Somewhat Disconnected

A poll showing the reasons why people do not vote has provided the Bullingdon Club with a bit of festive fun by opportunifying them to push the ridiculous Chloe Smith out into the traffic again. Once the Chancellor's human shield on Newsnight, a task for which she was inadequately briefed and in which she failed miserably, Smith has now been shunted into the post of minister for electoral reform; which, since her party is patently opposed to electoral reform, perfectly demonstrates just how seriously it takes her.

The poll in question shows that people are most likely to be put off voting by perceptions that politicians are likely to break their promises, and that they are crooks and liars. Imagine that. Perceptions that politicians are all the same, or that they fail to represent exactly the voters' own views, are somewhat less significant; and the number of people who are put off by the inconvenience of voting or registering is minuscule. Accordingly, Smith responded with the standard New Labour public-relations cant: "We have to demonstrate what politics is for", because that high and holy purpose has not yet been spelled out in big enough letters for the proles to see their masters in an appropriately worshipful light.