Banner drop outside Belfast City Hall (Picture by Phil O'Kane: Used with Permission)
Once upon a time, not so long ago a very different message looked down on Belfast shoppers from the front of City Hall. But on Saturday local activists unveiled a different and new message to the lunchtime crowd, “Belfast says Yes!”. We also were not doing this alone over Saturday and Sunday in over 100 locations across the UK fellow activists for fairer votes were doing exactly the same.
Many stopped and took photos on their phones, taxi drivers on the rank opposite tooted their horns in agreement and many people said it was about time for people in Belfast to be positive about something.
At the last election only one of the four Belfast seats returned an MP with over 50% of the votes behind them, and he had abandoned them for a seat elsewhere. So of course the people of Belfast are wanting MPs that will work hard, reaching out beyond their core support.
Northern Ireland Organiser Stephen Glenn said:
“It was great to see the positive response from passers-by this afternoon. Belfast and Northern Irish voters understand the unfairness of First Past the Post, many of them can’t understand why we still have it for Westminster when they use their preferences to produce fair devolved and local government.
“As people were saying today it is about time people here were positive about something. It is good to see as we head into the final weeks so secure a Yes vote on 5th May.”
A Yes vote in the referendum on the 5th May will lead to hard-working MPs looking out for the concerns of their constituents as they strive to get and keep the support of over 50%. It will also do away with you, the voter, having to maybe lend your only preference to a party you may not necessarily agree with most just to stop someone else getting it. Voting yes means you can rank your candidates in order of preference for Westminster too.
Related Articles
- Northern Ireland deserves better (libdemsni.wordpress.com)
- Billy Bragg wants Northern Ireland to say Yes! (fairervotesbelfast.wordpress.com)
- Join me in making our MPs work harder – says Michael Carchrie Campbell (fairervotesbelfast.wordpress.com)
- YES! vote will have real impact – Cllr Niall Kelly (fairervotesbelfast.wordpress.com)
- Belfast and lost constituencies (sluggerotoole.com)
