Isaac Newton Ward Election results and comment
DECLARATION OF RESULT OF POLL
South Kesteven
Election of District Councillors for
Isaac Newton Ward
on Thursday 4 May 2023
I, Karen Bradford, Returning Officer for South Kesteven, declare that the total number of
votes given to each Candidate in the Isaac Newton Ward was as follows:
| Name of Candidate | Commonly Used Name (if any) | Description (if any | Number of Votes* |
| BELLAMY David Michael | Conservative Party Candidate | 576 Elected | |
| GREEN, Benjamin Samuel Oliver | commonly known as GREEN, Ben | Conservative Party Candidate | 512 Elected |
| HINE, Archie George | Labour Party | 281 | |
| TURNER, Michael James | commonly known as TURNER Mike | Green Party | 277 |
* If elected, the word 'Elected' appears against the number of votes.
| The number of ballot papers rejected was as follows: | Number of | |
| A | want of an official mark | 0 |
| B | voting for more Candidates than voter was entitled to | 0 |
| C | writing or mark by which voter could be identified | 0 |
| D | being unmarked or wholly void for uncertainty | 12 |
| E | rejected in part | 0 |
Total | 12 | |
Vacant seats: 2 Electorate: 3721 Ballot papers issued: 980 Turnout 26.34%
I declare that DAVID MICHAEL BELLAMY and BENJAMIN SAMUEL OLIVER GREEN are
duly elected.
Dated Friday 5 May 2023
Karen Bradford
Returning Officer
Printed and published by the Returning Officer, Council Offices, The Picture House, St Catherine`s Road, Grantham, NG31 6TT
So those are the Isaac Newton Ward results for the May 4 Election.
The question is why did so many not vote?
Was it due to the new identification requirements let's remember that not every British citizen has a driving licence or a passport so it would require filling in an online form or sending in a paper copy which you could get by emailing the elections team. That's ok if you know you need to do this and have access to the internet to find the information.
lack of knowledge of the election ... Facebook had ads, TV and radio news even, TikTok Newspapers etc have all covered the election.
The Weather, it does have an effect
Voter apathy...
Candidates not making themselves known to their electorate.
I personally suspect the latter two options are the most likely reason. We as an electorate need to understand that our vote counts ( even a spoiled ballot is recorded), but without interaction with the candidates ( and a leaflet through the door is not an interaction) we cannot make a decision about who we elect. Local elections are more than part of politics.
find out what the candidates stand for
express our concerns to candidates so they can understand what we as an electorate require from them.
Voter apathy means we get the elected candidates we deserve rather than the candidates we need.
The irony is that the new duly elected representatives have been elected when 73% of the electorate did not vote for them...