Voter turnout concerns Councillor Brian Coleman, GLA member for Barnet and Camden, as he considers personal and professional New Year's resolutions for the coming year:

With the arrival of 2002 it is time to commit oneself to those New Year's resolutions.

Now there are certain persons of my acquaintance whom I would suggest should commit themselves to getting out more in January. I, however, am tempted to endeavour to achieve the opposite.

I read the first lesson at the Fire Brigade carol service, along with a number of celebrities.

Well, I managed to recognise Ian McCaskill, the TV weatherman, but when it came to a couple of members of the cast of EastEnders and Penny Smith from GMTV, I was at a loss. However, Ms Smith's skirt or lack of it will remain in the memory for a long time.

Fortunately, I was well aware of whom Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were.

I was not alone in this lack of knowledge of popular culture: the Labour chairman of the Fire Authority also failed to recognise the actor from London's Burning, which I consider compulsory viewing for all members of the authority.

This service reminded me that whilst we politicians are obsessed by whatever the gossip is in the 'Westminster Village', the rest of the population is more concerned with who is sleeping with whom in Walford.

Which brings me on to the first Assembly meeting of the New Year on Wednesday when the 25 members will be discussing a paper on democratic engagement, or voter turnout at elections.

You will recall that the turnout at the general election in June was the lowest since World War Two: you may not recall that in the Mayor and Greater London Assembly elections it was even worse, at 35 per cent.

And I suspect that in May's local authority elections it will be even lower.

Now there are many arguments over who is to blame for the falling turnout: political parties, politicians, the media or a lack of civic involvement among the young. I suspect each of the assembly members will have a different scapegoat.

Personally, as a politician, I have very little time for those who cannot be bothered to vote: I certainly think they have no right to complain. I always say to constituents who disagree with me, vote me out at the next election.

In my time I have attended numerous demonstrations against totalitarian overseas regimes (the latest last month outside the Chinese Embassy) where people face imprisonment and death for the right to vote.

And I have been known to say on a doorstep to a voter who tells me she cannot be bothered: "Madam, a woman threw herself under the King's horse to secure your right to vote."

Now, I am no fan of making voting (or anything else, for that matter) compulsory and I fully accept that politicians have the key role in encouraging voter participation. However, I strongly believe voters are alienated when politicians totally fail to listen to the electorate's view and a clear example of this is the Government's plan for the Tube.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone, the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green parties all oppose public private partnership and frankly some more privately than others do many Labour politicians. Yet still the Government forces it on Londoners. Is there nothing that will make the Government change its mind?

On reflection, my New Year's resolution will not be to stay in more but to continue to go out, knock on doors and engage with the electorate of Barnet and do my best to ensure that voters in this borough have no excuse for staying at home.

December 28, 2001 10:40