Martin Tideswell: I vote the country tackles terrible election turnouts
Of course, it isn't just me who struggles to muster much interest in local elections. It's the majority of voters too.
The turnout across Staffordshire varied from the anomaly that is Cheslyn Hay, Essington and Great Wyrley (52 per cent) down to a paltry 21 per cent in Keele, Knutton and Silverdale where Labour's bright young thing Gareth Snell met his Waterloo.
I guess the average turnout was around 30 per cent.
Simply put, the majority of the electorate are even less bothered about voting in these polls than they are at General Election time.
For me, this apathy is by far the greatest threat to our democracy and the biggest issue facing politicians and parties who, by the very nature of the system, live for short-term gain.
The word you often hear after an election is that parties need to 're-engage' with the electorate.
Indeed Labour MP Tristram Hunt used it yesterday in his column in The Sentinel.
The word re-engage is as close as you'll ever get to an apology from your MP, a local party leader, the Prime Minister or his Right Honourable 'Friend' on the other side of the Despatch Box.


