I surprised myself, seeing I blogged four times about the election on Thursday (July 4^th 2024) – see here, here, here and here (and in that order) for the story so far – at least from my perspective. In order to keep this blog short, I suggest check out my blogs for my thoughts on what is needed and, importantly, the key issues at stake, many of which have been barely touched on by point scoring politicians and an unawakened public. Sadly, the election system is such that bad players will almost certainly come to power and it will all be part of God’s judgment on a nation that has largely turned their backs on God (despite my seeing many positives).

And I have watched no live debate and checked out little of mainstream media coverage – yet as a watchman on the wall / political nerd it is something I find fascinating / important and, despite my pessimism, I believe people should engage politically, based on knowledge – thus this blog. Sadly, and unsurprisingly, many of the important questions were not asked, although Farage deciding to run as Reform leader did change this to an extent leaving the main party players squabbling over the crumbs. I reckon the bookmakers are going to be proved correct and Labour under Keir Starmer are going to win by a landslide. What will be interesting is how the other parties will fare and what the opposition will look like. Much as a return of hapless, globalist puppet, Richi Sunak as Prime Minister is not a prospect that I relish, regrettably, having Keir Starmer as PM is an even worse one when it comes to leading the UK. The difference between Labour and Conservative is with the former the globalist takeover, such as going along with UN Agenda 2030 and that of institutions like WEC, NATO, UN and WHO, will come quicker. As for Nigel Farage, while I prefer him over Sunak and Starmer, as he is closer to understanding the malaise the UK is in, with ideas to remedy, it is not without grave reservations.

Two things I am loathe to do is tell people how I/they should vote and predict the voting outcome when it comes to my own Southend West and Leigh constituency, but it is to the local scene I will now turn my attention. I was unable to attend the hustings held at Leigh Road Baptist Church (LRBC) (check here for the video of proceedings) but was able to attend the one held at Highlands Methodist Church with its focus on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), which while very limited given the other important issues did give opportunities for candidates to show their true mettle and air real concerns. While quite different in tone and turnout, I felt both hustings were well organised and excellently chaired, which I understand was also the case in Southend East. I was disappointed though that only the five candidates deemed more likely to win were invited to answer questions at the LRBC hustings, especially as the church should lead the way making the powerful accountable, and many of the questions I posed in my first GE blog were not asked or adequately answered. But from what I could make out, all the candidates acquitted themselves well. If nothing else the hustings enabled us to check out their suitability as local MPs.

Having checked out candidates’ responses at hustings and elsewhere (e.g. see here), this is how I view the candidates having now done a degree of due diligence by checking them out:

Burton-Samson, David (Labour): while I admired his energy and knowledge, I felt he was too beholden to whatever is set out in the Labour manifesto and this I found to be unconvincing.

Cummins, Stephen (LibDem): while I had already discounted LibDems as the neither here nor there party, I found his approach to answering questions rather refreshing and I felt he was genuine.     

Darwood, Tom (Independent): I think his unusual approach and message would have been difficult for people to understand, but his sincerity and love for country and its heritage I don’t dispute. 

Firth, Anna (Conservative): David Amess was a hard act to follow but I believe, like him, she has been a good constituency MP. I found, however, her responses to the questions disappointing.

Francis, Robert (Independent): I have too little to go on to come to a view, but from what I could make out there were a number of important issues he felt passionate about and champion.

Hogrebe, Tilly (Green): Sadly, any party whose main issue is a climate crisis that isn’t will not get my vote. I love her intelligence and honesty, especially when admitting she doesn’t have the answer.

Hurley, Lara (Heritage): Of all the national parties, Heritage is closest on my take on the issues that matter. But I did not find this lady’s approach to answering the important questions convincing.

Little, Peter (Reform): Reform is the nearest we have to another party challenging the two-party hegemony. Their representative did best in responding to some of the questions I care most about.

Miller, James (Confelicity): A local party with the local people deciding on priorities and policies is an appealing idea, even if naive, yet, methinks, their leader would do a good job if elected.

Pilley, James (Psychedelic): The fixation on decriminalising the use of cannabis is not my priority and I do not agree anyway, but he does have many other valid insights and perspectives.

Given how badly Conservatives are doing in the polls, there is doubt whether Anna Firth will retain her seat. I suspect she will though, but it will be interesting how the other parties would fare. While I have question marks over the ideology of most, if not all the candidates, I sense in the main those standing are doing so for the right reasons, even though they will likely do best focusing on serving their constituents as if representing a party they would be expected to toe the party line (these were the very qualities that drew me to the late Sir Teddy Taylor and Sir David Amess). As I said, I will not say who I will vote for other than it will be someone from one of the five parties in our first meme. As for a word to the depressed and despondent, and my final thought, we can take heart from the words of the Psalmist given in our last meme.