Since the death of John Smith in may 1994 the Labour Party has seen radical reform and re-branding in order to appease middle England and attain power. I remember vividly the 1997 campaign where New Labour were prepared to go to any lengths to appeal to Mondeo Man and wrestle power from the Conservatives. The attitude within the Labour movement at the time was one of Victory at Any Price. The mandate from the voters in this election (locally and nationally) suggests that the labour movement has now paid that price. Sadly, as a nation we seem to have no faith or conviction in any of the main stream parties. The distinctions between Labour, Liberal and Conservative MP's seem greyer now more than ever, combined with distrust, apathy and the rise of the right wing the recent election results have come as no shock. To counter this it is time for New Labour re-introduce clause IV back in to their constitution and commit to supporting the working classes. This means we need policies of nationalisation for key primary infrastructures and industries along with radical policies on full employment, training, free education and political reform. If Labour do not address this then we will see a similar rout repeated next May in the local elections. I did however see a positive article in my local paper today, in a brief interview with their political editor, former MP for Scunthorpe Elliot Morley did make what I thought was a staggering admission which perhaps marks the beginning of the closure of this dark chapter of Labour Politics. The Evening Telegraph reported Mr Morley as saying "Expenses issues have not been helpful to any party" while commenting on the sad loss of his colleague's seat Ian Cawsey. While this admission falls a long way from any acknowledgement of wrongdoing I have to respect the man's honesty in this matter, and would like to think that this attitude is perhaps indicative of thinking down at the local Labour party offices. I sincerely hope that local councillors do take the voters mandate for the "none of the above" philosophy to heart and think about ways in which they can listen better to what local people want. Several local councillors have become very active on Twitter, Facebook and with their blogs over the election period in order to get their message across. I'd like to suggest to those councillors that social media is a two way thing, and that a slight change to the way they use these technologies could open up a new approach to democracy. Currently councillors tend to use blogs and tweets to tell us what they have done, how a council meeting went, what the outcomes where and where they have been. If they were to turn this approach around on its self and instead of telling us what they have agreed, they should instead perhaps tell us what was going to be discussed. They could use social media to better explain what their position is on an issue and to even canvass for opinion. If this approach was adopted then I think they would not only provide greater freedom and democracy in their governance, but would also massively increase their standing and credibility in the eyes of the public. Currently many people see the local council leaders as entrenched and untouchable, this perception must change. I see no problem with elected officials actually asking the public for their opinion before a decision is taken, and would encourage them to do so. It was also very informative through the campaign for the election of Nic Dakin to receive regular updates and news letters by email. I'm still waiting for the one now he's been elected thanking the community for its support, but I guess its only 24 hours eh? I do hope however hope that Nic continues to send out his weekly emails and that he also canvases feedback and opinion on key issues. This will be the acid test which indicates just how interested elected officials are once they've got your vote.