British parties face voter apathy

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MAY 11. Two days into the election campaign, and political parties can already sense that it is not going to be easy to persuade people to turn up on the polling day, let alone vote the way they want them to vote.

For all the voter-friendly noises coming from every direction, people remain sullen, confirming the parties' worst fears of a low turnout. And if Tories thought they had a committed vote bank and needn't worry, a report in The Times today should have smashed that illusion. In a piece headed ``Tories wilt in Oxford hothouse'', the newspaper described amazing scenes of apathy right in the heart of the Tories' recruiting ground: the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA), once headed by the current party chief, Mr. William Hague.

The OUCA, known as the ``vanguard'' of Conservative youth, is curiously detached from its parent party's electoral struggle for survival and, as The Times discovered, the ``OUCA members are more interested in their own election for president than the one where Mr. Hague is trying to become Prime Minister.''

The OUCA itself is said to be an unrecognisably pale shadow of its old self, a marginal and somewhat ``eccentric'' force in a university which was once seen as a fortress of conservatism. And the few Tory activists who are still around are far from enthused by Mr. Hague. ``Despite ritual expressions of support, Oxford's young Tories seem underwhelmed by Mr. Hague'', the newspaper noted.

Even The Daily Telegraph, more loyal to the Tories than the Tories themselves, had difficulty getting a positive feedback on Mr. Hague. It quoted members of a largely pro-Tory focus group as being generally dismissive of Mr. Hague, causing some to have second thoughts about voting for his party. ``Whenever William Hague comes on the television my wife says he's a little weasel, and she's a life-long Tory voter'', one man said. The paper reported widespread voter apathy, largely arising out of their dissatisfaction with both the major parties.

``They are all as bad as each other'', was how one man put it, echoing a general view that no party was worth voting for. Cynicism was also reflected in an opinion poll showing that voters were ``unenthusiastic'' about both Labour and the Tories. Satisfaction with Liberal Democrats - the poorest of cousins in the election battle - has declined to a mere eight per cent. Nearly 57 per cent people said they were not sure whom they would vote for - and if ``someone asked their opinion they would be neutral about voting for the party.'' Campaign managers in all parties are worried about people switching off, and are believed to be scratching their heads thinking of ways to make the elections more ``interesting''.

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