New beginnings

June 17, 2010 — simonashall

On June 29, this blog will be one year old. During the election campaign, I experienced quite a bit of traffic as the Rosie vs Jonathan battle heated up but with the elections over and everyone fed up of politics, those readers have gone and the number of repeat visits – mostly I suspect from Lib Dem activists checking what I had written – reduced.

During the next 10 days, I will be busy preparing to get married and am going to take that time away from the blog to think about how to make it better for readers in future. I want to move it away from being nominally a Horsell blog because there wouldn’t really be enough to write about on a daily basis and now Horsell has The Resident blog, I’d rather contribute to the debate on that site that try to match it here. So a change in name is probably in the offing, which I know is terribly confusing but it’ll hurt me more!

I’d still like to be able to give a view of what’s going on in the Woking democratic process from the perspective I get working quite closely with the Conservative group and association. I think that’s something you probably can’t get elsewhere and could be useful (but not too useful, obviously!). I’d also like to be able to talk, within obvious boundaries, about my experiences as a magistrate because again, that’s something that isn’t necessarily available elsewhere.

As I go through my CIPR course (I got a distinction for my first assessment, by the way!) I’d also like to start talking more about Public Relations as a influential factor in our society and politics and picking  up on instances of bad PR and where it has had a subtle effect. For example the Daily Mail carried a story today about a Piranha being caught in a Kent lake. Not at all tied in to the Piranha 3D movie, released in August, I’m sure.

What I don’t want this blog to become is a commentary on national politics, because there’s a load of other blogs that are better than me at that. You know my position, liberal Tory, finding out what someone thinks of every issue gets tedious unless they’ve anything unique to say. So those are some of the thoughts going round in my head. When I get back after my marital mini-break (we’re not honeymooning until September), they’ll be a redesign using the superb WordPress 3.0 and a re-launch along slightly different lines.

Posted in Community, Mundane occurances, Other blogs. Tags: , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Full text of Cllr John Kingsbury’s opening speech to council

May 27, 2010 — simonashall

Cllr John Kingsbury’s speech to council on Monday was the benchmark for the municipal year and come the elections in 2011, it will be on this document – containing as it did reference to our manifesto – on which the council will be judged. I reproduce it below for reference and comment.

Fellow Councillors, Thank you for re-electing me as Leader of the Council.  It is an honour to serve again in this role and I undertake to carry it out to the best of my ability.

We continue to face difficult local and national economic conditions.  The new coalition government has already started to reduce the budget deficit with the announcement today.  We in local government will no doubt face tough challenges to maintain core services whilst our residents always like us to do more for them.

Council management must continue to be of the highest quality to deliver the best value for money for services provided through the funding we receive from Council Tax, fees and charges, and diminishing government support.  Under this administration, striving to improve service delivery will be a fundamental aim of the Council, with all costs to be kept under rigorous examination.

While canvassing during the recent election campaigns, I frequently heard how pleased residents were with our initiative to introduce a food waste collection service where we are already diverting over 60 tonnes of food waste each week from landfill.  Also, residents were pleased with the green waste subscription service for which subscriptions approaching 9,000 are more than double our initial expectation in the first year.  It was also acknowledged that the Conservative Administration had met its pledge to keep Council Tax low for 2010/11.

However on the doorstep it was clear that our increased level of long-term debt continues to worry many of our residents, particularly our borrowing to purchase  the Wolsey Place Shopping Centre which has great benefits for the Council in that it is expected to produce a net profit after all costs of £1.5 million per annum.  Clearly this has not been understood and we must redouble our efforts to explain such good news to our residents.

In charting the way forward, I would like to outline our manifesto promises for 2010/11.

· Continue to deliver a low level of Council Tax and where possible generate income for the Borough.

· Invest in Woking Town Centre to provide a better experience for shoppers and businesses.  Already we are seeing the results of our earlier investment with more retail space being utilised and more planned expansion.

· Through the Local Committee of County and Borough Councillors, fight to keep essential bus services and improve the condition of roads and pavements.
· Work with residents to achieve a 60% recycling rate across the Borough.  Already, with the introduction of the food waste collection service, we are seeing a recycling rate of around 54% which is a remarkable achievement in such a short space of time.

· Work with the police to combat anti-social behaviour, littering and graffiti using neighbourhood officers and on-the-spot fines to help achieve these objectives.

· Continue to invest in new children’s play areas and youth play schemes.

In addition to these pledges, I would also like to comment on one or two other important issues.

Affordable Housing

Subject to the new government’s Coalition Programme not springing any PFI surprises, we look forward to making progress on the Moor Lane project which is now behind schedule.  Hopefully later this year the successful contractor will be chosen and the start of the project will only be a few months away.  In bringing forward further sites for affordable housing, we must always be sensitive to existing local residents and the ability of the infrastructure and local services to bear additional development.  Woking Borough Homes continues to acquire street properties and in the year just ended around 80 properties were purchased.  We look forward to the early completion of the 10 eco-friendly homes on Brookwood Farm.  The 2011 Business Plan for Woking Borough Homes will be carefully considered when it is put before the Executive in September.

Finance

It seems clear from the government’s Coalition Programme that Council Tax will be frozen at the current level for at least 1 year and possibly 2 years.  Accordingly it is vital that we seek to reduce our operating costs  further as well as our reliance on fees and charges which in the year just ended were  below budget.  Unless previously agreed, any new borrowing will be subject to approval by the Executive and must demonstrate clear benefits for Woking residents.  We will seek to improve Budgetary Control within the Council and try harder with officers to simplify the presentation of the Council’s finances.  We will not support any new investment proposals outside the Borough and all costs and modes of service delivery will be kept under rigorous examination to seek savings where possible.

I believe that in 2009/10 this Council made excellent progress through taking a number of cross-party decisions for the benefit of all our residents.  Since this approach is now being mirrored by our national government – we started it first in Woking! – I hope we can continue to work together to achieve an excellent level of service for residents and make good progress with our major projects, such as Hoe Valley, the leisure services project, and Wolsey Walk and Peacocks developments.  This Administration looks forward to working with  LibDem colleagues to achieve these and other goals.

In conclusion, with the new government commiting itself to a review of local government finance, abolishing Regional Spatial Strategies, agreeing to review the unfair Housing Revenue Account which is currently out to consultation from the former Labour government, abolishing the Standards Board regime, implementing the Sustainable Communities Act, abolishing the Comprehensive Area Assessment, and giving Councillors the power to vote on salary packages for Council officers, we are in for a busy and interesting year ahead!
John Kingsbury,
Leader of the Executive,
Woking Borough Council
Posted in Woking Borough Council, politics. Tags: , , . No Comments »

Three times a leader

May 24, 2010 — simonashall

Cllr John Kingsbury

At the first council meeting of the municipal year, Cllr John Kingsbury was re-elected as leader of the executive, even if with no overall control he can’t quite claim to be leader of the council. John took over as leader of the executive in 2008, was re-elected last year and this is the third confirmation in his position, which makes it the longest tenure since Jim Armitage.

In him, Woking has both an experienced and gentle touch. I’ve known John for many years going back to my reporting days and no-one cares more deeply about doing the right things for the borough than him. A consensus politician in the best possible sense, John has friends across the chamber and it says much about him that in a situation where the necessity for cross-party working could not be starker, he is the person the council as a whole feels can best deliver that.

I believe that he is the best choice for Woking and that he has a strong executive team in people like David Bittleston, Beryl Hunwicks and Graham Cundy to support him.

No doubt there are those who would prefer a more robust approach and who believe that it is possible to force through more fundamentally Conservative policy. Perhaps if the elections had left us with different maths, there might be a case for that but at the moment the only way to keep things working at Woking Borough Council is compromise and negotiation – the electorate, after all, has spoken. The 80-odd votes in key areas that would have seen things emerge differently weren’t won and that is something that needs to be put aside now we are into the real business of the council.

In his speech to council, John was quite clear that those in local government at the present time face great challenges ahead over services and financial pressures. But he maintained that a focus on service improvement was the key guiding principle of the council and that he would look to deliver everything in the Conservative manifesto – low council tax, community investment, 60% recycling, green belt protection, youth facilities and community law and order – in co-operation with the other parties.

Both he and Lib Dem leader Ric Sharp referenced the national coalition, with Cllr Sharp finishing his speech by quoting the PM. It might not be the Grand Coalition but if John believes he can make it work for the residents of Woking, I’m more than happy to put my trust in his judgement.

PS I had a great deal of fun doing a live Twitter feed from the public gallery tonight, pity the council doesn’t have a better 3G signal or even WiFi.

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

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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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 »

Direction of Travel

February 20, 2010 — admin

Come on David, it's not rocket science!

Last night was Woking Constituency Conservative Association’s annual general meeting at which Humfrey Malins gave his farewell speech and Jonathan Lord the first of what we hope will be many. During his speech, Jonathan talked about many interesting things, including references to helping the poorest in society that I think it does well for the grass roots to hear.

One of the subjects he touched on was this idea that the Conservative Party has no policies. I firmly believe that this is a message that Labour spinners, aided by the BBC, Grauniad and others are determined to repeat over and over for our consumption – that DC is a salesman with nothing to sell except the art of selling itself. A Blair mark two. Jonathan argued, quite rightly, that there are many examples of Conservative policy out there and that in-depth policy details are not the norm before a general election; Margaret Thatcher didn’t have them in 1979, nor Tony Blair in 1997. What the country understood about these two Leaders of the Opposition, Jonathan said, was their direction of travel.

Cllr Mike Smith asked Jonathan what it was that bound these policies together, the central message to activists and candidates to sell on the doorstep. He, along with others including myself, don’t yet get the sense of an overarching theme to Conservative policy that defines a direction of travel.

It’s desperately needed if DC is to win a convincing rather than narrow victory. And it’s not rocket science. The concept that binds our policies together is three-fold; self-empowerment, opportunity and the fulfillment of aspiration. The credibility gap that the Conservative Party has is linking its support for the wealthy and Middle England, the encouragement of entrepreneurship and businesses and the rolling back of inheritance tax with its desire to help the poorest in society achieve a better life.

Our problem is that we only ever talk about one of these at a time. The first allows our opponents to claim we are the party of the few, not the many. The second provokes a reaction among grass roots that the party is abandoning its core voters. But these two flanks of the spectrum are inextricably linked and go hand-in-hand.

We want to allow people who have been succesful the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their success. We want the prospect of that enjoyment to be an aspiration that creates excellence in its pursuit. We believe that leaving an estate to the next generation is a self-empowerment that begets striving for success. And we will fight for the right of the well-off to enjoy their lives – as long as they pay a fair share to those less fortunate. The successful business creates employment, tax revenue and generates investment in this country – it is also key to our recovery from this dreadful recession.

Similarly, while I am not entirely comfortable with DC’s phrase Broken Britain, there are parts of Britain that don’t work. In some areas, people have poor life chances and little hope of being anything other than a criminal or lifelong welfare recipient. We have to show these people when they are young that we believe in them. We have to demonstrate through community policing, social services and educational opportunities that with hard work and self-belief, anything is possible. And we have to be serious about it, knowing that it is in society’s interests that we address this problem.

In between these extremes, there are countless other examples of people who want the government to help them achieve their aspirations through the tax system, employment regulations, adult education, public sector reforms and so on.  I’m not big on small government - the government should be there to help the people who elect it. I’m big on enabling government - a government that leaves people alone when they are doing well and picks them up when they need help.

But we need to hear more from DC and the party about the link between the two things above. We are not the party of the few,  nor are we the party of the many; we must be the party of everyone.

I believe that with the economy being how it is, voters will forgive a lack of specific, concrete promises. But they will not forgive a listlessness, a lack of direction. Now it is for DC to elucidate the various Conservative policies that are out there in these strategic terms – it is not only voters who need to hear it but his own party too.

Posted in Conservatives, Social Justice, politics. Tags: , , , , , , . No Comments »

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.

Posted in Conservatives, Lib Dem lies, elections. Tags: , , , , , . No Comments »

Press Release: Conservatives freeze green recycling prices to boost usage

December 15, 2009 — admin

Woking’s Conservative group delivered an early Christmas present to residents on Thursday evening when it put forward a motion to freeze the charges the council levies on residents for green waste collection until 2011.

At the meeting of full council, the group decided that to encourage people to use the green bin collection scheme, it would suspend any price increase during the first year of operation. The council is also planning to introduce weekly food waste collection at the beginning of 2010.

Leader of the Executive John Kingsbury said: “Having considered this issue very carefully and having weighed up the challenges we face in balancing the budget, we felt that increasing the charges for green waste collection in the first year of operation would be wrong.

“The Conservative group is very aware of the lasting effects of the recession on hard-working people in Woking and even if the signs of recovery begin to show it will take a long time to shake off the terrible problems this government has led us into.

“We have already committed to keeping council tax as low as possible for Woking residents and we similarly felt that 2010 was too early to be asking people to pay more for the green bin subscription service.”

Posted in Environment, Woking Borough Council, news. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

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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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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