The Sigla Blog

I was watching Channel 4 news last night and they had a novel package on door-step canvassing. Three foreign journalists shadowed a candidate from the three main parties to see how the whole UK election machine works.

The Tory candidate, Jeremy Hunt, was accompanied by a Hong Kong Journalist who took his photo a lot and told him, on meeting him, that he was “more handsome than his photograph on the posters”. Labour’s North London candidate David Lammy was shadowed by Palestinian journalist Samar Dauod who seemed surprised that gun crime was a issue at all. Best of all was the unfortunate Lib Dem candidate, Tom Brake who towed his party’s anti-war in Iraq line. Unfortunetely the Iraqi journalist who followed him door to door didn’t agree. On most doorsteps when the issue of the war came up, Salam Omar Ibrahim piped up, much to poor old Tom’s horror, about how the war was a necessary thing.

“Most of the Iraqis, it is like a dream for them. One important thing about the war in Iraq is that now people can vote,” Ibrahim said.

Something apathetic UK voters should maybe think about if they’re considering not going to the polls today.