THE outcome of the elections for police commissioners was as predictable as night following day.
Nationally only one in seven of the people eligible to vote did so, leaving those manning the polling stations twiddling their thumbs for most of the time. One lasting image of the whole sorry affair was the TV shot showing one of the officials tilting over a ballot box and nothing falling from it.
I am not sure whose bright idea it was but it was sheer idiocy to hold such an election in November. Such a date surely brought the kiss of death to it. People who have been working all day do not feel like turning out at night to cast a vote at this particular time of the year. Besides they have better and more pressing things to attend to.
The whole reaction must surely indicate that the public is content with the present set-up. As Harry S Truman once said “If it aint broke, don’t fix it”. Wise words indeed.
Of course the successful candidates have something to smile about, picking up between £60,000 and £100,000 a year for their efforts.
Perhaps that smile may disappear when they realise the magnitude of the task that awaits them. But good luck to them. They will certainly need plenty of it.
BRITAIN has just won the highest ranking in Western Europe. But sadly it is not something of which we can be proud. According to an official report we have become the most overweight nation; our obesity rate, for example, is twice that of France. That is strange considering the Gallic love of food. The French must eat the right stuff, instead of shovelling down the fast variety like we do over here.
It may seem chauvinistic or ungallant to point out that the worst offenders seem to be women, judging by the observations I made in the town centre at the weekend. The fair sex seem to have become the fattest. Sorry ladies. All the stress of keeping the family afloat in these hard times must lead to too much comfort eating.
OUR front page headline on Thursday indicated that the future is looking bright for Northampton. It may be in the economic sense but certainly not in the way it is being lit up for Christmas. I suggest our councillors should visit Milton Creeks centre and see their spectacular display. Traders there are happy to dip into their pockets, knowing they will be rewarded for it. Our display will not bring in much trade from elsewhere.
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