Local Council Election 4 May 2006 – Roding Ward
Eventually after resisting party politics for five decades, I was persuaded by
the local Member of Parliament after the General Election of 5 May 2005, to
join.
He convinced me that I had achieved, perhaps, as much as I could as an Independent. Indeed it was over lunch at the House of Commons. I thought about it seriously. When the local elections were called, I was part of a team. Three votes each were permitted for each voter. I was adopted to represent my ward.
The backing was superb. The ward had been held by a rival party for the previous two council elections. We were the outsiders. The count became a re-count. Other wards had long since declared. Roding Ward eventually declared its result just before 5am. I had failed by a mere 27 votes to gain a seat – although one of my colleagues failed by a mere 12 votes.
When I was watching the votes being counted, I was proud that so many voters did not use all three votes. So many single votes had been cast for just me. The same was for my colleague. I was heartened by this, and am warmed at the prospect that I seemed to have a reservoir of support amongst free-thinking people in my community.