The news that the son of a recent Prime Minister is bidding to become the candidate in a constituency near where his Mother was brought is not really that significant. Many children follow their parents into certain lines of work, and long standing family connections such as geography impact many of our decisions. However the fact that this particular seat is the safest Labour seat in the country and Cherie Booth comes from Waterloo, and not Bootle, a couple of miles away generates two questions in my mind.

The first is the most disturbing. In a nation that prides itself on being a major democracy, should we have a system that can allow the vast majority of constituencies to operate as though only one party is in contention. Labour is not alone in having safe seats. There are many safe Conservative seats, and one or two Safe-ish Lib Dem seats. I think the answer to that question should be a resounding NO! Clearly some neighbourhoods with a stable population may favour certain ideas and traditions. The following of certain football clubs, or even religious belief, or perhaps in parts of the South East certain bonfire societies should not be of concern, any more than strong support for certain political ideology. These things are all understandable in a context where the same people have lived in a location all of their lives, or where people from certain backgrounds arrive as immigrants in large numbers. However football clubs, places of worship and bonfire societies do not pretend to control public policy on matters such as education, housing and defence. Our vote in elections should be as much of an opportunity to have our views considered wherever we live. This after all is what some Politicians love to refer to in public when they are being challenged to justify their views or actions. “Hold me to account at the next election, through the ballot box” is typical of the sort of response. This is the argument that Harriet Harman was employing on this mornings Today programme. However it only works in the relatively small number of constituencies where the outcome in the election is uncertain. In the large majority of locations where there is only one probable outcome, as electors we have no opportunity to have our views considered. The only people that the candidate will have needed to please are the members of the dominant political party who took part in the selection process. This is the case in Bootle, which is the next door constituency to Sefton Central which is the constituency where I was born and grew up, as did Cherie Booth. Indeed my Mother knew Cherie Booths Mother, and they even lived in the same house for a short while. Sefton Central used to known as Crosby, a place where Shirley Williams ended a long run of historic Conservative wins before more recent reorganisations. At one time Crosby had been one of the safe Conservative seats so clearly things can change, however the SDP win for Shirley Williams was one of those momentous once in a lifetime experiences. There is no indication that anyone will oust Labour in Bootle in 2015, irrespective of who they pick as their candidate.

The second question is why is Euan Blair focusing his attention on the neighbouring constituency to where his Mum grew up? He appears to have little chance of being selected for Bootle, he is a long shot outsider. Despite his family links to the area, New Labour was never a popular ideology in Bootle Labour Party. It seems a shame that Mr Blair Junior is focusing his attention on safe seats in his search for a constituency, some of our best MPs are people who have had the experience of winning unwinnable seats, or at least contesting seats that are unwinnable before being selected in safer constituencies. Indeed that is what Euans dad did before he became MP and then Prime Minister. To take on the Party in Bootle when there must be many seats where a good campaign by a Labour candidate, particularly one with celebrity status has a chance of upsetting one of the other parties seems to be counter productive for all concerned. It merely shows that Euan understands how the political system works, and that he has no obvious desire to challenge it, irrespective of how keen he is to challenge the Party.

According to some analysis, the General Election will be fought and won on the basis of the outcome of around 85-120 constituencies. Douglas Carswell speaking on the Today programme this morning suggested that 70% of the seats are not really contested. The newspapers will continue to focus their attention on Euan Blair in Bootle and any other celebrity candidates in other areas. They and we should also be focusing on the structure and system which leads to eager candidates flocking to certain seats where they would definitely win, or for others who have no wish to be elected, but are keen to ensure that they remain relevant to a grateful party, standing in unwinnable seats. This is not a democracy that any of us should be proud of. Frankly we could do much better!