[cma-l] Local election interviews

[andrew.wass at talk21.com]

Hi Trevor,
Not heard of this before, and no expert but here are some thoughts..........Has 
the election been 'declared' yet? date announced, candidates announced etc..... 
If not is he/she refering to the period until that point, that seems fair enough 
(you wouldn't know whos' standing untill this point)  If not and collectively 
they have no intention of talking to the media at all before election day this 
seems absolutely wrong and denies voters the right to hear from and question 
their representatives! 

There will be a named person who is organising the election at the Council 
(can't recall their pre-election title, but they are also the returning officer 
on the night!) We had some procedural questions about an election and found that 
person very knowledgable about the law and process, he/she may also hold a lot 
of influence with the parties standing for election.

Might be worth approaching the Local Government Association and/or Ofcom 
legal dept (again I've found helpful) or look up the 

Representative of the Peoples Act !! Take your findings to them and see if they 
change their minds! If not I'm sure there would be a wider interest in their 
collective stance to accountability! Don't let them off the hook ...... and good 
luck!
 
Best Wishes
Andy Wass
The Panjabi Centre/Desi Radio




________________________________
From: Trevor Lockwood <lockwood at btinternet.com>
To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Sent: Sunday, 27 February, 2011 22:40:37
Subject: [cma-l] Local election interviews



I've just been told by a local councillor that they are advised they must go 
into 'purdah' for some time before the coming elections, and not talk to the 
media.

We plan to interview every candidate - as we did for the Parliamentary 
elections.

Anyone know where I can find the law?

Trevor 


      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.commedia.org.uk/pipermail/cma-l/attachments/20110228/a59f4d72/attachment.html>