“One must have a good memory to be able to keep the promises that one makes”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Simon Wright, Lib Dem MP for Norwich South, beat sitting Labour candidate and ex-minister Charles Clarke by a mere 310 votes at the General Election. It is generally accepted that Wright owed his narrow victory to the support of a large number of the 14,000 students* at the Universtiy of East Anglia based in Norwich. You see, Simon Wright, like all Lib Dem candidates before the General Election, signed the NUS pledge to both cap tuition fees and work towards their abolition in the unlikely event the Lib Dems ever got within a gnat’s chuff of power. Simon Wright the candidate was not shy about mentioning this pledge – and his commitment to it – on the hustings. In fact, he rarely talked about anything else.
On October 20th, Lib Dem blogger Neil Woollcott sent Simon Wright a letter asking him to sign the ‘Lib Dems Againt Tuition Fees’ online petition. Having heard nothing from Simon Wright’s office, Neil Woollcott has subsequently published the text of his letter on his blog. This was on Oct 29th. At time of writing, Simon Wright has still not replied, nor given any indication how he intends to vote when the education funding bill comes before the House.
Phil Woolas has behaved like an arse, but it’s at least arguable that his actions are as likely to have drained his support as increased it. It’s by no means clear whether his unsubstantiated smearing of a fellow candidate influenced the outcome in Oldham one way or the other (none of which is any reason for him to escape the punishment coming his way). In the case of Norwich South, I’d suggest there is an easier case to be made that Wright’s position on tuition fees not only influenced the result, but probably did so more than any other single issue. The Lib Dem campaign strategy in this constituency certainly indicates that this is what they anticipated.
I do understand that saying you are going to do one thing in an election campaign and then doing something quite different once in power is not illegal. It’s politics. That said, I would argue that trumpeting a pledge in the midst of campagin that you will not do something should you gain power, and then doing it anyway once elected is rather more significant. Its doesn’t pass muster as a crime, but neither is it just ‘one of those things’ candidates do and say. The difference between a pledge and policy is that the public understand the latter is subject to change as the politcal tide ebbs and flows. A pledge is not supposed to be exposed to such influences. It is, by definition, something you will do come what may, even in the event that what comes is an unexpected invitation to dine at the top table.
So when/if Simon Wright reneges on this pledge, I’m not for a moment suggesting we find a way to make s106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 apply. Assuming he does what’s best for his fledgling career as a poster boy Lib Dem MP and votes with the party leadership in favour of tuition fee increases, the honourable thing for him to do – and this applies to every other Lib Dem MP who fails to rebel – is to stand down, force a by-election and once again seek the support of the electorate that, absent this, can justifiably be described as having been obtained under false pretences.
*Yes, I do understand that not all 14,000 students will have voted in Norwich South.
