"SHHH! Election taking place ..." Cumbria Chronic's view of the Egremont South by-election

The Cumbria Chronic has published a piece on the Egremont South by-election, which you can read by clicking on the link immediately below:

SHHH! ELECTION TAKING PLACE… – The Cumbria Chronic

Most of the time Egremont Town council works together pretty well in a constructive and not-particularly partisan or party-political manner. A vote which took place this week about the forthcoming by-election was, I think, the most controversial since I joined the council two years ago.

Normally polling cards are sent out when there is an election to make sure everyone who is entitled to vote knows that there is an election, when, where and how to vote etc.

But apparently this is not automatic and when there is a Town Council by election, the council gets to decide whether or not to send out polling cards.

If there is a contest when nominations close for the vacant town council seat representing Egremont South at 4pm next Wednesday, 26th March 2025, then there will be a by-election on Thursday 24th April.

Good luck finding out about it if you're not on Facebook and don't get called on by one of the candidates, because Egremont Town Council voted, on the chair's casting vote after a 3:3 tie, not to fork out the £1,400 cost of printing and sending out polling cards.

The argument put by those who voted not to send out polling cards was to save money, and that the electorate could be informed by other means such as Facebook.

I was one of the three councillors who voted that polling cards should go out, because not all electors are online and without an official notice of the election through the door some voters are bound to miss out, either because they miss the election entirely or find out too late to get voter ID or a postal vote should they need either. 

(Remember, you now need ID to vote in any public election. The council can provide a voter ID card if you don't have anything else suitable but this takes time to organise so there is a deadline.) 

Watch this space for further news about the by-election.

POSTSCRIPT ONE

The by-election has been contested with Conservative, Labour and Reform UK candidates standing. There will therefore be a poll on 24th April. Names of the candidates and further details of the election have been included in subsequent posts.

POSTSCRIPT TWO

I wrote above of the decision not to send out Polling cards that

"Most of the time Egremont Town council works together pretty well in a constructive and not-particularly partisan or party-political manner. A vote which took place this week about the forthcoming by-election was, I think, the most controversial since I joined the council two years ago."

It has continued to be controversial, both on the doorstep and among councillors. The vote took place in public and is a matter of public record and I make no apology for having shared what happened with my political colleagues or for publishing it in the post above.

I linked above to a Cumbria Chronic report on the issue. 

For the avoidance of doubt: I did have a phone call from the journalist who wrote that article and I gave him a description of what happened at the March Egremont Town Council meeting which was very much along the lines of the original post above, It covered what arguments were put by both sides, the number of votes cast each way, and the outcome.

During that interview I explained why I was unhappy with the decision, in much the terms given above, but although I criticised the decision my recollection is that I avoided any personal criticism of  individuals and did not question anyone's sincerity.

I accept full responsibility for what I told the journalist about the meeting at which the decision was made not to send out polling cards: my account of the meeting given to him described exactly what happened and he accurately reported what I told him. It is not correct to characterise this as a "leak" as it was a public meeting. 

It is evident that the journalist I spoke to either did some additional research and due diligence or had at least one other source. The article also includes references to things which had happened on Egremont Town Council before I was elected to it. 

I only discussed with "Cumbria Chronic" things which I had personally witnessed; the references to things which had occurred prior to my time on the council came from another source and I made no statement either way about things of which I do not have direct personal knowledge.