The Fear

The election is over... sort of. After all, no party has really 'won' yet and, for the campaigner on the ground, there is still all the tidying up, thank you letters and the campaign autopsy to do before we can really say that the election is over. But for now, there is a little time to recover from our 'war wounds' (aching feet, lack of sleep and 'letter-box knuckle') and chance to reflect. Election week was so busy I didn't have time to post all the things I wanted to. So I will be catching up.

Last year, Lily Allen released the single 'The Fear', with the chorus...

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear?
'Cos I'm being taken over by the fear

Wise words indeed. It's almost as if it was written about the election as the various parties vied for votes and power and tried (perhaps in vain) to use the black cloak of fear to confuse the electorate into supporting them.

Early on, Labour came under heavy criticism for sending postcards to cancer patients. Not only did the party make rather dubious use of NHS patient information in order to do so, they attempted to scare said cancer patients into supporting them by claiming that the Conservative party would cut cancer treatment and put lives at risk. It was a desperate tactic that backfired horribly. Rather than garnering support, it put people off the party. Far from being scared of a Tory government, it seemed the majority response was horror at the blatant attempt at manipulation that was just about as subtle as a brick and the general misuse of patient information.

The Conservatives tried a similar, albeit slightly less brick-like tactic. Feeling their divine right to power slipping through their tightly clenched fingers, the Tories tried to scare the electorate into avoiding a hung parliament. It'll be bad for the economy, the stock markets won't like it, it'll be all shady back-room deals... they failed to mention any of the nations where minority governments, coalitions and hung parliaments are run-of-the-mill. The SNP minority government in Scotland has managed to do just fine for its people. Fortunately, it seems that people were just as unconvinced by this tactic. The electorate didn't like to be 'told' how to vote and returned a hung parliament anyway. Take that, David Cameron!

The British National Party are of course the party of fear. They play on the general fear that surrounds immigration, 'foreign' cultures and some religions. Less than a week before the election, some of our neighbours received a mocked up letter and other material purporting to be from a Muslim organisation. I will not perpetuate the lies, but the stunt was designed to instill fear of the Muslim community. Thankfully, people here saw straight through it. Many of the mailings were handed to the police. Most were simply discarded. I am proud to say that the BNP vote collapsed.

So generally it seems that people do not allow themselves to be taken in by such tactics, but having said that, there was a large proportion of voters that remained undecided right up to the last minute and I wonder if these sort of tactics might have had something to do with it. 'Spin' is one thing - the presentation of information in a positive or negative way - but some of the strategies and tactics that have been employed have gone far beyond mere spin. It's tough enough picking a party or candidate to support without the media and the opposition making matters more complicated with fear, half-truths and sometimes even lies. Perhaps rules are needed? But then again, rules are made to be broken.