The streets that don’t vote

The 2019 local elections take place on Thursday but, if recent turnout patterns continue in the same vein, a vast majority of Greater Manchester residents will not have their say at the ballot box.

For ‘The Streets That Don’t Vote’ project, Local Democracy reporters have been out on the doorsteps in wards with the lowest turnout records to ask why so few bother – and if that is likely to change this week.

“I never vote, it’s bent,” says Paul Jones.

As opening lines go, it doesn’t pull any punches.

“Everything makes me think that. There’s too much going on that you see on telly, everything is bent. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” the 49-year-old continues.

Here, on Middleton’s Langley Estate, the grandfather-of-six’s forceful views are not in isolation.

The area is part of the West Middleton ward that returned a 22pc turnout in the 2018 local elections.

According to Paul, it’s no surprise.

“I’ve not got enough money for my vote to count, I’m just a tax-payer who pays for the big people,” he tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

There is a host of reasons behind prospective voters in this area turning their back on the democratic process.

For some – like Paul – there is a deep-rooted distrust of those in power, a belief that those who seek election do so for their own interests, rather than those of the community.

Others simply say they do not feel connected to local politics or see themselves as being ‘bottom of the pile’.

William Walsh, of Lingmoor Close, says some representatives of the people can be ‘invisible’.

“I don’t even know any of the councillors. They are supposed to come round and get to know you and you voice your concerns to them,” the 62-year-old says.

“But they don’t come round, so I can’t voice anything to them. They are invisible.”

Doubtless the estate’s councillors would disagree – and, indeed, others were less cynical about candidates’ motives and the political system. Yet many still said parties were failing to do enough to get their message out – leaving them in the dark as to what they were voting for.

Among them is mum-of-one Lauren Haynes, of Rowrah Crescent: “I don’t vote, I just don’t know anything about it, it doesn’t really interest me.

“I would hate to be the one that votes for the wrong one,” she says.

Others, like couple Nicola Whitmore and Ryan Cahill, of Asby Close, say they just have little or no connection with local politics and therefore don’t engage.

Although town halls are responsible for many services that impact on everyday life – from collecting bins and repairing  roads, to caring for the elderly and making sure every child gets a place at school – when it comes to choosing a fresh crop of councillors, there is clearly a disconnect.

“I don’t even know what I’m voting for, I just don’t follow it really,” says 24-year-old Nicola.

The mum-of-one says she could be persuaded to vote if there was ‘just a bit more information on what we would actually be voting for’.

Her partner Ryan takes a similar, if more cynical view.

“I don’t know who I’m voting for, I just don’t follow it. But when I listen to it on the news, nothing ever seems to change,” he says.

In West Middleton, turnout has declined over recent years and its average turnout since 2014 makes it the lowest across Rochdale.

In 2014 just 27 per cent of voters in the ward went to the polls. And while this rose slightly to 28 per cent in 2016, it nosedived to a paltry 22 per cent last year.

Three years ago in the EU referendum some 60 per cent of the electorate came down on the side of Brexit.

The debate that continues to rage over if, how and when the UK will leave the EU, has undoubtedly influenced opinion in Langley.

There is a feeling that the democratic process has failed them and their decision has been ignored by ‘the powers that be’.

 

 

Jacqueline Bibby, of Castlerigg Drive, is among those furious over what she sees as a Brexit betrayal.

“I’m not going to vote ever again, and I think the big majority of people are going to say exactly the same thing,” says the 76-year-old great-grandmother.

“Where’s the point when they are backstabbing one another? The people voted to get out and that’s the way it should be – deal or no deal!”

Fellow Brexiter Brian Mumford, of Searness Road, says he too has begun to question the political system

But while he understands the disillusionment brought about by the Brexit saga, he adds: “I will vote because it’s my democratic right – even though democracy has been stood on.”

Langley, however, still has its committed voters – some of whom take a dim view of fellow residents who shun the ballot box.

“I don’t tend to know a lot of people who are interested in politics. I sit glued to the news all the time, but there’s a real lack of interest,” says 42-year-old carer David McClay.

His view is echoed by Alan Turner of Latrigg Crescent, who feels it is his civic duty to vote given the sacrifices of previous generations – including his father who miraculously avoided death in the Second World War.

“People survived and fought for something. Why do people not vote? I don’t understand it,” says the 62-year-old.

However, the turnout figures would suggest David and Alan are in the minority in West Middleton.

A distrust of the system, ‘invisible’ councillors, a lack of engagement and political education and the dreaded ‘B’ word have all played their part in turning West Middleton voters away from the ballot box.

With election day approaching, it remains to be seen whether this year’s candidates will be able to cut through this and inspire residents to head for the polling stations.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter