Euroelections 2014: South East Region
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At the request of Kent and Sussex branch the EC has authorised the contesting of the South East Region in next May's elections to the European Parliament.
The South East Region is the biggest in the country. It covers the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. It has some 6 million electors (more than in many EU Member States) and elects 10 MEPs.
The election is by proportional representation of party lists.
Election day is Thursday 22 May 2014, so most of the campaigning will be from the end of April on.
The Region is covered by two branches (South West Regional as well as Kent & Sussex) and parts of it are in easy reach of West London and South London branches (in fact some of their members live in it).
The deposit for standing is £5000. There is free postal distribution of election manifestos, but printing them has to be paid for. Last time in London we decided to cover only 4 parliamentary constituencies, which was about 250,000 leaflets.
The constituencies to be covered could be one in Southampton, Reading, Brighton, Oxford or Canterbury, depending on what the local branches recommend.
Because this election is likely to be a festival of xenophobia, the election committee has recommended using “World Socialist Movement” as our name on the ballot paper. Our full name will also appear.
Socialist Party Head Office wrote:At the request of Kent and Sussex branch the EC has authorised the contesting of the South East Region in next May's elections to the European Parliament.We already have six comrades prepared to stand as eurocandidates; we only need four more…
Good news!
Socialist Party Head Office wrote:Because this election is likely to be a festival of xenophobia, the election committee has recommended using “World Socialist Movement” as our name on the ballot paper. Our full name will also appear.I hope the Election video refers to to the "World Socialist Movement" too!
Vin Maratty wrote:Good news!Socialist Party Head Office wrote:Because this election is likely to be a festival of xenophobia, the election committee has recommended using “World Socialist Movement” as our name on the ballot paper. Our full name will also appear.I hope the Election video refers to to the "World Socialist Movement" too!
Hopefully that'll be down to you and Bob, Vin…
The election video is primarily concerned with the Wales Region if we decide to contest that too (but that depends on the video being done) because it's only there that it would be broadcast on TV. It could also of course be publicised in the South East Region too, eg on our manifesto.Our name in Welsh, by the way, is Y Plaid Sosialaidd Prydain Fawr.
One thing to remember is we only have three minutes to get the socialist case across. In Wales the PPB goes out on four TV Channels. That is if we are able to get a translation in welsh sub-titles available for S4C in time. Also all PPB go out on the BBC ipod.According to my welsh dictionary the translation for World Socialist Movement is Byd Sosialdaidd Symudiad.Finally, Swansea Branch would have no trouble finding four candidates to stand. And distribute thousands of our manifesto, or election address. Not that this needs to be in english and welsh – just english will do for this particular experiment – despite the fact we will have some stick from the welsh speaking minority. But better that than paying lip service to the language by having certain sections in welsh.
Brian wrote:According to my welsh dictionary the translation for World Socialist Movement is Byd Sosialdaidd Symudiad.Although I only learnt Welsh to primary school level (so I am only able to talk about cows, horses or pigs in a field but not about politics) this doesn't seem quite right. Surely we don't have to rely on consulting a dictionary. Isn't there a native Welsh-speaker in Abertawe branch?
Brian wrote:One thing to remember is we only have three minutes to get the socialist case across. In Wales the PPB goes out on four TV Channels. That is if we are able to get a translation in welsh sub-titles available for S4C in time. Also all PPB go out on the BBC ipod.I maybe be wrong but I was under the impression that there was a choice of TV broadcast times of 2'40, 3'40" or 4'40" available and that in the case of the Euroelections, as with all elections, the broadcast is described as a Party Election Broadcast.
Quote:Finally, Swansea Branch would have no trouble finding four candidates to stand.You don't need four candidates; any number between 1 and 10 will do. In the South East Region, where we won't qualify for a PEB, we already have seven comrades prepared to stand as candidates and should have little difficulty finding another three to make the full list.
Actually, it looks as if the qualification for getting a Party Election Broadcast in the Euroelections in Wales will be to present a complete list (last time only a nearly complete list was required). As the Wales Region elects 4 MEPs this means that we would have to find the full 4. No problem of course.Speaking of candidates, anybody from an EU country can stand, so we could have a member on our SE list who lived in Germany or France or Italy, etc. That might have some value in showing that we are not just interested in the UK (even though there'd be a lot of bureaucracy involved). Pity we haven't any members in Rumania or Bulgaria to ram home this point ! After all, Farage is one of the MEPs for the SE region. We'd get a lot of publicity if our list contained a socialist from one of these countries.
ALB wrote:Actually, it looks as if the qualification for getting a Party Election Broadcast in the Euroelections in Wales will be to present a complete list (last time only a nearly complete list was required). As the Wales Region elects 4 MEPs this means that we would have to find the full 4. No problem of course.So as there are four MEPs for Wales the complete party list would be four which may be the qualification for getting a PEB this time. Similarly, for the South East England region as there are 10 MEPs the complete party list would be 10 but in this area (which is a region and not a nation) we do not qualify for a PEB so the party list could be any number from 1 to 10. Is that correct?An explanation of the voting system and details of regional representation can be found here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2014_%28United_Kingdom%29#Voting_system_and_regional_representation
Yes, that's right. There is no obligation on any party anywhere to field a complete list. So in the SE Region we could present a "list" of any number from 1 to 10. In fact "Independent" candidates count as a one-person list.One reason for presenting a full list would be to show we are a serious political party. Another is that, if we can get candidates from different parts of the region, we stand a chance of getting some publicity in the local media where a candidate lives, eg.one from the Isle of Wight might get us publicity in the local media there. Actually, we do have a candidate from the Isle of Wight, but we could do with one from the Brighton area.By the way, one of the tasks of the Media Committee next year will be to compile a list of the local daily and weekly newspapers and local radio stations in the region.The electoral system used is a complicated one more usual in the rest of Europe, but you don't find Farage and UKIP condemning it asan un-British European import as without it they probably wouldn't get any MEPs elected.
A party election video based on voice over, music, text and video would not be dificult to produce. Along the lines produced by Zeitgeist.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv-sY_z8MNsThe instruments are there, it would only require creativity Just noticed it was a google production but it still gives an example.
Vin Maratty wrote:A party election video based on voice over, music, text and video would not be dificult to produce. Along the lines produced by Zeitgeist.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv-sY_z8MNsThe instruments are there, it would only require creativityI'm sure you're right, Vin, but we have less than three months to come up with something if we are to contest Wales in the 2014 Euroelections and so qualify for a Party Election Broadcast there.There is an item on tomorrow's EC agenda calling for the existing scripts to be made available to you as you have clearly demonstrated your expertise to produce such a video. I understand, however, that you have already seen those scripts so the ball is now fairly and squarely in your court.
Let's not get wires crossed or duplicate work. Two or three comrades are already working on the election video (and, contrary to what has been suggested, they do have experience of film-making and sound recording and access to animation). The script has been finalised and work has started on the story board.The focus of the broadcast was decided at the August EC Meeting, on a recommendation from the election and audio-visual committees:
Quote:That any broadcast should focus on two topics:– How life in a socialist society would benefit (providing specific examples) the individual worker.– Socialism is a worldwide social system.The EC will get a progress report tomorrow.
ALB wrote:Let's not get wires crossed or duplicate work. Two or three comrades are already working on the election video (and, contrary to what has been suggested, they do have experience of film-making and sound recording and access to animation). The script has been finalised and work has started on the story board.I find that quite disingenuous. What you've failed to mention is that the comrade who would have produced the video (a member of the A/V Committee) and one of the scriptwriters have had a serious disagreement and the entire project is in jeopardy. Why else would the Election Committee report to the December 2013 Executive Committee thus:5(b) Report of the Election Committee on Euroelections 2014 (30 November):Unfortunately, due to the withdrawal of two key members from the project, it is not going to be possible to produce a video for a Party Election Broadcast to use if we contest the Wales Region in these elections next May. We, therefore, recommend dropping contesting Wales.Arising from that report:Cde M Foster suggested asking a member to write the script. Cde R Cox – we may be able to do it commercially. Cde J Mercer – a charity was charged £6000 for a short film by professionals. Cde A Buick – need to get the film ready by the end of March 2014 and was opposed to employing commercial film makers.Motion 17 – Foster and Cox moved that the EC authorises Cdes M Foster and J Mercer to use existing scripts to explore other ways of producing an election film, which need to be completed before the end of March 2014. Agreed.Vin Maratty has come forward with at least one "other way" and his offer appears as though it is being snubbed which is quite alarming considering his expertise in this area.
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