I am the law!

Today the vote for local police commissioners took place and I did my civic duty and tootled off down to the polling station to cast my vote.  Not that I was informed or had attended any of the hustings, though I had the opportunity.  I was participating in civil society and as it was my right to vote, I am determined to exercise that right.

I noticed that, though it was a central plank of Tory policy, ironically, it was an Alternative Vote system (albeit the most pared down one, limited to first and second choices).  Maybe it was a compromise with the Liberal Democrat Coalition partners, maybe it is a sign of the importance that the Conservatives attach to it.  Interestingly, there was no referendum to my knowledge on the implementation of police commissioners, unlike, say, the AV referendum.

Anyway, I voted for the Labour candidate as my first choice, much in the same way that Americans used to vote for a president and a Congress of differing political persuasions – as a balancer (rather than for obstruction).  This is one of the few elections where I might vote for the Tories given their reputation for law and order but I plumped for a second choice with an independent who was a woman.  I don’t see independent candidates as having the organisational wherewithal to resist central government diktats, but it is good to have women in top positions (the Labour candidate was also female).

Somehow it all feels slightly artificial with democracy imposed by a top-down approach and not having the same grassroots appeal as Americans voting for their sheriffs and district attorneys.  I won’t lose much sleep, whatever the result but the true judge of relevance will be the impact felt by the time of the next election.