POLITICAL COMMENTARY

Candidates for oblivion

AUBERON WAUGH

You know the shocking record of the Tory-controlled Westminster City Council', cried Mr Arthur Latham, Labour candidate in the North Paddington by-election, from his loudspeaker van in Ashmore Road. He was smoking tough-style cigarillos through a cigarette holder. A few small black children played among the dustbins, or searched the piles of rotting ordure for anything that might prove interesting. There were no discordant voices in Ashmore Road, nobody to embark on a sturdy defence of Mr Macleod's new value added tax, or Sir Alec's exciting proposals for a military presence East of Suez. But then, there were very few people there at all.

One reason for this was that the Tory controlled Westminster City Council has, in fact, been extremely active in the neigh- berhood. Walking around the constituency, one almost receives the impression that the housing committee of the city council must have armed itself with the Labour party's canvass returns for the 1966 election. Whole streets in the Queen's Park and Harrow Road wards are in the process of demoli- tion, and their Labour occupants have been moved. Around Ashmore Road, Kennet Road has been devastated and whole stretches of Fernhead Road, no doubt de- clared uncompassionate by some astute Tory councillor, have been evacuated. This process, which might well remind Mr Latham of Stalin's 'resettlement' of the kulaks, has robbed him of some 4,000 Labour votes and reduced Ben Parkin's 1960 majority to something under 2,500. Add to this the fact that the Liberals are not fielding a candidate this time, and that the Liberals' 2,287 votes in 1966 appear to have been taken exclusively from the Tories, and it begins to look as if the Tory can- didate might be returned without any swing at all in his favour.

The Tory candidate is called Richard Price, a most pleasant-spoken young man who exports television programmes by David Frost and others. Nothing could be more patriotic than that—why does he want to be a Member of Parliament? 'It may sound a little pi, but we have a tre- mendous background of public service in my family. The old man—sorry, my father —is a Unitarian parson who advises the Home Office on its treatment of offenders. My sister is a doctor and my brother, who was formerly a policeman, is now training to be a social worker.' So Richard has decided to come to Parliament. Well done, Richard.

North Islington's Labour candidate, Mr Michael O'Halloran, cannot think of a single issue on which he would ever differ from the leadership, whoever it was. He seems to have a certain amount of difficulty in think- ing at all, and must be almost unique among his race in appearing tongue-tied. The constituency is thought to include 8,000 Irishmen, and so it was felt that only an Irishman would do. Certainly, it is hard to think of any other considerations which might have counted in Mr O'Halloran's favour. If the association's funds will run to it, they really should send him on a pilgrimage to Blarney Castle, or Lourdes, it ic cad that the constituency which produced Gerry Reynolds should settle for anyone quite so speechless, even if he is chairman of a local football and social club.

The Tory candidate is quite a bouncy individual who describes himself as being on the right of centre. He is called Andrew Pearce, and is an organisation and methods officer for a firm of builders and civil engi- neers (no joking). He supports everything his leaders have decided, most particularly their East of Suez adventure because, he says, Britain must have a world role. On foreign affairs generally he says that he be- comes extremely indignant when people like Fred Lee (the sixty-three-year-old labour member for Newton, and former Chancel- lor of the Duchy of Lancaster) make it in- sufficiently clear, in their public pronounce- ments, that the British government intends to stand by the people of Gibraltar. He points to the swing in the municipal elec- tions of last year, which averaged 30 per cent and in one ward reached 47 per cent, and to the fact that his wife is of Irish extraction. All in all, Mr Pearce fancies himself home and dry.

So, curiously enough, does the Liberal candidate, Mr Eric Thwaites. Although he polled fewer votes in 1966 than he did in 1964, he explains this by pointing out that during the 1966 election campaign his brother died, his agent's father had a heart attack and one of his few canvassers was run over by a bus. No wonder the voters deserted him in their droves. If one ignores the 1966 result, he says, the overall picture is one of steadily increasing support for Liberalism and acceptance of Liberal poli- cies. All Islington's problems could be solved by a higher density council housing. On a more serious note, he claims that if only 18,000 people bother to vote—even at a general election, Islington North seldom has more than a 50 per cent turn-out—the votes might split evenly, with his own ad- vantage assured by greater local know- ledge.

On the balance, it would appear to make very little difference who is elected in Is- lington North. The voters can scarcely be typical of the mood of the British people, since a very large proportion hail from overseas and an even larger proportion never bother to vote. What they make of the speechless O'Halloran, Gibraltar Pearce or nice Mr Thwaites would appear to be their own affair. One hopes, though, that Mr Thwaites's supporters can keep away from approaching buses this time.

Swindon, by contrast, appears to be among the more interesting of the five by- elections which will be decided on Thurs- day of next week. Just as the Labour parts' in North Islington has been thrown into a certain amount of disarray by the up- heavals which finally resulted in the choice of Mr O'Halloran for candidate. so in Swindon the Labour party has been dis- mayed by its treatment at the hands of Mr Francis Noel-Baker, who first announced his intention of resigning more than eight- een months ago, and of the Government Chief Whip, who has delayed calling a bs- election until now. The Labour candidatc. who works at Reading Power Station and is sponsored by the ETU, thinks that the balance of payments is probably the major election issue, but this was not the impres- sion I received from voters with whom I discussed the matter. What makes Swindon interesting is the intervention of a really first-class Liberal candidate _ in the person of Christopher Layton, who has been nurs- ing the constituency for over a year. study- ing its problems and holding surgeries, for all the world as if he were its MP.

He is a former personal assistant to Mr Grimond, and is the economics adviser to the Liberal party. By day he commutes to Bath, where he is a professor in the uni- versity. But his spiritual home is plainly in Swindon these days, and he really seems quite enraptured by the place. 'All the problems of British industry are here'.

he exclaims passionately, pointing to the proliferation of strikes in the town and to the way in which men at Pressed Steel are constantly being laid off whenever there is trouble in Cowley.

It is true that the problems of British industry, as they went shopping with their wives along Swindon's Parade on Saturday morning, did not seem to respond in any particular way to his enthusiasm. Most walked straight past, looking even sourer than usual. I did not dare suggest that it might have been something to do with Pro- fessor Layton's beard. But on the form. he should be able to pull in at least 6,000 votes, and if there is a low poll it might just be enough to see the Tory candidate home.

He is called Christopher Ward, twenty- seven: Three children, one called Samantha.

Reason for wanting to be an MP constantly changing, originally 'I had a feeling that politics and politicians were being held in contempt in this country. I was very much disturbed at this trend'; now—`because Fm absolutely convinced that this country needs a Conservativt government'. Foreign aff- airs: 'I say I don't pretend to be an expert on Greece, and that may get me a vote Or two; doesn't think Nigeria-Biafra is an issue in Swindon. Most admired politicians: Mr Heath (for his ability to grasp subjectsr and Sir Alec Douglas-Home (for his like. ability). Can't think of any issue on which he would ever differ from the party whips but has deep reservations about the Com- mon Market.

Now Christopher Ward is a perfectly amiable young man with a pleasant eager- beaver manner and an agreeable reluctance to be upset by rudeness from visiting jour- nalists. But the main lesson to be learned from a close study of these three by-elec- tions concerns the uninspiring quality of the candidates chosen by both the main parties. To judge from the answers I re- ceived, the only mark which any of the main candidates can ever hope to make on the political scene when elected. 1%ill be if, by their deaths, they happen to cuusc a by-election.