THE QUIET Devon market town of Totnes has few claims to fame. It is where they say Brutus of Troy, mythical founder of Britain, first came ashore, and now has a reputation as a haven for New Age living. But earlier this month it was the site of an experiment in people power that some would have us believe could reinvigorate politics: the Tories held a US-style primary to pick their next parliamentary candidate.
One hundred applied to replace the sitting Tory MP. The local party picked three possibles, and then – encouraged by central office – organised a postal ballot of local voters. Dr Sarah Wollaston, a 47-year-old GP and mother-of-three, was elected comfortably after 16,639 people took part – 24.6 per cent of the electorate. Other Tory local parties are expected to follow suit and across the political aisle a similar approach has been advocated by, among others, foreign secretary David Milliband.
In the wake of the expenses scandal British politicians have the public standing of traffic wardens, and so it is not hard to see why giving voters a sense of ownership of candidate selection appeals to parties desperate to improve the brand identity. Such is the demoralisation among MPs that as many as 200 are expected to decline to run again – 95 have already done so.
The primary system also appeals to many party managers who have been uncomfortable with the power of the much maligned but crucial licker-of-envelopes and knocker-on-doors, the local activist. Bypassing these ideologically driven foot soldiers, it is argued, should allow prosper less extreme candidates more reflective of the country and hence increase the chance of party success. Yet, with party ranks already sadly depleted, introducing primaries could simply accelerate the demise of activism. Why join a party if it offers no membership privileges?
For others, primaries would be an opportunity to push a broader agenda to end the grossly unfair first-past-the-post system. (In 1951, Labour and Tories won 97 per cent of all votes cast. By 2005, they got only 67 per cent between them, and 86 per cent of seats). In truth Ireland’s STV system, which in effect conflates the primary and general election into one voting operation, performs a similar role to the primary by giving ordinary voters, rather than parties, the right to rank candidates in order of their preference. But primaries alone, while creating an illusion of reform, would do nothing to inject the proportionality into the system that both Labour and Tories fear. In this regard, Totnes was a sideshow.