Early start to Election campaign – Hedon Blog coverage

THE ELECTION does not take place until Thursday 7th May 2015, but as an indicator of how serious some of the parties are taking the campaign we have already had two parliamentary candidates declared aiming to represent the Beverley & Holderness constituency, and four candidates have been declared to contest the three local seats available in the South West Holderness Ward (Hedon, Paull, Preston, Thorngumbald areas). And over the weekend we had the first delivery of a leaflet by the Labour Party aimed specifically at the Ward election.

Such an early start to campaigning seems quite unprecedented in recent elections but the Hedon Blog aims to keep up-to-date with all the campaign news as it develops and put that in front of local residents to consider, discuss or even ignore depending on your preferences!

The Hedon Blog is in the unique position of being able to concentrate on local issues and bring that to the 6 – 7,000 visitors we currently have to the website every month resulting in anywhere from between 20,000 – 25,000 viewings of articles each month.

The Blog aims to engage local residents in the local political campaigns in a manner that has never been possible before. In addition to establishing local web pages for each candidate and bringing their election manifestos and leaflets to your computer screen. We will also be using our archives to bring you historical statements and speeches from those candidates so that you can judge for yourselves what they have said in the past and – if they were elected – whether they kept their promises and pledges.

We are currently gathering together public information from various sources, public statements and relevant public comments made by candidates since 2011 and that will be presented to residents in an easy-to-navigate database that  people can search. If you want to know what candidate X said about the NHS in the last local elections, or what candidate Y said about the Police in the campaign in 2011 – you will be able to find out.

We will be able to make information available and hold local candidates to account in a manner that has never been possible previously.

Hedon Blog is also signing up to a fact-checking service, so that any statements that are available in printed form and presented as fact can be verified by independent experts and analysis.

Hedon Blog will remain neutral in any election campaign. We will sit on the fence and will not favour any one party or candidate over another. Where candidates may not have access to the internet, we would recommend that they enlist the help of a supporter to ensure that they can benefit from the scrutiny and promotional opportunities we can offer.

Hedon Blog will concentrate on the South West Holderness Ward including the local Town and Parish elections, while HU12 Online will cover the Parliamentary campaign and the broader regional and national political issues raised during the course of the electioneering.

We will bring you more about our election coverage soon… but if you have time to volunteer to help the Hedon Blog undertake its election coverage then please let us know at hedonblog@gmx.com and suggest how you think you might be able to help in this fascinating exercise.