18 JUN 2010
What can I say: we Conservatives were completely wiped out in the recent Town Council Elections. Many people in Stratford Town believe, in my view misguidedly, that we deserved to lose. Fact is: we did. And the Town Council remains controlled overwhelmingly by a feeble bunch of Lib Dems and their Independent flunkies.
Indeed, even some prominent Lib Dems told me "off the record" on election night that they are dismayed by the calibre of some of their colleagues on the Town Council. But this comes from putting up a number of paper candidates just to fill the vacancies available.
By contrast, we Conservatives only put up candidates who had expressed a genuine enthusiasm for working for our community. As a result we did not have a full slate - and this meant that many voters, knowing they had five votes but only three Conservative candidates to support often put two additional crosses by Lib Dem paper candidates - so that their votes for us were cancelled out.
Honesty is clearly not always the best policy!
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15 MAY 2010
May I express my thanks to the 1,473 voters of Guild & Hathaway ward who indicated their confidence in me by voting for me as the Conservative Party candidate in the recent District Council election.
I appreciated the warm and courteous welcome I received on many a doorstep from voters of all political persuasions and the letters, texts and emails of encouragement and support that were sent to me before the election. Likewise, the notes of sympathy I received when the result was announced that I had been "pipped at the post" by the Town's mayor, Jenny Fradgley - the Lib Dems always indicated in their literature that this would be "a two horse race".
There were, of course, some notable exceptions, such as the letter I received from a resident in Old Town who was not ashamed to include his name and address and who wrote "I don't like Lawyers; I don't like Tories; and I don't like Jews". So I guess I failed to gain his support on all three counts!
Earlier this month we had the opportunity to vote for change and to bring on board a number of new faces such as Ian Hurst, Maurice Howse and myself as District Councillors. Instead, we are now saddled for four more years with the same old nags pursuing the same old policies to the detriment of our town.
Close on the heels of the Bancroft disaster which was endorsed by Jenny Fradgley and her ineffectual Lib Dem minions, we now have the fiasco of the Waterside/Southern Lane one way scheme imposed upon us by Warwickshire County Council whose sole justification for pursuing this bizarre project is that the money was there so we had to spend it regardless of the dire consequences for traffic flow within the town centre.
I should like to reassure my many supporters that I am not a quitter. I am not deterred by this temporary setback. I shall be standing in the Town Council elections in two weeks time and hope that many of you will feel able to support my candidature so that I can play my part in ensuring that bad decisions such as those referred to above are not repeated.
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26 APR 2010
1. Because you believe in representative democracy - not in some hypothetical "fair" allocation to a party based on the misplaced assumption that because it puts up a candidate in every seat it deserves greater representation in Westminster.
2. Because the Lib Dems are living off the proceeds of crime (£2.4 million to be precise!).
3. Because Nick Clegg's wife won't vote for him. So, if she won't, why should you?
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11 APR 2010
Sunday is traditionally a day of rest from canvassing.
Voters don't like their privacy invaded on the Lord's day even if they are not especially religious.
And I was just having a nice Sunday afternoon kip when my doorbell rang and I was invited by supporters of the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party, Robert Johnston, to vote Socialist.
I don't think so!
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08 APR 2010
I was interested to receive and read a copy of my opponent, Jenny Fradgley's, campaign leaflet entitled "Listening to what you say".
In it she sets out her party's policies and priorities for the next four years.
What struck me was how similar - if not virtually identical - are the Lib Dem policies to those of my own party. Indeed, as a Conservative, I find it impossible to argue with any of her proposals.
Her leaflet even goes so far as to include a prominent photograph of an oak tree - perhaps a subliminal attempt by a Tory mole to persuade voters to cast their votes in my favour.
Or is it a less subtle attempt by the Lib Dems to hark back to how the Bancroft Gardens looked before they were raped by all parties? I say all parties because I am not aware that Mrs Fradgley whilst in office as District Councillor formally objected to the re-design plans for the Bancroft before they were implemented.
Mrs Fradgley points out in her leaflet that "this election is a two horse race". I guess what it boils down to then is whether the voters want four more years of the mayor or whether they are prepared to give the new boy - untainted by the past mistakes of either side and ever mindful of them - a chance to clean out the stables and put matters right for Guild & Hathaway and the wider Stratford community.
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03 APR 2010
The Labour Party have just issued a new poster containing the strap line "Don't let him (David Cameron) take Britain back to the 1980's.
I say: "why not? That would be amazing. We need Maggie Thatcher's grit and determination - and urgently.
When she inherited office we were the poor man of Europe. We have come full circle. The Tories always have to clear up the Labour mess."
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26 MAR 2010
Last night, I chaired the Stratford on Avon Conservative Business Club's quarterly dinner at the Shakespeare Hotel.
Around 40 local business people attended the event which was an opportunity to enjoy good food whilst discussing business, politics and anything else with other like-minded, local business people.
After dinner, our prospective parliamentary candidate, Nadhim Zahawi, gave an informative and entertaining presentation entitled "Building a Digital Business" which drew on his experiences as co-founder of the online polling and business information company YouGov plc which started out in 1999 as "two men in a shed" and had grown by 2008 to become a plc with an annual turnover of £40M and 500 employees worldwide.
Nadhim's talk and message were very well received by all who attended the dinner and I know that we all look forward to him becoming our next MP for Stratford at the imminent general election.
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18 MAR 2010
Some refreshing truthfulness in politics surfaced at Stratford College yesterday when, during a students' Question Time debate, the Liberal Democrats' prospective parliamentary candidate, Martin Turner candidly said in response to comments by the Conservative and Labour Parties' panel members:
"I kind of agree with all the points of view, which is why I'm a Lib Dem. Give us a fence and we'll sit on it!"
At least he's honest.
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05 MAR 2010
Martin Turner, the prospective Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Stratford shows how completely out of touch with reality is his party locally when he writes on page 4 of last week's Herald (25 February) "... I challenge [Nadhim Zahawi, the recently elected Conservative parliamentary candidate] to find anyone who actually lives here who will testify that thuggery is part of their everyday life".
Directly opposite, on page 5, is a story headlined "Armed robber who beat up OAP is jailed indefinitely". It relates in graphic detail the antics of one Jason Sufi, a violent raider on the run following an armed robbery at Iago Jewellers in Henley Street. Perhaps Mr Turner would like to ask Melina Cucciara who was threatened by Mr Sufi wielding a knife whether or not she considers that his actions constitute thuggery. Certainly the judge at Warwick Crown Court, imposing an indeterminate sentence on Mr Sufi, thought they did.
Indeed, I would challenge Mr Turner to wander out alone around the Rother Triangle or down Union Street after dark any Friday or Saturday night and witness for himself the thuggish and loutish behaviour on our streets.
He is likely to end up with more than just egg on his face.
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04 MAR 2010
Last night’s Stratford Community Forum focused on elderly people’s services from the Council. One of the most fascinating points raised was just how rapidly Stratford’s population is ageing and, as a result, how much we will need to focus on services for the over 65’s in the future.
At present, approximately 7,000 residents of the Stratford District are over the age of 65, but in the next 20 years this figure is expected to increase by 67% to nearly 12,000.
Guild and Hathaway is already older than other wards in the District with nearly 50% of residents over the age of 60, so I have no doubt that we will be leading the charge of an increasingly active and engaged older population over the next 20 years.
One of the concerns raised at the previous forum - which affects the elderly and less mobile in particular - was the lack of bus services into Old Town, and the availability of the Flexi Bus service after 2pm. The feedback from the Council was that a resident’s suggestion of diverting the Park and Ride buses to run through Old Town would make journey times significantly longer for customers and that extending current community transport and Flexi Bus running times would be too expensive in the short term.
The only suggestion (which was made by a resident at a previous forum) was that an arrangement might be made with the operators of the sightseeing buses that already travel through Old Town. Who, though, is supposed to try to create that arrangement? The residents themselves?
My own view is that this would be an excellent example of partnership between the Council and the private sector. Perhaps we could even convince the bus operators to accept bus passes. This would be an excellent way for them to give something back to the residents of the town, that their tourist customers affect on a daily basis, and an excellent example of Social Action in practice.
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