Country mouse on elections
Voting in Mark’s village is still a quaint affair, the biggest obstacle to people voting being a Muscovy duck nesting in the parking area

Last Saturday, nearly a third of the population 19.2 million watched the final of Britain’s Got Talent. Following our MPs’ talent for putting in expenses, will people vote in greater numbers (only 38% voted last time) at this week’s European elections or will they be put off entirely?
I hope the former, but there is much that could be done in some towns and cities to encourage people to take part in our democratic process.
Voting in our village is a rather quaint affair, but pretty much everyone eligible takes part. It all happens in the village hall, and, if you get there early, you’re likely to be roped into setting up the booths before you can draw your cross. It’s politics at its most charming.
A muscovy duck is sitting on a nest where we’re meant to park outside the hall, a circumstance that’s causing more consternation around the village than the election itself. But it’s no real problem we’ll now have to park under the rookery by the church.
Our village is a community where people look after each other and is all the better for it. However, if the ducklings hatch on Thursday, all predictions of calm are off. It will be chaos.
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