A very long night (part II)

May 7, 2010 — simonashall

No question about it – the most important thing about last night was ensuring that Woking retained the services of a Conservative MP. All the work that we have been doing in Horsell West and Horsell East was geared to ensuring that Jonathan Lord became the next MP for Woking and that we fought off the Cowley Street Works being foisted on the constituency by the Lib Dems.

They really did throw just about everything at the place – copious literature, Christmas cards, glossy Hello!-style eight-pagers, handwritten pledge letters as well as the on-street campaigns in the town, railway station and the online stuff. We got the full treatment, including a personal and vicious campaign against Jonathan portraying him as a grasping outsider who didn’t care about the town. I’m glad that people have roundly rejected this cynical and low messaging.

Knowing what defeat is like, I’m not going to gloat at Rosie and knowing Rosie, the above carry-on wasn’t her doing anyway. A couple of weeks ago, I don’t mind saying that I was a touch anxious about the way things were going but we finished very strongly and not only did Jonathan hold Humfrey’s majority, he actually increased it - polling an enormous 26,500 votes and 50% of the share for the first time since Cranley Onslow’s tenure.

I’ve worked pretty closely with Jonathan during the past six months and I can tell you that not only is he a hell of a nice guy, he’s also going to be a cracking MP for Woking. If you believed all the cant in the Lib Dem literature, I think it’s safe to say you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise when you meet him and understand his “get things done” outlook on life. He’s an effective and strong voice and will be able to work with Surrey MPs to place Woking’s priorities at the heart of what we hope will be a government led by David Cameron.

Last night, he gave a speech in which he also paid tribute to the other candidates in a way with which I would entirely concur. Representing the people; the democratic process – those things are serious. But politics is fun – let’s remember that now the election is over and put away the silly slurs and insults to work together for what our town and its surrounding villages needs.

Many congratulations Jonathan, may this be the first day of a long tenure for you here in Woking.

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Woking’s fifth choice

April 28, 2010 — simonashall

We’ve all heard about how local the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate is. She’s been variously “at the heart of our community for thirty years“, “helping people for over twenty years” and has “a strong record of local action” according to Lib Dem literature. Certainly, if the election is a “localness” competition, she would fare well.

What I’m concerned about – and it seems I’m not alone judging by the latest comments on UK Polling Report - is the ability to get things done and stand up for Woking in parliament. And judging by their hesitancy to select Rosie Sharpley in previous general elections, it appears that the Lib Dems agree with me.

Four years after Rosie was elected as a councillor, the Liberal Democrats chose Dorothy Buckrell to stand for Woking in the 1992 general election. In 1997, while Jonathan Lord’s talents were recognised by the Conservative leadership and he was given a teeth-cutting “no hope” seat to fight at the age of 34, the Lib Dems once again passed over Rosie in favour of Philip Goldenberg. In 2001, they chose Alan Hilliar and in 2005, while Rosie was “looking after residents” in Horsham by finally getting selected to fight a seat somewhere, Anne Lee was the candidate in Woking (she “didn’t even live in the constituency“, by the way).

Am I the only one to wonder why it is only now that someone who obviously wanted a parliamentary career has been picked to fight in her own back yard when she’s has 20 years to do so? And doesn’t this make her Woking’s “fifth choice”?

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A Strong Voice is needed

April 26, 2010 — simonashall

After knocking on a few doors over the weekend and speaking to those who manned at our very successful Town Square stall on Saturday, feedback from voters is very clear. They want an MP in Woking who:

1) Has local interests at heart

2) Is an effective advocate for Woking residents

3) Is an effective champion for Woking causes

I fully accept that anyone standing for parliament in Woking has Woking’s interests at heart – why else would they be here? I know that Jonathan Lord has spent many, many weeks getting to know the area with various teams from across the constituency. No doubt Rosie Sharpley has similar motivation.

But let’s look at numbers two and three. Imaging that there’s a bill in Parliament on the future of some grand project such as AirTrack that will affect Woking significantly if it goes ahead. With a direct train route to Heathrow, it will attract thousands of travellers and commuters through the station and boost the Woking economy. Investment in the station to improve facilities and capacity could also follow, making life for the thousands of Woking residents who commute a great deal easier.

Other MPs oppose it – they want an alternative scheme that will benefit their towns instead but Anne Milton in Guildford and the Woking MP are due to give speeches to persuade the house that AirTrack is the way to go and that final funding for it should be approved to the benefit of the area. Below is a series of interviews with all the candidates – the first minute is Jonathan Lord and the second is Rosie.

Who would you rather have making that argument in parliament? If residents want a persuasive advocate and vocal champion for Woking, I believe that there is only one realistic choice and that is to vote for Jonathan. Woking needs a strong voice in parliament and that is something that only he can be.

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Evening of debates

April 16, 2010 — simonashall

Yesterday evening saw the first leaders’ debate on television and by and large the media is portraying Nick Clegg as the winner. I didn’t see the debate for reasons that are obvious below but spent a bit of time in work this morning calming down my colleagues about Nick Clegg (they’ve come to expect that of me).

Firstly, it was always going to be easy for him to look like the reasonable man in between the Conservative and Labour warring factions. We saw Vince Cable do it in the Chancellors’ debate; we saw it again last night. Secondly, there is so much more at stake for DC and the PM, it’s no wonder that they looked more under pressure. Particularly for DC – when these debates were agreed, it seemed like it would just be a matter of cementing the lead. Things are different now. Nick Clegg was able to look and feel more relaxed because he’s not going to be PM.

Thirdly,  Nick Clegg can afford to be “honest” about cuts, tax rises etc because it isn’t him that’s going to have to do them. The Lib Dems have always been good at promising wonderful things in the knowledge that they won’t have to deliver. Their record in local government is much more patchy. Fourthly, let’s give Clegg some credit. He prepared well, understood the medium better than the other two and came across well. It doesn’t mean he’ll make a great Prime Minister. Or even prop one up.

Meanwhile at the Lightbox, the first of the Woking Hustings was getting underway with Jonathan Lord up against Tom Miller (Lab), Rob Burberry (UKIP), Rosie Sharpley (Lib Dem)  and the lady from the Peace Party whose name escapes me. The event was organised by the Federation of Small Businesses and focussed on the economy. Around 40 people turned up but mostly people I recognised as businesspeople or activists.

I thought Labour’s Tom Miller gave a good account of himself faced with a sceptical audience and the impossible task of defending this government’s mismanagement of the economy. He’ll be an MP for sure – just not for Woking. Rob Burberry spoke with the usual UKIP over-earnestness and although he talked a little sense about the European dimension, he wasn’t at all convincing in any other dimension.

Jonathan Lord spoke confidently and knowledgeably, gaining quite a bit of applause from the audience, although perhaps that was to be expected. The contrast though with Rosie was less expected. I thought that she’d bear up well in these hustings given her background. Not so – she stumbled around answers, had to be stopped when she started answering a different question to the one that was asked and from what I hear it got worse after I left.

She might know Woking “like the back of her hand” but in the end so do many people. What we need in Parliament is someone with the influencing skills, the energy and the strength of personality to push Woking’s case forward in among the great melting pot of conflicting interests.

Jonathan is in the process of moving here and whether you vote for Rosie or Jonathan, you will have an MP living here in the constituency. The question is what qualities you wish that person to have and the contrast couldn’t be starker. The Lib Dems have been pushing the sophistry for months now that Woking was Jonathan’s “third choice” seat. Not true. But even if it was, I’d rather be a third-choice seat than have a third-rate MP.

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Horsell Action Day

April 10, 2010 — simonashall

There’s nothing better than a bit of politics when the sun’s shining, people are in and willing to talk and the parliamentary candidate is getting greeted on the street by people who recognise him from literature. But so it was this morning when we held an Action Day in Horsell for my campaign along with Jonathan Lord.

I’ve read an awful lot of baseless rubbish about him elsewhere and in some election literature, which I have addressed previously. While our opponents campaign on the importance of locality because they have little else to recommend their candidate, Jonathan is interested in meeting people to demonstrate the broad portfolio of personal and political skills that we believe would make him a strong and effective MP for Woking. It seems that people in Horsell High Street this morning understood this.

Far from quizzing him about where he lives – as Lib Dem activists have been asked to do if he calls – they are concentrating on the big picture. That is that we need someone to stand up in parliament and argue Woking’s case to the highest democratic authority in the land and that person needs to be charismatic and credible. He was greeted warmly both on the doorstep and in the street this morning by people from all parts of the village who can see what he would offer Woking as our representative if they back him on May 6.

It’s a common theme of Lib Dem literature to erect barriers - a barrier between Jonathan and his party, a barrier between Jonathan and Woking or between anyone else and the people they want to represent. Well, those barriers are all very well as election tools but they don’t exist in reality. As Conservatives, we must not talk the language of barriers, problems and disconnects but of accessibility, solutions and relationships – and watching Jonathan’s reception in Horsell this morning demonstrated to me the value of that approach and why I believe that ultimately it will win through.

Posted in Horsell West campaign, Lib Dem lies, Woking PPC, elections. Tags: , , , , , , , . 4 Comments »

Mythbusting Jonathan Lord (part 1)

March 22, 2010 — simonashall

During the past few weeks, I’ve encountered all sorts of nonsense about Jonathan Lord from Lib Dem campaigners and activists across the borough. It is quite normal that Lib Dem campaigns in areas where there is Conservative incumbency focus on current areas of discontent and supporting “Motherhood and Apple Pie” while at the same time furiously attacking the Conservative candidate. In the past, it has been very effective – less so now as voters see through it more.

I know that Jonathan is intent on running a positive campaign based on the direction that the Conservatives want to take Britain while emphasising his credentials as a communicator and man of action who will be a great representative for Woking. So it’s left to me to defend some of the negative rubbish that the Lib Dems are blogging and tweeting among themselves.

Myth #1 – Woking was Jonathan Lord’s third choice. This is a very strange use of the word “third”. Jonathan fought Oldham West and Royton in 1997 but hasn’t stood for Parliament since. Before Humfrey Malins announced his retirement and the Woking seat became available, he sought selection for two other seats unsucessfully. Compare this with Rosie Sharpley, whose been a councillor in Woking since 1988. If she is such a popular and passionate candidate, why was she not selected to stand in 1992, 1997 or 2001 and why did she stand in Horsham in 2005?

Myth #2 – Jonathan is a “career politician”. Jonathan is an experienced council politican who was deputy leader of Westminster City Council and in charge of multi-million pound budgets. He is a campaigner and a campaign manager with a proven track record of getting elected. He stood for parliament once before. In between elections and being a councillor, he held down a job like anyone else. Let’s compare again to Rosie – her political career started in 1988, she too has been deputy leader of a  council in Woking and stood for parliament once, while holding down a job in between her duties. The only different between Jonathan and Rosie is that his political career has been on a bigger scale than hers.

Myth #3 - Jonathan’s not around in Woking much. Jonathan is out in Woking all the time – from Horsell to Brookwood and from Maybury to Mayford, Jonathan has been knocking on doors, attending functions and meeting with community organisations to understand their successes and problems in equal measure. If he hasn’t knocked on Lib Dem doors, that’s probably because they were out. It’s not uncommon. And has anyone actually seen Rosie outside of her full-colour 42-picture literature? I saw her in Sainsbury’s the other day in the cheese aisle - it didn’t look impressed either.

Myth #4 – Jonathan’s Conservative colleagues don’t like him. In order to back this one up, the Lib Dems are quoting the same person over and over again. We’ve no idea who he is, whether he is who he says he is and even if he’s genuine, people don’t always agree in politics. You have to take decisions and that entails pleasing some people and not others. As a journo I heard many people say many things about Rosie Sharpley too. Most of them were positive – as I’ve said before, Rosie’s a good councillor. But not all of them were – that’s the nature of the political arena. It’s no big deal.

I’m sure that they’ll think of more myths in the coming weeks…part II to follow.

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Lord oh Lord, Lib Dems get personal

February 16, 2010 — admin

Jonathan (centre) at Woking Community HospitalThere may still be two months to go before an election is called but already the Liberal Democrats are beginning to show that they are far more comfortable talking about personalities than policies. The latest attempt to smear our excellent parliamentary candidate Jonathan Lord comes from Spiderplant Land, where a load of hackneyed drivel masquerades as an informed piece of opinion.

The blogger in question has already got the number of times Jonathan has stood for parliament wrong, amusingly confused Jonathan’s current place of residence five miles away with somewhere 25 miles away and stated quite catagorically that he knew nothing about Woking, despite the fact that she has never met him. She then sought to blame our literature for the faulty information! The Lib Dems really need to learn the difference between blogging and blagging.

In addition, the “anonymous” comments that she quotes from ConservativeHome (and which have now been removed) originate from someone know to be a compulsive fibber, who is not a Guildford party member and doesn’t even appear to be on the electoral roll in Guildford or Waverley. Still, that’s about the standard of reasonsing that underpins most Lib Dem policies, so expect to see these fake “quotes” used again.

I have stated before how impressed I have been with Jonathan’s commitment to Woking since he was adopted as our candidate. Last week, he visited Woking Community Hospital to emphasise our commitment to the NHS, something I know he feels strongly about. This weekend, he is campaigning – by which I mean knocking on doors rather than tweeting friends like @RosieSharpley – in opposite ends of the borough because he wants to listen to concerns and articulate the Conservative message of change and recovery.

People who have seen Jonathan at events and visits will tell you that as well as being a great communicator he is usually the last to leave, wanting to spend time with the hosts who are usually busy during the event itself. Jonathan is a dynamic, intelligent and experienced man with a record of getting things done in the public and private sector. He has fantastic connections within the Conservative Party that will help Woking – should he be elected – get its voice heard at the highest level.

After 13 years of being punished by Labour for being in Surrey, Woking deserves that opportunity once again. Don’t be seduced by Lib Dem untruths and heresay – it may suit them locally but it is not in the best interests of the constituency or the country.

Update 16/2: For those that can stand it, Spiderplant Land has responded at some considerable length here.  It’s typical baseless Lib Demmery. But it gives me a good indication of what we can expect going forward. For the record, I have not smeared Rosie Sharpley above – I’ve talked about Jonathan, save for plugging Rosie’s Twitter account (I think Twitter is marvellous but a very limited campaigning tool).  She’s right though - it’s not worth responding to. So I’m going to get on with our Horsell In Touches instead.

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What you make it

December 6, 2009 — admin

Another furiously busy long weekend. I spent most of Friday working on campaign items, followed by a branch meeting of Horsell and Woodham in the evening. Yesterday, my other half and I spent most of the day in the kitchen – more of which later – followed by helping out and attending the Carol Concert at Horsell Village Hall. Today, we have presented the fruits of our kitchen labours at the Horsell and Woodham Conservatives Christmas Lunch, which as fundraising and membership vice-chairman, I have organised.

So another wonderfully “Horselly” weekend. The Mosaic Choir was absolutely fantastic yesterday evening and sung with great competence and wit. A number of their pieces were modern alternatives to traditional favourites and the version of 12 Days of Christmas was very funny. The event raised a great deal of money for Woking Lions and Horsell Village Hall and we have to recognise the efforts of Dorothy Smith, Penny Kramer and Roger Chamberlain from the HVH side, along with Janice Worgan.

Party events are perhaps slightly less worthy from a general point of view but raise funds for the political process, which however cynical one may be about it is at least better than no political process at all. My other half and I spent yesterday making various desserts to cater for the 35 people who turned up to support us today. Cllrs Anne Murray and Mike Smith provided the main course and Jonathan Lord attended a Horsell event yet again, showing his continuing commitment to support activists at every level as they support him. I’ve said before that I’m lucky to have a great branch behind my campaign – it can’t be overstated.

There isn’t a particular point to this post other than to note what a great pleasure it is to have such a full diary and meet so many good people who support these events – both political and non-political. Where you live is what you make it, something it is heartening that so people in Horsell understand.

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Coffee in Horsell

November 21, 2009 — admin
Fighting for Horsell West - the Conservative team

Fighting for Horsell West - the Conservative team

It’s been a busy day – I was down at Horsell Village Hall at 9am to clear leaves from around the vicinity. Luckily, the strong winds had taken a few of them away but there were still eight bags that we took to compost. The hall is lucky to have a very good team of volunteers and I am by no means foremost among them – we all take pride in making sure the place is as presentable and pleasant as we can possibly make it. A lot of people probably suppose that the trustees hire in gardeners to tend the grounds and sweep the leaves. Not so, we like to spend what money we have on improvements for users and ensuring the hall remains fit for purpose for many years to come.

Then on to the home of Diane and Gary Shepherd for a very successful and well-attended coffee morning for Horsell and Woodham Conservatives. It was superb to see all the Horsell borough and county members there and once again to be in the company of Jonathan Lord, who far from dashing off was pretty much the last person to leave. He gave another upbeat but pragmatic speech on the times ahead before unexpectedly asking me to say a few words.

I’ve never given a proper speech to activists before and probably fell somewhat short of that but for a piece of rhetoric made up on the hoof I was pleased with what I said. I can’t match Jonathan’s eloquence but got a round of applause anyway, although I suspect that was more sympathy than agreement. Inevitably one ends up thinking of several things one should have said after the event; but that it the beauty of learning and I’ll know for next time.

Into a single coffee morning goes the work of many people – the hosts, the organisers, the bakers of cakes, the collectors of raffle and ticket money, the helpers and those who simply turn up to show their support. Thanks to all of them – they are the people who can win the election for me; I am only able to lose it. Without the support of a great team, a candidate is merely a legal requirement.  

I am very flattered that they have seen fit to advance me as their candidate – I only hope I can  justify the faith placed in me.

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A Grand Evening

November 20, 2009 — admin
John Redwood addresses the Woking Conservative dinner

John Redwood addresses the Woking Conservative dinner

I have just got back from a superb Annual Grand Dinner for Woking Conservatives that was not only fantastically well-attended by councillors and party members alike but where there were some star turns too. Obviously none of them were on the record so it would be most remiss of me to report their words on here but it wouldn’t be much of post to talk about nothing so I’ll make some observations to which I’m sure none would object.

I’ll be honest, John Redwood (now added to blogroll) is a very able man but quite a bit to the right of me generally. His views on Europe are very well-documented and it’s no surprise that he kicked off his remarks on this subject. What I was pleasantly surprised at though was the time he took to speak about social issues; perhaps not something he is generally noted for. He spoke about the work Iain Duncan Smith (who spent this evening addressing Harlow Conservatives according to @halfon4harlow) has done and I think has a genuine committment towards opportunity and advancement for people. He’s not quite ready to join the Tory Reform Group yet, but I’ve seen another dimension to his hard-nosed image.

I sat on a table with Nirj Deva MEP and spoke to him and his political assistant at some length about Europe and European issues. I was pleased to discover that he is a big fan of Woking but also to understand a little more about the Conservative stance on the EU within the European group, which often gets overshadowed by Westminster debate. It would be unfair of me to recall the conversation in detail but needless to say the question of committing ourselves to a given position within or outside the current European “bloc” is a good deal more nuanced and sophisticated than perhaps I imagined.

And last of all, there was a very confident and concise speech from Jonathan Lord, who I saw address a large group for the first time since his selection. A few months ago, I said I would never work for a parliamentary candidate who was not local because I couldn’t see how they would know the area well enough to know its people. Apart from the fact that Jonathan is hardly an outsider anyway coming from Guildford, he has totally convinced me that not only is he working hard but enjoying it.

Apart from an engagement last night at Winston Churchill School, the Conservative Dinner tonight, he is at the Horsell and Woodham Branch coffee morning tomorrow morning followed by campaigning in the afternoon. He is getting every bit as stuck in as I hoped our candidate would – and I had pretty high expectations. Keep going Jonathan, you have really spurred on our enthusiasm with your infectious commitment, diligence and clear enjoyment of getting to know Woking and its people. As someone who went through that process myself abeit in a difference capacity seven years ago, I promise that both repay such an approach with interest.

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