PEOPLE’S PETITION TO STOP THE BLOCK VOTE IN THE EDINBURGH CITY CHAMBERS & ALL LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND TO GIVE OUR COUNCILLORS THE DUTY TO EXERCISE THEIR INDIVIDUAL INTELLECT TO INVESTIGATE THE EVIDENCE FOR ISSUES THEY ARE VOTING ON AND FOR THEM TO CAST A FREE VOTE ON BEHALF OF THEIR CONSTITUENTS IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR INDIVIDUAL VOTING RECORD RESTS ONLY ON THEIR SHOULDERS.
WE NO LONGER WANT COUNCILLORS TO TAKE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW THEY SHOULD VOTE FROM THEIR PARTY OF FROM THE MAJORITY OF THE COUNCILLORS FROM THEIR PARTY. IF THIS CONTINUES WE WILL CONSIDER ACTUALLY VOTING IN THE MAY 2027 LOCAL ELECTIONS IF WE DON’T USUALLY VOTE AND WE WILL CONSIDER POSSIBLY VOTING FOR EDINBURGH PEOPLE
I petition:
- Each of my respective ward councillors individually.
- The Leaders of each of the Labour, SNP, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green party groups of Councillors.
- The City of Edinburgh Council as a whole.
- As well as my MP & MSP.
That you please do all that is in your powers to:
- Encourage as many Councillors as possible to agree with the objective of this petition.
- Most importantly can you please be compelled to lodge a motion for your Party’s Group of Councillors to vote on allowing your party’s Councillors a free vote.
- If your party votes in favour of a free vote, could you please be compelled to put forward a motion to the full council for such to be voted on at the next full council meeting.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION TO CONSIDER WHEN DECIDING WHETHER TO SIGN THIS PETITION
It is our opinion that the block vote by the five main parties in the City Chambers is flawed as it makes councillors unaccountable directly to their respective constituents whom they are representing. When campaigning for election a favourite is to claim, “I will be your local champion, and I will represent the interests of the people of our ward in the City Chambers”.
Such a claim is either ignorant or duplicitous. Imagine, for example, the two of us were both Councillors from the same party and we both felt strongly about voting in a particular way on a particular issue. If together we failed to persuade the majority of the Councillors in our party to vote how we wanted to vote, then both of our votes would be cast in direct opposition to how we both wanted to vote. So, as Councillors we would not be able to vote how we ourselves wanted to vote let alone how our constituents would like us to vote.
The same problem exists in Holyrood and Westminster where MPs & MSPs are whipped by the party and instructed on how to vote.
We believe that we have identified the single lynchpin flaw in the current system of politics which is causing so many millions to be so unhappy. We know that that is a bit of a bold claim. Let us explain and you can be the judge.
THE FLAW is that political parties are far too large, and they are trying to control far too many thousands of people. They are doing this with a top-down control which is becoming more autocratic. Evidenced, by the Labour Party suspending and expelling 7 MPs from the Labour Party within one month of the 2024 General Election for voting against the whip. Ironically, they voted to end the two-child benefit cap which would be a normal position for anyone in the Labour Party to hold. They voted how Labour would be expected to vote and found themselves being booted out of the Labour Party!
So, specifically the lynchpin flaw is the whipping of our elected representatives. However, before you agree we like people to understand why we think it is the single lynchpin flaw. So, imagine that we are both working in a factory together and that we are both lackies. As a lacky what is your job? Well number one your job is to do as you are told. And number two to not ask any questions.
Herein lies the problem because when our elected representatives are told that they will be told how to vote then that in itself demotes them to the status of a lacky. This is not a criticism but an observation that would likely apply to both of us which is that as a lacky one disengages one’s intellect from questioning what one is doing. Why would you waste your time given that you cannot change anything.
Is this, what we want from our elected representatives? We do not think so!
EDINBURGH PEOPLE is putting forward a potential solution which may possibly Fix Politics. The potential solution is to have small regional parties representing the interests of people locally rather than having large parties and to instead of having a top-down control structure is to have a bottom-up control structure where all the power rests with the members of the party locally within the ward, constituency or region. If this solution is a winner, then it will make many millions a lot less unhappy.
The slogan for EDINBURGH PEOPLE candidates is elect me and you will be my boss. If elected EDINBURGH PEOPLE Councillors will take instruction on how to vote directly from the members of the party from within the ward. Whenever the voting agenda is made available EDINBURGH PEOPLE Councillors will email it to their members explaining how they would like to vote and why. It will be up to the members to vote that way their Councillor’s votes will be cast as per instructed by the majority of the members who vote.