to be pissed off that the local MP of a party which I do not support is opening our school's summer fete...

[Strix]

It doesn't matter which party. It's the last one I'd like to see win the general election. I don't think our school should be offfering PR opportunities to ONE political party in the run up to the general election. (fete is in June)

[Bramshott]

But if he is your sitting MP, surely he does a lot of this sort of stuff?

[Bramshott]

And the election is in May, so it will have happened before the fete in any case.

[Alouiseg]

Great opportunity to catch him and question him i would think. You don't have to be nice to him.

[BariatricObama]

yes i think who opened your summer fete will definitely be a deciding factor in a hung parliament situation

[choosyfloosy]

I sympathise to some extent, but YABU - (s)he is your local MP, and in this country that means (s)he is your representative in Parliament, and IMO it's appropriate for them to do local stuff like this.

It would be inappropriate for them to use the opportunity to make any kind of hustings speech when opening the fete ('I'd like to declare this fete open UNLIKE GORDON WHO HAS CLOSED OPPORTUNITIES FOR SO MANY CHILDREN/I'd like to declare this fete open UNLIKE DAVID WHO WOULD CLOSE DOWN BUSINESSES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY') but I'm sure they won't, they'd be far too canny.

[galletti]

The Election will probably be well over by then, hey he might not even be your MP in June!

Also, I think Fete opening is one of the things that MPs do, to be honest, and I wish ours would take a little more interest in the schools and local community.

[gagamama]

If it's your local MP then they're already elected though? And June is after the election. If you end up with a different local MP after the election and the old one still comes then maybe YANB that U, but your local MP is your local MP and this kind of stuff is what they do, along with Mayors and the like.

[Charlieandlola]

Yabu. He or she may be out on may 7th and maybe your chosen party will be in and you will have a different representative. but as fir you not supporting their party I am afraid you will have to suck it up. It's called democracy.

[Bucharest]

YABU- he/she probably would prefer to be doing something else rather than pinning tails on donkeys or raffling off Victoria sponges that day too.

[Strix]

Bramshott, how do you know the election is in May? Have I missed an announcement? The thing I don't like is that fete PR / advertsising will coincide with election campaigning. So, in effect, the school will be campaigning for the one particular party and I think the school should just not get involved when the fete is so close to the election.

I do, however, take the point that he/she is the MP and openin glocal school fetes is fair ground for the job.

I guess it's the timing I find inappropriate.

[JackSpratt]

I'd prefer Liz Hurley or Suzi Quattro.

They would pout or strut they're stuff and you might get a few free bikini's or tour jackets.

[Strix]

Anyone who is not running in the upcomming election would be fine and dandy.

[Strix]

i thought the election had to be held by 03 June, but is widely speculated to be called for May to coincide with local elections. But, I'm no expert on British politics so please correct me if I am wrong.

[Charlieandlola]

6th June is the latest the election can be. It will be on may6th however to coincide with local elections as all the major parties are broke and can't afford 2 major campaigns within weeks of each other .A June fête willbe after the election so. Mp wouldn't be able to open it during a campaign under electoral law.

[Strix]

No, but his name will be on all the flyers that are distrubted around to advertise for the fete. And that will be during the campaign... Is that in violation of electoral law, I wonder?

[catinthehat2]

heh! at Choosyfloosy

[Rockbird]

It's not PR opportunities. S/He is your MP. That's it, done and dusted. S/He's not only an MP for those who voted for her/him. It's like me asking why I should have to line manage someone that wasn't my top choice in the interviews.

And I agree with BariatricObama; it's a school fete, that's all.

[KimiGaveUpStarbucks4Lent]

Clearly a lot more people like him as her is the MP so he must have a fair bit of support, as long as he is not BMP then get over it.
YABU

[5Foot5]

Yes YABU. This is what local MPs do.

Our local MP (who I have never voted for) pops up at events like this all the time. There are several pictures of him in the local rag every week for opening or patronising some event or other.

Certainly round here I think people just expect it and would be more critical if he didn't show up for a fair few of these things.

Actually he is standing down at the next election but his replacement, i.e. the candidate for the same party, has already started to visit similar events in anticipation.

[reallylostitnow]

YABU. this is role of local MP - to get out there and talk to people and see what is going on. Whether ou voted for him / her or not, s/he is still your MP and still represents your area. But at the same time, you don't have to pretend you like them / don't vehemently disagree with everything they stand for and hate them with all the might of your being, that too is part of being an MP.

[posieparker]

As long as it's not the BNP I wouldn't mind.

[reallylostitnow]

yes actually re BNP = would think you are most certainly not unreasonable if objecting to BNP. But there are no BNP MPs (yet) so I don't think this one can be BNP.

[pagwatch]

YABU. An MP represents you whether you voted for him/her or not. And often MPs are better at constituency level than they are voting in the house. You are being a bit petty. Your OP also reads as if you don't understand the role of a constituency MP which isn't terribly flattering.

Plus. My nephews school fate was opened by Philip Schofield many years ago and my DN went up and asked him to go out with me. Wouldn't have been so bad but good old Phil was on the microphone at the time.
So it could be worse

[posieparker]

Loving that Pag!!!