A very long night (part 1)

May 7, 2010 — simonashall

During the past few days I have been too busy campaigning in Horsell West to blog and of course I’m disappointed that having got more than 1,800 votes in the ward – the largest number by some way that I can recall the Conservatives getting - this wasn’t enough to win. The Horsell campaign team – Ben Carasco, Tony Branagan, Michael Gammon, Beryl Hunwicks, Alex Smith, Matthew King, Tim Read and others – worked extremely hard to try and secure a result in the ward and I can’t express enough gratitude for the work they have done.

As John McCain said, the failure is mine, not theirs – but I also have to pay tribute to the Lib Dem effort too. We didn’t see much of them but there was clearly some work being done somewhere as you don’t pull 1,850 votes out of Horsell West by just turning up to the count. It’s quite an achievement and congratulations to Ann-Marie Barker for being elected to replace Richard Sanderson in what was a closely-fought and intense battle with turnout at a furious 77%.

We all care about these things very much, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing them and to say that I’m not disappointed would be untrue. But I’m also philosophical – I knew Horsell West would be very, very close when I put myself forward for selection and I certainly didn’t get sucked into envisaging myself as a councillor on May 7. It’s a ward where nothing can be taken for granted and victory really is only for four years. Let’s also not forget that this was a Lib Dem seat with a majority of around 150 in 2006. So I walked into the hall not a councillor – and I walked back out not a councillor, the only thing it has cost me is the time and energy of the campaign.

And the campaign has been a real blast, a chance to get to know the area even better than you ever believed you could (you start to remember the names of houses and their order on South Road and the location of hidden front doors) as well as meet people from all over the village. I couldn’t honestly say I look upon that as a “cost” – more like a benefit and an experience that will help greatly in the future. It won’t be much of a surprise to learn that I’m not giving up and see highs and lows as part of the political process.

Being a councillor is a great honour but it’s not a requirement for contributing to the community. I will be continuing to do this and – after a suitable break – we’ll see what next year brings.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Dorothy Farrant, new-elected councillor for Byfleet and terrific news for Carl Thomson, who unseated Norman Johns to be the new councillor for Mount Hermon East. Well done, Carl.

Posted in Community, Horsell West campaign, elections. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

Clear blue water

November 30, 2009 — admin

There is a story in the FT today, which unfortunately I can’t link to as the FT requires payment for viewing its stories once you reach a certain number of views. It was however taken up in the Telegraph and details what the government think a future of reduced government waste looks like in a yet-to-be-published review.

 There is clear blue water between the parties on this, even if Labour are trying to steal our ideas, U-turning on what they previously parroted about Tory cuts. Compare this with the pamphlet put forward by John Redwood and Woking’s very own Carl Thomson and you very soon begin to understand how we are serious about cutting government waste; and Labour is a serious waste about to be cut out of government.

Posted in Economy. Tags: , , , , , , . No Comments »

Cutting government waste

November 29, 2009 — admin
Carl Thomson, co-author of the Bow Group pamphlet

Carl Thomson, co-author of the Bow Group pamphlet

There is a very good pamphlet that has just been published by the Bow Group on cutting government spending without impacting on public service delivery. The author is John Redwood, MP for Wokingham who spoke at the Conservative Annual Dinner the other evening along similar lines to some of the themes in the pamphlet. Carl Thomson, our candidate in Mount Hermon East in the Woking Borough Council elections next year (Twitter @carlthomson), has co-authored the report with John Redwood and his clarity of thought is evident in there too.

Mr Redwood has written an article on ConservativeHome about his work and it is definitely worth a read – it is comfortably digested in 20 minutes. The two authors go through each government department and suggest areas where savings could be made. Some of them are themes we are already familiar with such as quangos and staffing and there are one of two others thrown in that you may not have considered.

Particularly interesting are the comments of the introducion and conclusion, which talk about the politics of cutting expenditure, how Labour has tried first to say that all spending is untouchable and automatically equates to sacking doctors and nurses and then changed its mind. Spending cuts are not about cutting services, the pamphlet says, that is a very public sector way of looking at things. They are about delivering everything that you want to deliver – which might be everything you deliver now, or even more – more efficiently, with less waste and providing the taxpayer with better value.

A lot of ConservativeHomers are calling for John Redwood to be installed as Shadow Chancellor on the back of this but personally I think they are living in a dreamworld. Mr Redwood’s problem is not ability – he is among the most able of all MPs – it’s his public image, associated as he is with the cost-cutting, economy-is-everything right wing of the party. This pamphlet has shown another side to him – that he a considerate MP looking to create a better, more financially sustainable future but I had to laugh in the conclusion when he suggested that PR, spin and marketing costs should be cut.

Apart from the fact that everyone says that in opposition but seem to be much keener on PR when it comes to telling the world what they’ve achieved, perhaps if John Redwood had had the benefit of some proper PR and marketing to the general public during the first 10 years of his political career, there’s a chance he might be Shadow Chancellor by now!

Anyway, being Shadow Chancellor is no good if you can’t contribute anything useful and this is a superb contribution to the debate. Particularly congratulations to Carl, whose first pamphlet for the Bow Group this is – it’s a very careful and measured look at an emotive subject and will I’m sure find its way to the Shadow Chancellor before long.

Posted in Conservatives, Economy, Woking Borough Council. Tags: , , , , , , , . No Comments »
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