Despite the positive posts from optimistic candidates online over the course of the last few weeks saying what a good reception they’re getting, the truth is that the most common and compelling message from voters during this campaign has been that political leaders have failed them and they should be ashamed of themselves. And do you know what? They’re right.
We’ve just spent a few weeks slapping each other on the back for all the hard work we did 25 years ago. That was a time when real political leaders took really hard decisions, made real compromises and put the people that share this place ahead of their own narrow interests. But now that the VIPs have left, we have a responsibility to be honest with each other. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
We were supposed to build a new kind of society together. One where everyone could aspire to a better life for themselves and their families. A new society where hard work could get you a good job with a fair wage, where you could buy your own home and make a life for yourself here, working to change this place for the better. That’s the future I believed in. It’s a future I still want to build.
Instead we have more peace walls. Our society has the longest hospital waiting lists on these islands. There are thousands of homeless families. Far too many kids are leaving school without the GCSE grades they need to be successful. And we’re paying the people who run our public services far too little. The same two parties that have run the place for the last 18 years have run it into the ground.
Even the little things that add to your quality of life – good quality roads, reliable bin collections, quality local services just aren’t there. But it doesn’t have to be like this.
Good politics shouldn’t have died after 1998. Our commitment to working together shouldn’t have waned in the 25 years since. Are we all grateful for peace? Obviously. But are we right to demand more than that from our leaders? You’re damn right.
Our society can make a comeback. We can choose leaders with a vision for a different kind of future. Over the last few months, the SDLP has been setting out our view on what that future could be. One where we end the politics of division and genuinely work together to build a new Ireland.
We are relentlessly focussed on how we transform health services to make sure everyone can get timely access to a local GP or hospital treatment when they need it. We’re tabling new plans to protect public services and public sector workers from more austerity budgets. We’re bringing forward bold new proposals to fund childcare for working parents so that everyone can raise a family and pursue a career if that’s what they want. The SDLP works every day to build a future based on opportunity for everyone. If that’s what you believe in, then we need you to come out and support us on 18th May.
The people we elect to councils this month will be responsible for planning the future of our towns and cities. They will have the power to determine if and where new housing developments happen, how much green space is created in your local area, they’ll decide how much you pay in local rates and what you get in return.
Change is urgently needed in communities across the north, we all know it and we can all feel it but it isn’t inevitable. Good people, working hard to build better communities for you and your family will only get elected if you come out and vote for them.
On May 18th, let’s make a comeback together. Let’s commit to ending the politics of division and let’s build a new Ireland for everyone.
Come out and vote SDLP.
