A desk was found for me in a quiet corner, I was handed a ring binder bulging with paperwork and I was left to get on with it. Did I uncover evidence of cupidity among our would-be legislators? Sadly, no. It will come as no surprise to learn that the main candidates spent their largest sums on flyers, leaflets, posters and other bumf destined for the landfill. Unless you are the type to be shocked by the fact that Green candidate Caroline Lucas received a non-cash donation from the Political Animal Lobby or that Tory candidate Charlotte Vere forked out 41 for Google Ads, there is nothing in these documents to stir the blood.
Thats neither here nor there, say the proponents of data journalism. The fact that the expenses forms start life as Excel documents means it shouldnt be beyond the wit of our electoral services offices to store the results electronically and upload them onto a site where anybody with sufficient curiosity can inspect them. Well, yes. But dont imagine that this exercise in itself will be sufficient to hold our lawmakers to account. The Apathetic Tendency is probably the largest single political group in the country and its members have every right to expect the more engaged among us to do their donkey work for them.
To take an example from the world of finance and business: for a small fee you can sign up to Companies House Direct and fill your days inspecting the accounts of businesses registered in the United Kingdom. Will you do this? Of course not you have a life. Quite sensibly, you will leave it to financial journalists to sift a companys data, compare results and call up the financial director to ask impertinent questions.
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