‘It is not our place to tell people where to vote in local elections and by remaining outside of that debate we have been able to have frank and hopefully meaningful talks with many of those councillors. Political choices are both personal and private …’
From the OxVox update.
Personally I disagree. Whilst I would not expect the supporters to put out a guide to ‘fans from X should vote Y’, they could and should have stressed the need to vote and to consider your choices carefully.
It’s not a crime to be self-interested in this and as the supporters’ group they can be whereas the club have to be more politically neutral.
A missed trick from OxVox in my view.
My view is that it is less helpful in the mid to long term though for the club or OxVox (the latter of which will often be seen as being an extension of the club by external stakeholders, despite their independence) to publicly engage on political matters in this way.
Firstly, if your preferred candidates lose (as was very likely to be the case in a complex local election where there are many different factors in play), it then looks much more like a mandate for winning candidates (and parties as a whole) on a particular issue.
Secondly, it burns your bridges and makes any subsequent engagement and conciliatory pragmatism - in private but particularly in public - very difficult if not impossible.
Elected officials have their own pressures and internal political issues to deal with, aside from just ours. We have to recognise this. Sometimes they need a bit of space, time and back-channels for ongoing discussions. Particularly during election periods.
The stadium proposal is an emotive issue on both sides. Somewhat understandably and inevitably - particularly in modern times when social media use and general discourse has made debate more tribal - people want definitive black or white answers and public proclamations. But it’s more nuanced than that with any large development in a complex political environment.
We would all do well to take a step back and consider how much progress we’ve already made in extremely complicated circumstances.
We’ve very rarely been in this kind of situation where we have successfully agreed heads of terms for the leasing of land (on Green Belt no less), of having successfully worked with Planning Officers to submit a comprehensive and impressive planning application, and have demonstrated - repeatedly - a majority support from residents across the County.
It’s a minor miracle we’ve got this far. There are still big and significant hurdles to overcome. But I’d argue that it’s unhelpful to our cause at this stage to become divided and start turning fire on those who have played a key role in getting us here, and are so close to delivering this fantastic opportunity.
There will inevitably need to be a final push from us as fans (writing to CDC when the planning committee date is confirmed, attending on the day to peacefully and passionately demonstrate the importance of approval) and that’s where our focus should move to.
But that will be in a few weeks’ time. For now, let’s enjoy the play-offs opportunity that we’ve also achieved as a club. Momentum is back with us and we can play our part in helping that to continue, both on and off the pitch.
All United, and all that.
COYY
