No idea even if there is an election down here in Kent...

If so, the candidates would be Kray, Kray, Corleone, Vader and Hamza

As nobody seems to be voting is there a risk of getting a layer of corrupt scum voted in by a small, affiliated group of people?

Dear Mr. Adams.

I have today made the somewhat uncomfortable decision to not vote in an election. This is the first time I have been in a position where I could vote, and have elected not to. I thought it might be useful for me, as one of your constituents, to share my reasoning with you.

1. I am being asked to vote for an independent police commissioner. The need is neither clear nor well-justified. It appears to me to be replacing one bureaucracy of dubious value with another.

2. If I have to have such a thing, I would like it to be independent, as per the title. That means it would not be affiliated to an existing Political Party. There are only 2 candidates in North Yorkshire, both affiliated to Political Parties. I fail to see how they can reconcile their Political funding and memberships with the undertaking of an 'independent' post.

3. I have received just one communication from a candidate (which I found contradictory, and which tended to reinforce my view that the role would be overtly political), and did not receive the explanatory leaflet which has apparently been issued by government.

4. Truly independent candidates have been effectively excluded by the substantial cost of attempting to talk to constituencies of (in some cases) over a million people. The deposit required to stand is substantial, another barrier to the non-politically-connected.

So, for these reasons - and because there is no 'none of the above' box to tick, I have chosen to protest in the only way available. By not voting. It is a sad day.

Dear Mr. Mansilla,

Thank you for contacting me about elected police and crime commissioners and why you do not feel inclined to vote today.

Empowering the public is central theme of this Government’s whole police reform programme. The police are a public service and they should serve and respond to local people. This is the reason why I support the introduction of directly elected police and crime commissioners.

The ongoing centralisation of the police witnessed under the previous Government has left the service disconnected from the communities they are there to serve. The approach of the last Government was to intervene more and more in local policing in an attempt to make it more accountable. The police were directed by Whitehall diktat and targets. Nowhere was there a direct democratic check and balance to which Sir Robert Peel referred in 1829 as the bedrock of police activity.

From November this year, police and crime commissioners will bring democratic accountability to the police. They will have the local knowledge and understanding to set their force's policing priorities. They will have the democratic mandate to set the police budget and the council tax precept and they will have the power to hold chief constables to account for the performance of their force.

Please rest assured, however, this Government does not wish to politicise the police force. The Government has been clear that the long held principle of operational independence, where those operating in the office of the chief constable are able to make independent decisions on how to use their legitimate coercive powers on behalf of the state, will continue to remain the cornerstone of the British policing model. The Commissioners will have no control over operational decisions.

Virtually no contact from any of the candidates and no apparent idea of what their policies will be.

And as for the reply to Mansilla's letter (including completely spurious quote from Sir Robert Peel), I'm not really feeling any better informed... Does the MP himself have any idea what the commissionners will do?

Many a true word is spoken in jest...

As nobody seems to be voting is there a risk of getting a layer of corrupt scum voted in by a small, affiliated group of people?