The results of the 2010 General Election may have been inconclusive yet one thing is certain. Record numbers of voters turned out for the closest election in decades. In some urban areas voters were turned away as the 10pm deadline approached, after large queues had built up at polling stations. However in some areas getting to the appointed place would in itself prove difficult if a resident of the rural countryside. In response to this a number of unusual polling stations sprang up around the country as election officers found the best solution to providing an accessible option for voters. Most numerous amongst these makeshift stations was the humble caravan.
Residents of Oakenshaw in County Durham were treated to the luxury of voting in a caravan serving cups of tea while they waited. A small village that was once a community for the local colliery, the Oakenshaw caravan was positioned by the side of the main road offering easy access for constituents. A caravan used for similar purposes in Norwich made the evening news on election day. Meanwhile a similar arrangement was in place over in Ford, a village with a population of 580 in a recent census.
Other caravan polling stations included a notable example in the village of Lochbuie on the Isle of Mull. With only 32 people registered to vote, the Times newspaper reported that presiding officer Anne Gibson carried out her duties in a caravan in the garden of her home. The caravan serves all voters who live within an eight-mile distance, and Mrs Gibson, 60, ensured the makeshift polling station kept to the same polling hours as others in Britain.
She explained that when the previous presiding officer retired, “I took over in a small caravan in the garden. I set it up as a polling station as best I can, I have got curtains up, to make a polling booth. It’s very private and proper”. In contrast to the rush of voters in urban areas, she found that “we can wait four hours for the first voter. People know you are open until 10pm, so they don’t rush”.
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