'. He also believes that new developments on brown-field sites should be fully utilised, relaxing the pressure on precious areas, such as the Goring Gap. |
| Castle Ward | ||
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Conservative 930 votes - elected Andrew has been a borough councillor for Castle for two years. His family moved to Worthing in 1974. Married with two daughters, his work with youth groups has included directing shows and serving as a school governor. He has worked to fight off industrial development on the Goring Gap and supported the development of Teville Gate. |
Liberal Democrat 520 votes Bobby was born locally 31 years ago. He is currently manager of Nicks Diner in the Arcade, Worthing. Bobby has been involved in local politics since 1990 and was Liberal candidate in 1991. Since moving to Castle ward he has campaigned on a number of issues, and became chairman of Goring Chase Resident's Association. |
Labour 698 votes Mike has stood for Castle in the past two local elections. He moved to Worthing six years ago after serving as a councillor in Sutton for 20 years where he was the leader of the Labour group. Mike is particularly interested in education and has chaired youth and advisory committees. Mike is keen to be the borough council strong labour voice. |
(Photos and Facts are from Worthing Herald 22 April 99)
