The lack of fair play in the City of Chester by- election

By Anthony Webber: 

The City of Chester electors go to the polls on Thursday 1^st December 2022.

This by -election came about because the former Labour MP, Chris Matheson, resigned following sexual misconduct claims.

An independent investigation for the Parliamentary standards committee recommended that he be suspended, but having denied the allegations, he still chose to stand down as a MP.

There are nine candidates in this by-election:

2022 City of Chester by-election[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liz Wardlaw
	Freedom Alliance	Chris Quartermaine
	Green	Paul Bowers
	Labour	Samantha Dixon
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Herd
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope
	Reform UK	Jeanie Barton
	Rejoin EU	Richard Hewison
	UKIP	Cain Griffiths

 

This election has attracted very little national media attention so far, which is a pity.

There are many reasons for this, one being that it is a Labour held seat which is likely to stay that way.

At the end of this article, there are the records of the last few General Election results for this constituency since 2015, and they show very little change in the voting patterns of the Chester electorate.

What has changed though, since the 2019 General Election has been the dramatic attack on freedoms and huge government over- expenditure, which came about with the government’s missplaced pandemic policies.

There has been a general over- reach of government powers without democratic assent in other areas too. These have included climate change net zero agendas and the interventionalist policies in respect of the Ukraine/Russia conflict.

All these have had major adverse effects on the UK economy but because the old mainstream parties are in broad agreement on such policies, they simply do not get the in – depth debate and analysis they very much merit.

This is particularly true of the government’s policies on the Ukraine/Russia conflict which they have had since just after it started in February 2022.

An assessment of prices and the state of the economy as of then, in February of this year, and compared with now, at the end of November, reveal an horrendous downturn in the state of the economy and huge rises in prices. There has been widespread effect on all aspects of the UK’s economic, financial, and social situation.

So far, the government has not been honest with the British public and has blamed the energy crisis on Russia, when this is simply not true.

The energy crisis is self-inflicted. It is not Russia who have decided not to provide their energy supplies to us, but the UK government and some other government’s which have taken such suicidal decisions. If the UK government ended sanctions and became a neutral peacemaker in Ukraine, there would be an immediate easing of the economic pressures on the UK economy. The overwhelming majority of world countries are not sanctioning Russia and are staying out of the conflict because it is in their economic interests to do so. The same applies to the UK but the government is not prepared to do what is in British interests, nor is it even prepared to debate this vitally important issue.

This is a most serious issue as it involves the very economic survival of the UK. Therefore, all the candidates in this by-election were sent a question about the Ukraine conflict. They were asked a simple question:

Would they support there being a UK wide referendum on the UK becoming neutral peacemakers in Ukraine:

https://bit.ly/peaceoverwar

A Yes/No answer would have sufficed, or the candidates could have said more.

However, despite several reminders, most of the candidates have been reluctant to respond on such an important issue. To their credit, some did, and by their responses, demonstrated that they understand what electoral accountability is all about:

The Freedom Alliance candidate, Chris Quartermaine, said:

“I’m very much in favour of a referendum. This government is doing all kinds of things for which they have no mandate. This is so important that a referendum is the only way to move forward. We don’t have time to wait till the next election and in any case both parties seem to be in favour of war rather than peace.”

Chris

The Rejoin the EU candidate, Richard Hewison, said;

“Thank you for your email enquiry. The Rejoin EU Party is a single-issue party and as such has no party policy on the matter you enquired on.

However, we have asked our candidate to comment on your query and we reproduce his answer below:

“No, I would not support such a referendum.

I do not believe such a referendum would be free & fair and would be almost certainly be subject to massive Russian interference.

Putin is currently a clear and present danger to not just Europe in general, but all life on this planet.

Putin is hence a menace to Europe and Britain must stand with Europe, providing leadership where necessary, to defeat him.

Any effective attempts to oppose his expansionism are to be welcomed.”

Richard Hewison, Rejoin EU Candidate, City of Chester by election

We hope this clarifies the candidate’s position for you.”

The Monster Raving Loony party candidate, Howling Laud Hope, said:

         “ No, don’t want get involved as yet.

The party has many answers, but to early to divulge.”

“Remember, the only wasted vote is one that is not used.”

• The other candidates have not responded despite reminders and therefore what is said here is based on what is on public record in this by-election so far:
• Jeanie Baron. The Reform party candidate has said nothing relevant on this issue.
• Paul Bowers, the Green party candidate, has also said nothing relevant on this issue.
• Samantha Dixon, Labour party candidate, has said “ how humbled she is about welcoming our Ukrainian guests of which there are nearly 300.” She has made no mention of the economic consequences of the government’s Ukraine policies, which the Labour party supports.
• Cain Griffiths, the UKIP candidate, has said that “it is not in the UK’s interests to take sides in the Ukraine conflict, on a Unity News interview.
• Rob Herd, the Liberal Democratic party candidate, has spoken of “Russian aggression and the benefits of being closely allied with Europe.” He also has said how he “is concerned about people who are reliant on food banks.” He has said nothing about the government’s Ukraine policies being responsible for much of such economic hardship.
• Liz Wardlaw, the Conservative party candidate, has spoken of her “steadfast support for the people of Ukraine.”

She has said nothing about her government’s Ukraine policies being responsible for damaging the economy.

               She seems to be prouder of her returning to nursing to help manage the local mass covid-19 vaccination programme.

The national and local media has been complicit in shutting out the Ukraine issue from this by-election.

Despite having been fully informed about the questions sent to all the by-election candidates, they all no platformed this story.

The election itself has been a bit of a charade and there have been some election hustings meetings which only the old mainstream political parties have been invited to.

This is all nothing short of a disgrace because democracy means nothing if all candidates are not treated fairly and equally, and because of the economic crisis the UK is in.

It is to be hoped that the electors of the City of Chester will vote against the warmongers who are wrecking our economy with their Ukraine first policies.

It is likely that the Conservative party will take a knocking because of the economic crisis, but the beneficiaries are likely to be parties who believe in the same policies!

There is a lesson to be learned from this by-election and that is that “Freedom” political parties must find a way of working together and speaking with a clear and convincing voice, otherwise they will get nowhere at the General Election. The successful example of the National Rally party in France is one to take heed of.

There is another by-election on 15^th December 2022 at Stretford and Urmston and questions are being sent to their candidates. On this occasion it is to be hoped that ALL will take their responsibility to be accountable with the electorate more seriously and will answer what they have been asked.

Elections in the 2020s

 

Elections in the 2010s[edit]

General election 2019: City of Chester[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Matheson	27,082	49.6	–7.2
	Conservative	Samantha George	20,918	38.3	–2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Thompson	3,734	6.8	+4.1
	Green	Nicholas Brown	1,438	2.6	New
	Brexit Party	Andy Argyle	1,388	2.5	New
Majority			6,164	11.3	–5.0
Turnout			54,560	71.7	–5.7
	Labour hold		Swing	–2.5

General election 2017: City of Chester [30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Matheson	32,023	56.8	+13.6
	Conservative	Will Gallagher[31]	22,847	40.5	−2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Lizzie Jewkes[32]	1,551	2.7	−2.9
Majority			9,176	16.3	+16.2
Turnout			56,421	77.4	+9.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.1

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § City of Chester

General election 2015: City of Chester[33][34]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Matheson	22,118	43.2	+8.1
	Conservative	Stephen Mosley	22,025	43.1	+2.5
	UKIP	Steve Ingram	4,148	8.1	+5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Thompson	2,870	5.6	–13.5
Majority			93	0.1	N/A
Turnout			51,161	67.7	+1.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.9

 

Anthony Webber Independent Political Commentator

anthonywebber@cwgsy.net

@tony_webber ( twitter)