Still no news as to whether John Maples MP, head of candidates and returning officer, will publish more data on the MEP election process (the undemocratic nature of which we catalogued on Thursday). It seems to us that there are three possible main explanations for this failure of transparency:
- A wish to hide poor turnout: Which may be as low as 20% if membership is stable at approximately 250,000;
- A wish to hide the extent of spoilt ballot papers: Some reports suggest 15% to 20% rates of spoiling;
- A wish to hide declining membership: On Friday we asked CCHQ to confirm or deny a new membership figure leaked to us but have not heard anything back.