The elections: Candidates pitches

I've applied for a postal vote but haven't received it yet. Rochdale must be running late......how unusual!!!!  
When do they have to be returned?

I am glad to see 3 Green Party candidates standing and hope they do well. I confidently predict that Labour will remain in power and that the Council will have a new leader. Richard Farnell,?  What are your odds Old Regulator?

Manc wrote:

I've applied for a postal vote but haven't received it yet. Rochdale must be running late......how unusual!!!!  
When do they have to be returned?

They are going out in batches,some as late as the end of this week.

And they don't need to be returned by the 20th, they have to be back with the Council by or on polling day (22nd). That can be by post beforehand (depending on how punctual you expect them to be) or to any polling station in the relevant ward on the day itself.

Oh dear. Are you hoping for 'change'???

They make an interesting read for sure.

If a candidate can't be bothered to write a pitch, I must say that I can't be bothered to vote for them.

Hardly inspires you to believe that they would become an active local Councillor in your area does it?

I still chuckle when i get leaflets through the door from various candidates saying we wil fight for this or fight for that. Such as in Newhey. The old Coral Mill site utter eyesore. I know there was a application put through years ago but it got canned. Ive since found out theres is a new planner going through the motions.

Yet the local Labour candidate stated he will work to get the site 'sorted' but hasnt really said how.

I know its old hat spin and PR. But you think the candidates would have worked out things have moved on since the Ministry of Dark Arts on Drake Street as it was described by an ex RO Forum Priest.

[quote="Hinch"]

Do much of the electorate read 'poor' spelling and grammar just as, if not more easily than 'correct' English?

Not so many people will know candidates personally. It might be helpful if candidates produced some sort of standard fact sheet showing skills such as numeracy and comprehension, so voters might be better informed.

It's probably a realistic political calculation for candidates to think the less we know about them, the more likely we are to elect them. As Poppy says, it doesn't inspire confidence.

Perhaps the more we know about candidates, the less likely we will elect them. Elections are a bit like betting on horses really, you can apply a system or just like the name of a horse, but the bookie wins.

Apart from aspiring politicians being able to write proper sentences, so many established politicians seem incapable of speaking calmly and clearly. They need to gargle before each sentence, then repeat the first words several times, as if this somehow adds weight to whatever they are droning on about.

Gaar, gaaargle, y y yes the the, in the, in the, the case of ... case of .... . Apparently a modern 'political' style of speaking rather than a speech impediment.

As for numeracy, similar to darts players who failed maths but can add up the score backwards and inside out, politicians who throw away millions of pounds suddenly become arithmetical wizards when it comes to understanding how to flip and squeeze the expenses system.

If only this man can be caught
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/maxwell-parsons-fugitive-mastermind-fraudster-7099806
If he is given a comfy but secure prison cell with a computer, a deal could be struck where he will be released as soon as he has got rid of the UK national debt. Such talent should be put to good use.

Hinch wrote:And the first prize for poor spelling and grammar goes to Rifat Mahmood (C) Milkstone and Deeplish. ('Citizens guild' when he means City and Guilds. 'Collage' where he means 'college'. Small 'c' in 'Conservative' etc.)

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/elections/election-pitch/855/rifat-mahmood

But -?   But there a lots of small 'c's in Conservatives?  Big ones too so I believe!!!!!!!!!!!! Surely?