At one point a candidate for the post of West Midlands police and crime commissioner was speaking to a woman with a spliff in her mouth.
Siraj Datoo / BuzzFeed
BIRMINGHAM, England – It's a strong candidate for Britain's worst ever election. No one – voters, returning officers, even some of the candidates – wanted the by-election held on Thursday for the position of West Midlands police and crime commissioner.
But someone needed to fill the job, created as part of a flagship coalition policing policy, after the position's previous occupant, Bob Jones, died suddenly at the end of June, so £3.7 million was spent holding an election to find a replacement. As predicted, almost no one turned up: Just over 10.4% of eligible voters bothered to cast their ballot.
Visiting polling stations with Labour candidate and eventual winner David Jamieson, it became immediately clear that even those vying for the £100,000-a-year role didn't have high hopes. By mid-afternoon at one polling station 83 people out of a possible 1900 had voted. Jamieson looked over to his adviser and said cheerily: "That's almost 5%, that's not bad!"
David Jamieson, Labour's candidate in the West Midlands PCC elections.
Siraj Datoo / BuzzFeed
Later, the former MP greeted a group of four young voters just outside a polling station and asked if they would vote.
"No, you're all crooks. You all say one thing and do another," one retorted. The Labour candidate suggested he would be different. "Look, none of you do what you say," responded one of the potential voters.
When BuzzFeed asked the group to explain their views on camera the response was instant.
"Get that fucking camera out of my face," one said, at which point the video was immediately deleted. "If you try and record us again, I'll smash in your fucking glasses," another added, kicking out at this reporter.
They did not vote.
As Jamieson walked back towards his car to pick up leaflets, a woman started walking out of her house with what appeared to be a large cannabis joint in her mouth. He asked the woman if she would vote and she did little to cover up the spliff, instead fobbing him off by saying she hadn't decided if she would vote yet.
The Labour candidate turned around, gesturing, "Did you see the size of that thing?"
