Failed to get message over

10:34am Monday 14th July 2008

A FEW weeks ago through the medium of your news paper I wrote, what was intended to be at the time, a one-off, tongue-in-cheek missive regarding the views of Albert Wharrad.

Almost before the last ballot paper had been counted in the local elections he was informing the good people of Redditch that they were going to rue the day they had voted in a Tory council.

He couldn't wait to tell them how badly the Tories had performed when they were last able to influence a vote and I see again this week he is bemoaning the fact that Redditch will be losing it's own chief executive officer in what appears to have been a decision arrived at against the good wishes of the Labour minority.

I'm not a resident of Redditch so I don't think having a chief executive officer appointed in the way Mr Wharrad describes is really going to cause any major upheaval to my current lifestyle, but I don't doubt, or even decry, the genuine concern and sincerity felt by Mr Wharrad. (He is perfectly entitled to his opinion).

My concern, or should I say, confusion, is more basic.

As I said, I am not a Redditch resident so don't have any axe to grind regarding their policies, I'm just an outsider looking in. But what does confuse me is why the Tories won and Labour lost?

If the Tories are as bad as Mr. Wharrad would have the Redditch electorate believe, then conversely, I suppose, one should deduce that Labour must have been pretty good.

If that was the case, and here's where the confusion arises, not only was it foolhardy, but arguably quite irresponsible that someone didn't manage to get this message across to the electorate whilst canvassing for votes prior to the election.

Don't worry though, most Labour councils throughout the country made the same mistake.

John B Holland, Alvechurch

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