Pat McNicholas talking at a hustings event

WHERE was everybody?

That’s the big question facing Camden’s local politicians this week after nearly 80 per cent of voters did not bother choosing who their new councillor should be.

The embarrassingly low turnout for the Regent’s Park by-election on Thursday has raised questions over whether residents have lost faith in local democracy and whether casting a ballot can really change anything about their lives.

Labour ended up winning the seat with candidate Nanouche Umeadi  but did so in a ballot which interested just 21.9 per cent of the eligible voters in the ward.

The ruling party, the Greens and people supporting an independent candidate had devoted hundreds of hours to trying to convince people to get out and vote.

Kelly Strong, chair of the Regent’s Park estate Tenants and Residents Association said: “From speaking to residents, my impression wasn’t that people didn’t care about the by-election.

“Many felt that, whatever the result, nothing would change, so they questioned whether voting would make a difference. Comments like ‘What’s the point?’ came up repeatedly.

“That sense of disengagement may go some way towards explaining the low turnout.”

“It shows how important it is that residents feel engaged and involved in local issues.”

The by-election was triggered after the farcical scenes at May’s council elections when a winning Green candidate was told he would not actually allowed to be inducted.

Muhammad Abu Naser was ruled ineligible because he works at a council-run secondary school.

He has since left the Green Party and criticised its handling of the issue.

He then supported independent candidate Mohammad Junayd Khan, a care home manager who repeatedly said he was standing because he had been urged to put his name forward by a community fatigued by the current system of party politics.

Amid the campaign, there were tensions amid both the Labour and Green memberships about their choice of candidates.

Nanouche Umeadi

The end result showed Ms Umeadi only needed 576 votes to get elected.

Mel Hargreaves, 76, who has lived on the Regent’s Park Estate all her life said: “I voted but neighbours I spoke to said they weren’t going to vote. I think people are a bit fed up.

“I think in general people are less involved in their communities these days. But that’s not because they don’t care about where they live, it just feels like nothing changes or gets better.”

It is often said that only a few, often long-standing, councillors in Camden have significant name recognition among the public.

“Who is your local councillor?” can be a tricky question, no matter how deeply the New Journal covers the goings-on at the Town Hall.

Low turnout is not unusual in by-elections. West Hampstead’s by-election last year recorded a turnout of only 26.4 per cent.

But residents in Regent’s Park said they felt voting would make little difference.

Pat McNicholas, who has lived on the estate for 70 years said: “A lot of people I spoke to said ‘what’s the point’. That Camden doesn’t do anything anyway and I think that’s why a lot of people don’t bother because they know the council don’t do anything.  But to me, if you don’t vote, you shouldn’t have a say in any of the matters.”

Ms McNicholas moved into Clarence Gardens aged five before the Regent’s Park estate was even built.

She said people feel “despondent” towards the council, after years of reporting issues with housing, repairs and problems with HS2 and feeling like they got nowhere.

She added: “When I used to go to the DMC [local housing committee] meetings people used to say we don’t need one TRA we need two on the estate because of the amount of people.

“It’s the same with the councillors, we don’t need three we need six. And they need to be visible.

“But I expected a low turnout. People turn away when they feel like nothing is being done. It’s a classic example of that here.”