Turning on voters

6:38am Friday 9th May 2008

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Congratulations to Boris Johnson on his victory in the election for London Mayor. London's gain is our loss as we shall be saying goodbye to a popular, high-profile MP. Mr Johnson has provided some entertaining news for this newspaper from time to time. Fair play to him, however, he has played the serious politician very well in the last few months.

His reward is to be the most senior Conservative in a position of power in this country.

The election for London Mayor was notable for one thing that has gone largely unremarked - the turnout. At 45 per cent, you might say that it was not that great. Contrast it, however, with the turnout in Oxford, which was 33 per cent. Only one in three people in this city bothered to vote. One might expect the turnout in Oxford to at least be a little better than that in London. We should be asking why it is so.

The most common refrain from those who do not vote is: "It will not make any difference, they are all the same."

The fact that Labour is now leading a minority administration of the city council, and not the Liberal Democrats, will make little difference. Policies on the big issues such as the redevelopment of large areas of the city, fortnightly waste collections and the management of leisure facilities will not change. What differences there will be, will be at the edges.

What it also means is that we will once again have a party in control but not in control. Labour cannot muster enough votes to have an overall majority. It appears that the party will not be seeking to enter into a coalition with any other party. Any of its policies could at any time be overturned by a majority of opposition councillors.

As we have said before, this is not a recipe for good and strong management of city council services - and, as we all know, there has long been a need for good and strong political management.

The next question is why was the turnout for the election of a London Mayor so much better than for the city council elections? It was unquestionably a more high-profile election, with two high-profile candidates achieving national media coverage.

Could interest in Oxford elections be rejuvenated if the city adopted a system under which a series of candidates vied for the powerful position of city mayor.

Such a contest would not attract similar national media attention. It would, for sure, attract a greater degree of local media attention than the present system.

Crucially, too, we believe it would make for stronger political control of the city council. We also believe that it would spark greater interest in the democratic process among residents of this city, and give Oxford a stronger voice both within Oxfordshire and nationally.

Sadly, it is unlikely that the present crop of councillors will seriously consider such a proposal. After all, they would have to concede power.