Carbon Day

I 'opened' my first event today - Carbon Day in Loddon at Hobart High School.
The invitation came through last week. When I got off the phone, I said to Philippa that I'd been asked to open something and, before I could say what it was, she asked whether it was turning on the Christmas Lights.
No, I replied... it was probably about turning them off!

Carbon day in Loddon aims to explore ways of communicating the key messages to residents and identifying ways of helping them to understand how they might reduce their own personal carbon impact.
We're hoping to identify 8 families who will volunteer to keep a record of their energy use and waste production over a few weeks. Everyone wants to go-green but we need a few local ambassadors to tell us what works and what doesn't.

Hats-off to Nick Drake a post-grad Student at the UEA for organising the event. I really enjoyed it and took some exercise on the dynamo bike and rowing machine, which generate electricity. The effort in powering the energy required by a regular lightbulb, stereo, mobile phone & TV nearly killed me.

And we don't want a by-election just yet!

My 100th Post

The little blogging thing tells me this is the 100th post to my blog.
Yesterday evening Philippa and I had the enormous pleasure of attending a drinks reception at County Hall to celebrate the work of the Young Citizens' Guild at Hemsby near Yarmouth. What fabulously valuable work Harry Day and his team accomplish there.
It was also good to catch up with other Conservatives from across the County, who all came up to congratulate me on our electoral success in South Norfolk. They seemed almost as thrilled as me!
And next week I've been invited to open something!
It's "Carbon Day" at Hobart High School. I'll be there at 10am next Saturday. I hope you might be there too.

Getting Down To Business

It's been a roller coaster time as I've led our first week in administration in South Norfolk.
Sorry that I've not been blogging for a few days but as you can imagine there's been plenty to do.

I'm delighted with the response from our Council staff as they prepare to implement our manifesto. I'm trying to bring a sense of excitement to the work of the council and this is reflected in the mood of our committed staff. And I was delighted to address them right at the beginning of our administration.

I've spent the time meeting with the senior team, setting out our priorities and trying to allocate 300 committee places. It's been full-on.

Where do we start?
I want to make the Council open to everyone by making calling the Council free of charge as soon as a suitable series of freephone numbers can be found.
It's not a gimmick.
The Council needs to look after everyone in the district and especially those who aren't flush with cash and might be on benefits. Why should people worry about the cost when they're trying to describe their personal circumstances over the phone? Why should they feel uncertain about the cost if they're put on hold? So by making calls free, we can drive forward our manifesto pledge to bring the council closer to you... for everyone regardless of age, sex, race or income.

And this is just the start. Over the next few weeks we'll talk more about the delivery of our manifesto pledges.

Administration

Mr Rivers came to see me yesterday and we had a very constructive two hours talking about the practicality of forming an administration and enquiring about my early priorities.
I have made an appointment with the senior officers to discuss the implementation of our manifesto on Tuesday morning and on Tuesday afternoon I'll address the hard working staff of the council. It will be an exciting day.

One unexpected twist is the need to fill 274 committee places by Tuesday. My job is to try and match the committee places to the new councillors' interests. I think I've managed it and we'll confirm the selections tomorrow at a celebration party.... about 100 people [candidates, spouses & family] will be coming and Philippa has just told me we've run out of loo roll.

Today's EDP Story on Our Famous Victory

Cameron's visit prompts landslide

05 May 2007 05:43
The Tories have emerged as the overwhelming victors in council elections across the region.
But who is responsible, the "general" or the "troops"?
While it is clear the "Cameron effect" is helping win over voters, to the Tory a closer look suggests local factors may have been just as much the cause.
In South Norfolk the Tories have run the Lib Dems ragged in the council chamber for months. The party has been building a path back to power for a couple of years and Mr Cameron's recent visit was the icing on the cake of months of hard work and not the main ingredient.
John Fuller, new leader of South Norfolk said: "We knew that whoever won Diss would win the council and there's no doubt that David Cameron's visit there dynamised the campaign in that part of the world. David's style of leadership has allowed people to be more open to the Conservative message.
"I am my own man, I just happen to believe in the same things David Cameron believes in," he added. "I wanted to lead a younger, more democratic party that's looking ahead, that's positive and optimistic and relates to people's lives.
Former deputy leader Trevor Lewis, one of just seven Liberal Democrats to retain his seat, said: "Four years ago Iain Duncan Smith was in charge of the Tories and their supporters were sitting on their hands. This time we've been badly affected by the Cameron effect.
"The Conservatives here have run a very good campaign. We're proud of what we've achieved over four, eight, 12 years, we've nothing to be ashamed of, but the Tories have done an excellent job of picking up our weaknesses and drawing them to people's attention.
"I haven't heard anyone express any particular concern about Menzies Campbell on the doorstep, but Cameron has clearly won over a lot of our former supporters."
Claire Turner, 23, one of the new batch of Tory councillors, said: "The Conservative party is changing, it's a friendlier face now. I met David Cameron when he came to Diss and he's a thoroughly nice guy and that comes through to people whenever they see him on the TV.
"Everyone is now viewing the Tory party in a different light - people who have never voted Conservative in their life now are."
The strange, and frankly uneven, decline of Lib Dem East Anglia seems to have more causes than just Mr Cameron's pulling power.
Increasingly the Lib Dems in South Norfolk have looked weary of power after more than a decade in charge.
The same applies in Norwich, where two years on from running the council, the Lib Dems are fighting off the Greens to remain the largest opposition group. In the city, the decline has seen the party caught in a pincer movement with left leaning Lib Dems defecting to the Greens in leafy "golden triangle" areas and the Tories running them close in areas such as Eaton.
But in North Norfolk the Lib Dems remain virtually untouched.
If Mr Cameron is serious, it is strongholds like North Norfolk where he needs to make an impact.
And that could take a far longer courtship.

The Full Extent

The magnitude of our victory has only just come home to me.
I went into the count with a deficit of 8 seats.
Three hours later I emerged with a majority of 32.
We've been celebrating in the pub tonight.
Tomorrow the work begins with the visit of the Chief Executive to my home to discuss the implementation of our manifesto.
I can't wait!

Wow

I'm amazed, humbled and excited by our fabulous victory. As tommorrow's EDP will report
"John Fuller, new leader of South Norfolk council said Mr Cameron, who visited Diss during the election campaign, had created the framework for victory.
“David's style of leadership has allowed people to be more open to the Conservative message,” he said. “Both David and I want to appeal to the man on the street, and that's why we now have three councillors in their 20s and nine under 40. We've moved away from the nasty party image, we're now a party that people don't have to be embarrassed about supporting.”
We turned-out 20 LibDems in a result that exceeded my wildest dreams.
Thank you to everyone who voted for change and fresh start for South Norfolk.
I'm not going to let you down.
Here are the results

Picture of the day

And we'll soon know whether you did and how.
I just hope that we can repeat some of the spectacular results that have been reported from Councils that counted overnight.
Tories have wiped out the LibDems in Bournemouth. 16 gains see Tories in overall control of Malvern Hills. Tories gain in Birmingham. Now largest party. 24 gains in South Ribble. Tories win East Riding and Dover.
Let's just hope that it's a similar story from Long Stratton when our votes are counted this morning.

The Order of Battle

Tomorrow marks the culmination of over two years planning and preparation.
It's been a hard-fought campaign.
Whatever the opposition say, we have run a positive campaign that's focused on our priorities.
We have challenged the LibDems using their own Council's figures. They don't like it but they didn't think we were going to roll over did they?!

I think we have won the 'air war' by controlling the media space during the campaign and that has created the right mood amongst the electorate to vote Conservative. David Cameron's visit to Diss helped enormously there. [Pictured David, my wife and I in Diss]

It's been a privilege to lead this important campaign, where eyes across the whole Country are on us. We have 46 exceptionally capable people running for office and I am proud of their achievements and commitment.

Ours has been regarded as one of the best run campaigns in the country and one we can all be proud of.

The polling data says we'll win and win well.... but it's up to the electorate now.
My next post will be on Friday, where I hope to be able to report that I am the new Leader of South Norfolk Council.

Thanks to you
Thanks for reading my blog. Hundreds of people from across the district have spoken to me about it. I hope you've enjoyed participating in our campaign via the web as much as I've enjoyed fighting it!

The Politics Show

I forgot to say that we we featured on the BBC Politics Show last Sunday. It seems the BBC agrees with just about everyone else.
South Norfolk's election campaign is one of the most exciting in the country and featured local Conservatives' campaign to oust the LibDems, who it turns out are not bothering to field a single candidate in places like Maldon in Essex.
It's just another in a long string of positive media stories featuring our campaign demonstrating that we have a business-like approach to winning and running the Council.

Positive or Negative?

Yesterday I took a break from campaigning to go sailing at Wroxham. There was a stiff breeze and we had a hairy time getting to grips with our new sails as there seem to be a lot more ropes and bits of string with the new on-the-go reefing. How exhilarating.
But the day didn't start well as the engine battery was flat so I had to use jump leads to get the motor going. When you're using jump leads it's important to get the positive and negative the right way round otherwise you're in trouble.
And it's the same with political campaigning.
We know how about the positive campaigning.
It's just a shame that our opponents only seem to know about the negative with a series of wholly uncalled-for slurs on our candidates in Scole & Wicklewood.
Why do our opponents scrape the barrel in this way? It's a shame but when you have someone cornered, they show their true colours.
Is this what the LibDems meant by taking the gloves off?

The Gloves Come Off?

I'm standing for election because I believe in Democracy and in Free Speech.
So I am concerned about events in Hethersett where Conservative poster boards are defaced and destroyed night after night by our political opponents.
It's childish and uncalled for.
It's also anti-democratic and illegal.
That's what Political candidates should be standing against, not standing-up-for.

Listen Again to Radio Norfolk's South Norfolk Election Preview

Listen again to the BBC Radio Norfolk preview of the South Norfolk Council Elections broadcast on 26th April.
Click Here to Listen Again
It's a 4Mb mp3 file and might take a moment to download.

And when you've listened to it, can anyone please tell me what Mrs Clifford Jackson is actually talking about?
I mean, what is a "CPA direction of travel to towards excellence of 89"
Answers on a postcard please.

LibDem Housing Policies - The Truth

For a long period I have been trying to communicate to the Press the bankruptcy of the local LibDem's policies on social housing. These policies have seen houses worth £2.4m purchased from
Estate Agents and then just given away.
It now turns out that this money has even supported the building of houses 80 miles away in Peterborough.
But my efforts to publicise this gross waste of public money have always failed because noone in the press believed that such a crass waste of money would actually happen.
Clearly, they thought, I must be exaggerating or telling porkies.
But today the scales have fallen from the newspapers' eyes as a Director of Saffron Housing has lifted the lid on the scandal of the local Council's housing policy.
Don't take my word for it.
Read the story [click on the article above] and make up your own mind.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
But in South Norfolk, what seems like fiction turns out to be the truth.

The Campaigning Diet!

I've lost half a stone in a month!
Yesterday I was campaigning in Mulbarton ward and had a very warm reception.
Whilst driving about in East Carleton I spotted this heap of rubbish just lying beside the road.
If you want to know why I'm running for Council, it's not just because I know I can keep Council Tax under control, but because I want the Council to get a grip on Flytipping like this.
Someone needs to sort-out this anti-social crime but Conservatives aren't just going to talk about it, we're going to create a brand new Environmental Crimes Team - not just to collect the rubbish but also to identify and make an example of the culprits.
Protecting our environment in this way is at the heart of our VoteBlueGoGreen campaign. It's about protecting where we live for now and tomorrow.

National Recognition for Our Campaign

South Norfolk Conservatives' campaign has received national recognition today from three highly respected media outlets.
PlayPolitical.com said
"Party Political Broadcasts were once the preserve of national parties, the cost of production and (mainly legal) difficulties in distribution meant that they would never be a feature of local campaigns. New technology changes that, now local parties can make their own campaign commercial and distribute them on the Internet. Here are two examples, the first is from South Norfolk Conservatives, The second is from Eastbourne Conservatives:"
Iain Dale wrote "This type of video campaigning is going to become hugely important. By the time of the next election all candidates will be doing it."
PlayPolitical.com
Iain Dale's Diary
BBC Radio Norfolk
So whilst local LibDem leader Vivienne Clifford Jackson is whingeing to BBC Radio Norfolk our online campaign and in so doing shamefully writing off most South Norfolk's residents as old codgers who can't work a computer, Conservatives are busy getting on with spreading our message to all the voters in South Norfolk, especially that band of Silver Surfers of a 'certain age' [like my mum who reads this blog - Hello Mum!].
Age should be no bar to enjoyment of the Internet... something the LibDems seems to have overlooked.

Luddite LibDems

The LibDems have used some time on Radio Norfolk this morning to complain at the Conservatives use of the internet as a campaigning tool.
One day, all campaigns will be run in the way we have used the internet to reach out to voters.
The LibDem leader Mrs Clifford Jackson derides our YouTube video as a gimmick "because most people in South Norfolk are old and don't have a computer or know what YouTube is."
She really shouldn't write-off the people of South Norfolk in this way.
We know that a clear majority of residents have access to a computer and our website is a way of reaching out to everyone and especially those younger voter who may not normally vote as well as using the traditional printed leaflets through every letterbox.
To deride the internet in this way is crazy. It's sour grapes from the LibDems who have been wrong-footed at every step in this crucial campaign by a whole series of Conservative innovations.
We're setting the agenda and I hope that you'll visit the websites of both parties and make your voting choice on that basis.

How the National Press works

Yesterday's Daily Mail sneered at David Cameron's visit to Diss, deriding it as a publicity stunt.
No matter that we tidied-up a small part of Diss in town centre, removing graffiti and clearing rubbish away and made a small contribution to improving Diss's environment.
So yesterday afternoon I was surprised to take a phone call from a stringer from a news agency in Ipswich who'd been sent up to Diss by the Daily Mail to see whether the graffiti had re-appeared.
I directed him on the phone to Mere Street where he told me that he could see the faint remains of the graffiti through the coat of paint that Cameron had painted over.
The Daily Mail's story claimed that there was no graffiti on the wall at all but their reporter admitted to me that it did exist and he did cover it up.
In his own words, the reporter said "That's Killed The Story then".
You couldn't make it up!

Bubbly Bergh Apton

Last night I attended the Bergh Apton annual parish meeting. It was a wonderful occasion with over thirty people attending, many reporting on the important and valuable work they've undertaken in the village over the last year.
You can't single individuals out but just in the last year the war memorial has been refurbished, a kilometer of new hedge planted, the nature reserve extended by 5 acres, a ceramic village map created, the parish plan published, appeals launched for the refurbishments of the church and rebuilding of the village hall and so many more things besides.
Bergh Apton is truly the jewel in South Norfolk's crown. It's a real community with the magic ingredient that makes people want to get involved. I don't know what they've got... but if only they could bottle it and sell it, affording a new village hall would be child's play.

A political tragedy

We are all devastated to have learned the news that, following the wonderful news yesterday that Richard and Victoria Bacon had the joy of producing their first child, Victoria's mother has been tragically killed and her twin sister and niece gravely injured when a London bus hit them at a bus stop. They were on the way home having visited Victoria in hospital to see the new baby. The story is covered in the EDP
This is truly tragic and devastating news and our thoughts are with our popular MP and his wife and her family at this time.

Little Rasher for Bacon!

Well Done to our local MP Richard Bacon and his wife Victoria on the safe delivery of their first child, Rollo William on 23rd April 2007.

Shop Local - Go Green!

David Cameron's visit to South Norfolk yesterday has been well covered in the Eastern Daily Press today.
David's right to support the EDP's shop local campaign.
We all know that, not only do we need to support our local farmers and growers and keep money circulating in the Norfolk economy, but shopping locally also reduces food miles and helps conserve precious oil reserves by reducing heavy delivery vehicle movements.
This campaign aligns closely to our VoteBlueGoGreen campaign theme and one which it's difficult not to support.
Shopping locally and buying local produce supports local jobs and protects our common environment.... and it's these themes that have informed our desire to shake-up the cultural, heritage and economic departments at South Norfolk Council. We should be doing better by joining up these services and, if we're favoured with a victory on May 3rd, we'll get cracking straight away.

Listen out later to Radio Norfolk... they're broadcasting an interview they did with me yesterday during the Cameron visit.

David Cameron Sensation in Diss

After months of planning today was the day in which we delivered our election 'spectacular' with the visit of Conservative Party Leader David Cameron.
The sun shone as our whole candidate team got down to the messy business of clearing up the grime in Diss.

We worked hard to blast away graffiti and generally tidy up the area as David turned-up to help out.
His visit focused on fighting crime and grime.
He cleaned-up graffiti in Mere Street making the clear connection between cleaner streets and safer streets.
David knows that going green isn’t just good for our environment, it’s good for tackling the crime and anti-social behaviour that has a devastating impact on our quality of life.
He praised South Norfolk Conservative’s plans for a brand new Environmental Crimes Team that will keep South Norfolk clean and tidy taking prompt action to clean-up fly-tipping, abandoned cars & graffiti.
Great and what a sensation! For more photos click here

My Runaway Campaign

I forgot to say yesterday that I had a little accident.
I was delivering leaflets on a country route. You know, the ones where the houses are really spread out.
I normally bike when it's close to home but the outlying houses are sometimes a mile down a track so a car is the only practical way to deliver.

What I normally do when delivering is drive up to the house, jump out, dash over to the letterbox, post the leaflet, run back down the drive to my car....
....which wasn't there.
Crunch!
The handbrake had worked loose and my car had managed to roll down the hill and mount an embankment, demolishing a fence on the way.
Whoops!
In fact, the house was just next door to where I'd got bitten by a dog two weeks ago.
The owner was out but I spoke to him on the phone and I'll go round and pay for the damage this evening. Just a few scratches on my bumper so relief all round.
Just another day in our 'runaway' campaign!

It's a funny old world

I was lucky enough to be invited to the football today to see the Norwich vs Ipswich derby. I was the guest of a friend of mine who had a spare season ticket. The match was a 1-1 draw a fair result.
Now I know I should have been canvassing but I saw lots of other candidates of various colours and districts at the match so it's good that we know how to take some time off.
But it wasn't the match that generated the interest.
My friend was carrying a copy of today's Sunday Sport newspaper in which an elector in my ward was draped over a classic sports car flashing her headlights [so-to-speak] in the centre spread based on a photo-shoot at my friend's house.
The girl had asked him whether she could have a few photos taken at his house.
He hadn't realised that the photo-shoot was a 'glamour' shoot and the resulting pictures splashed in the paper were, let's say, graphic.
Now, it occurs to me that the particular young lady's part of Bergh Apton is one of the few places I haven't canvassed yet.

What are they hiding?

So two weeks into the campaign in which they describe themselves as open and transparent, local LibDems have finally managed to update their website to at least mention this year's local elections. Bravo!
But what's this?
A link to their full "24-page manifesto"... but curiously the link doesn't work on any of the three pages.
What are they trying to hide?
Are they embarrassed by their full manifesto?
Does it exist? Has anyone seen it?
When someone in Diss tried to buy a £1 copy [ours is free], they were refused.
Open and Transparent?
I don't think so.

And of course it's amusing that the picture on their web front page reminds us all of their botched campaign launch, which was lampooned in the Eastern Daily Press some weeks ago.

Meanwhile - contrast the LibDems' approach to local Conservatives.
Our comprehensive campaign website runs to over 50 pages.
It's been published for weeks and is updated daily.
Our positive manifesto is freely available for download in a number of popular formats
Our ground breaking video set the pace for local elections across the country.
It has pages on every candidate so you can see who you're voting for.

Conservatives are using new media to reach out to the widest range of voters and have a team of candidates that reflect the nature of our district.
That's what we mean by openness and transparency.

Poster Boy

I've been putting up posters today. They look great!
And the best thing is that everyone I've asked has been delighted to display them.
What a boost!

The Writing's On The Wall

One of my candidates has just drawn my attention to an article in The Independent last week by John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University. He writes

"Mr Cameron will hope to profit at the expense of the Liberal Democrats, who may well struggle to match their strong performances in 2003 and 2004. Success in doing so would enable the Conservatives to capture Mid-Suffolk, North Wiltshire, South Norfolk, Tewksbury and Waverley as well as deny the Liberal Democrats control of St Albans."

There are over 350 councils in the UK and South Norfolk is one of only about half-a-dozen tipped to be lost by the LibDems. If you listen to the professor, "It's a 2-horse race, LibDems can't win here."

I told you so.

I missed this story earlier about a 'fundamental review' of South Norfolk's finance department.
For months I've been telling you about a series of problems at Long Stratton. In response, LibDems have just accused Conservatives of 'financial hypocrisy'.

Conservatives believe that we should look after the council's money more carefully than we would our own money. It's at the core of our belief. And it's not 'Financial Hypocracy' to demand that we restructure our accounts and introduce better internal controls. It's common sense.

And today the truth is laid bare by the independent Audit Commission.

Yes, South Norfolk's hard working officers are doing some good work, but the financial structure of the council that should support all this activity is so shaky a that its 'use of resources' is barely 'adequate'.

That's because LibDems simply waved-through £150,000 pay-offs for senior officials... until the Conservatives vetoed them.
That's because the Council is running seven sales ledgers and can't get them to balance.
That's because, for five years no-one bothered to reconcile the accounts to cash-at-the-bank.
That's because the program to upgrade sewers in the district is now over-running by £500,000.
I could go on and on.
If South Norfolk was a business, it would be bust.

LibDems try to tell you that they are running an 'Excellent' Council.
The hard truth is, until The Council sorts out their finances, you'll continue to pay through the nose.
Conservatives understand that The Council isn't a business but we need to run it on business-like lines.... and quickly!
Vote Conservative on May 3rd and you can help us make it a reality.

A Quite Extraordinary Outburst

As if no-one really needed telling, the full extent of the breakdown in the local LibDem campaign is laid bare in Today's Eastern Daily Press.
In what is surely one of the most extraordinary and damaging stories ever to be printed about a Council, a LibDem cabinet member today rails against his own Council for denying him access to papers relating to a sensitive issue within his jurisdiction. Two members have been granted access, but not the Cabinet member for that portfolio.
This is quite unprecedented.
Amazingly, the Cabinet Member then submitted a Freedom of Information request to his own Council and only for it be refused!
The game's up for South Norfolk LibDems.
Although Philip Waltham is a political opponent, I fully back his right to have access to papers for which he is politically accountable.
He's right. If he can't have access to them, there's something fundamentally wrong at South Norfolk Council and, if we win the election in two weeks time, I'll be in a position to put that right.

A debt

I couldn't publish my blog yesterday as the internet at home was out of order but I was going to write about how pleased I was to have received the Seething Control Tower newsletter. It arrives about twice a year and reports on the hard work done by those who have restored the former USAAF control tower at Seething Airfield and keep the memory of those Americans who served at Seething in the 8th Air Force, Second Air Division during world war 2. Seething airfield was only operational for 500 days but I know from my canvasssing locally that there are still many who clearly remember Seething's small part in the world war after 60 years.

Remembering the American sacrifice defending our country is a cause close to my heart. In 2000 I was on the fund-raising committee to provide a replacement Amerian Memorial Library at the Forum in Norwich and this important facility reminds us all of the debt we owed and continue to owe to the USA for coming to our aid 63 years ago. Even today, a Fullbright Scholar is in residence at the Memorial Library in Norwich as America's own ambassador to Norfolk.

As the Seething newsletter reports, It's nearly 63 years to the day that German nightfighters famously followed the American bombers home and attacked as the Seething men were on final approach after a mission over enemy territory. Many lost their lives defending our way of life as their bombers were reduced to flaming wrecks on the runway.

Breakfast in Berlin

And the funny thing is that I'm actually writing this blog-entry in Schoenefeld Airport in Berlin. This morning it was an early 3.30am start from Brooke to get to Stansted airport to get to Berlin by breakfast for a business meeting 60 miles south of Berlin in the factory that actually made the explosives that were used in the bombs against Seething.
Time moves on.
Now that same factory is making the special chemical that reduces exhaust emissions from heavy truck thus making our air cleaner.
That's a real peace dividend.

Tired and exhausted

I have just spent two solid days campaigning in my ward.
In local politics it's important that the local candidate puts himself before the electorate personally. In my case, that means meeting about 2200 people in 1100 households within six villages. It's tough but do-able.
You can meet about 20 householders per hour but it's faster on your bike and when the sun's shining.... but it's thirsty work.
Although punishing, I do enjoy the work and I hope that my electorate appreciate my efforts on their behalf.

Meanwhile, thanks to Tom Powell of Norwich for writing to the EDP for pointing out to extraordinary decision of local LibDems to run a candidate in Newton Flotman who's going to be in London for the next three years.
When people like Tom in Norwich recognise the incompatibility of being a local councillor and living a hundred miles away, then I hope the electors of Newton Flotman will draw the same conclusion.

It's a Two Horse Race - Lib Dems Can't Win Here

Twenty years ago when LibDems burst onto the UK political scene they introduced some innovations into British Politics.

One of the innovation was a simple graphic on their newsletters saying "It's a two horse race, Labour can't win here".
It tried to encourage tactical voting against the Conservatives and it's been the cornerstone of their campaigning ever since. It's a very subtle form of negative campaigning. You know, the sort of campaigning we've seen from the local LibDem 'Taking the Gloves-off' slogans reported in the local press this week.

But after twenty years of this tired tactic, the public has wised-up. This two-horse race nonsense is like a stuck record. It's as if it's all the LibDems have got to offer.

People are looking for a more positive and open campaigning style, which is why we have published a positive manifesto and are engaging with the electorate by video and email.

And the electorate want candidates that reflect the general population.
South Norfolk Conservatives have 16 women fighting the election on May 3rd, our highest number ever and with thee candidates in their twenties and nine under forty, our team is more reflective of the general population than ever before. You can see three of our candidates with Baroness Shepherd campaigning in Shotesham and Newton Flotman yesterday.

In the end it comes down to the election and in this major set of elections, Conservatives are fielding over 2,500 more council candidates than either of our major opponents.

Conservatives are contesting 88 per cent of seats - totalling 9,264 - which is their best ever performance at this stage in the electoral cycle;

Labour are only contesting 60.6 per cent - that is 6,360 - of all the available seats, reflecting a five per cent drop on the last polls.

Liberal Democrats are contesting just 6,667 seats, or 64 per cent of those subject to ballot, which is only marginally better than Labour's worsening performance.

Under David Cameron's leadership, our Party organisation across the country, crucial to our prospects at the next general election, is in better shape than Labour or the Liberal Democrats.

But with Labour and LibDem failing to even field the candidates in wards across the country, people can see that it's the Conservatives that are the party of local government whilst it's Labour & LibDems who "can't win here".

A message of encouragement from DC

I've had a personal message of encouragement from David Cameron this morning.
He thanks our local Conservative team for the months of hard work preparing for the elections in 3 weeks time.
It's a timely letter of encouragement and much appreciated by all of us. Everyone likes to have their good work recognised and we owe it to our Great Party to win on May 3rd.

DC's letter comes on the day that Conservatives announce that they're fighting over 9250 seats [88%] of all seats being fought on May 3rd.
Labour are only contesting 60.6 per cent (6,360) of all the seats up for election (5% down on last time).
Liberal Democrats are contesting just 64 per cent (6,667) – only marginally better
than Labour.
There is no nomination fee for local elections and just 10 local signatures are needed to sponsor a candidate so it's a pretty pathetic response from the other parties and shows how far the Conservative party has come and been re-energised by Cameron's leadership.
It's a privilege to be part of the team that's winning across the country.

You Can Make a Difference

I got bitten by a dog last night whilst canvassing in Mundham. That's a first for me and thank goodness I won't have to go back to that house... the owner says she's moving in a few weeks.

One of the things that people tell you on the doorstep is that there's no point being a Councillor because you can't make a difference or get things done.
A story in the EDP today puts a lie to that defeatism.
Local Conservatives realised that overly-generous plans for severance pay for senior officials nodded-through by the LibDems at South Norfolk would cost the tax-payer a fortune and were well out-of-kilter with arrangements in other councils.
Once again, LibDems were being free-and-easy with your money.
So we resolved to have a fresh look at it and now the plans are being sent back to the drawing board.... thanks entirely to our efforts.
Councillors can make a difference and you can be sure that Conservatives look after public money as if it were their own. We think that's what the public expects. If you agree, then you should Vote Conservative on May 3rd.

Joke

The Glove's Come Off
The Wheel's Fallen Off
You decide

The Gloves Come Off! A new low from local LibDems

So, now the EDP has told us how Mrs Clifford Jackson called them yesterday to explain how LibDems were going to 'take the gloves off' in their beleaguered attempt to hang-on to power in South Norfolk. This sort of language marks a new low in South Norfolk politics and shames Mrs Clifford-Jackson and her party.
Frankly, LibDems don't deserve to be re-elected as their poor performance at today's Scrutiny Committee showed. By the time the meeting was over, only three of them voted to support their own discredited policy on overly-generous severance payments for senior officials. Their policy would see 'discretionary' payments up to 17 times greater than provided by law made to certain staff should they be made redundant.
Yesterday they attempted to characterise Conservative moves to question the arrangement as a cheap political stunt.
Today, their plans were exposed as the most costly possible and far more expensive than comparable and neighbouring councils.
It was a good job that Conservatives decided to shine a light on the matter. Our timely intervention has saved local taxpayers thousands of pounds. It's a simple as that.
If we're not to look in detail at things like this on behalf of local electors, no one else is there to do it for you. We take this responsibility seriously and we'll resist mudslinging from our opposition whilst focusing on delivering a distinctive set of policies that are designed to make South Norfolk the best place to live in the Country.

A complaint from the LibDems

I received a peculiar phone call from the EDP yesterday asking me to comment on a LibDem press release that was complaining about the Conservative campaign. Apparently, we have been behaving in a secretive and underhand manner. We haven't been open with the electorate. We are using the Scrutiny Committee to look at the LibDem's proposed severance scheme for senior officers. The rant went on to say that the LibDems feel that it would be very difficult to work with the Conservatives after the election.
I think the question is more likely to be whether Conservatives would
want to work with the LibDems, but that's beside the point. I think the LibDems were wanting to have a campaign re-launch and would I comment on their press release.
Naturally, I'd be delighted to. So here goes.
By any measure the LibDem campaign has got off to an appalling start with the revelation that one candidate has registered as her Green opponent's principle supporter and another revealing that she's off to university in London in the autumn.
It seems odd that Mrs Clifford Jackson is now whingeing to the Press about the Conservative's lack of openness.
All our election materials are freely available on our comprehensive website. We've even produced a campaign video on the popular site YouTube. By contrast, the LibDems website makes no mention of the local elections at all.
The Conservatives take their responsibility to scrutinise the Council seriously.
It's why we've called for a fresh look at an overly generous severance scheme for senior officials that could cost local tax payers £400,000.
That's the sort of thing that electors look to councillors to perform, not to complain when things don't go their way.
Really, their leader should concentrate on the issues that matter rather than sling mud at the press for reporting the campaign in a balanced manner.

Value for Money

Over the last two years the Council has had a program to reduce overheads. It's called the best-value review of support services.
The really easy things like getting staff to water their own plants have been implemented but the difficult things have been put-off time and time again.
One of the difficult recommendations of this review, which has cost well over £50,000 to undertake, is to reduce the number of senior staff at the Council and to streamline the work it performs to run more efficiently and provide better 'use of resources'.
A recent Audit Commission report criticised the Council for it's poor 'use of resources' so the efficiency work is well overdue and timely.
There are currently 13 directors in a council that turns-over £13m. If it were a company, it would be bust.
But what's this?
Some senior officers have now suggested an extraordinarily generous severance scheme in case the Council decides to implement its own money saving schemes and actually slim-down the number of senior officials.
Well they would do, wouldn't they?
And remarkably the LibDems have now tried to rubber-stamp the proposal, whereby these same officials would be paid two years salary as a pay-off should their services no longer be required. The decision was made in the last Cabinet meeting before the election was called.
What's the man-in-the-street expected to make of that?
Well, the Conservatives have cried foul and have 'called-in' this decision to the powerful Scrutiny Committee for a review. We're going to discuss it on Wednesday.
If Conservatives don't stand-up for the tax-payers of South Norfolk, who else will do it for them?
Now, the LibDem's Trevor Lewis is back-peddling on the whole principle of implementing the Council's own efficiency review and trimming the number of senior staff. And as the EDP helpfully calculates, the cost of the LibDem's extra severance could amount to £400,000... equivalent to a near 8% rise in local council tax.... on top of the 285% increase from the last twelve years.... and an expense greater than the money they're trying to save in the first place.
You've guessed it: Under the LibDems you're going to pay either way.
In case you hadn't noticed, there's an election on May 3rd and, for once, the electorate can make a real difference to the district and their pocket. This is an election to vote in: the future of South Norfolk is in your hands.

Time and Tide wait for No Man

I didn't sink.
When people ask me about Conservatives' renewed focus on our environment, I explain that it's all about appreciating man's place in the order of things and I learned a lesson about this yesterday.
I needed to get my boat [the one that was mentioned in the EDP on Saturday] from Brundall to Wroxham Broad. It might only be 10 minutes by road from Brundall to Wroxham but by river you have to go via Yarmouth. And you can only squeeze under the bridges at Yarmouth at slack water between the low tides... and that was at 8:45am yesterday. You should allow 9 hours for the voyage.
But Yarmouth is about three hours from Brundall by river... so, at 5.30am I started off in sub-zero temperatures before sun-rise with the sails stiff with frost motoring for Yarmouth. If I was late I may not get under the bridge, and besides running with the tide means you go faster and use less fuel. The tide waits for no-one.
The orange sun started to come up just after six and, without a breath of wind, the wisps of mist made peculiar patterns on the water as I chugged along with only the shireking wading birds for company. There's nothing quite like a sunrise on the broads to make you appreciate your place in the order of things.
Passing by the wherry White Moth at Buckenham, Cantley and Reedham I hadn't seen another warm-blooded soul for about two hours until the Reedham rail swing bridge, where a seal was basking in the watery sunlight sitting on the bridge structure. Beautiful and unexpected.
And all this 'environment' is on our doorstep.
It's precious.
It's unique to Norfolk and it's worth protecting for now and the future.
The environment is more that the greenhouse effect or CO2.
Our environment is about protecting and preserving the special character of where we live and that's why local Conservatives will put our environment first in everything we do.
In the end it took just over seven hours to get to Wroxham Broad. I used about a gallon of diesel and now I'm ready to participate in another piece of our valuable Norfolk heritage - Broads Sailing and Racing at Wroxham this summer.

We're off to the river

We brought our boat round to Brundall from Burgh St Peter yesterday [see picture taken at Reddham Ferry] and I'm just off to try-out my new sails. I don't like to campaign over Easter, which is a time for family, not politics.
If I don't sink, we'll be back tomorrow.

Another LibDem Stunt Backfires. This time it's serious.

I know that I like to poke the occasional bit of fun at our LibDem, Labour & Green opponents in the forthcoming election. It's my job to point out their shortcomings in a good humoured manner whilst contrasting them with our ambition for the district.

But yesterday's EDP reveals a something that's more serious than a little light LibDem lampoonery. It's about the importance of effective democratic representation.

I've already written about the hapless LibDem in Thurlton who has registered as her green opponent's principle supporter. This was also reported in The Guardian. If you thought that was bad enough, read on.

This story relates to Newton Flotman ward where two candidates, Claire Turner, 23 [left] and Jenni Clutten, 19 are standing against each other. The story was illustrated with a beautiful picture of the candidates and very nice they both looked too!

The story revealed that Conservative Claire Turner is a graduate who has lived locally all her life, works in health service doing valuable work helping people with speech and language therapy and has written a regular EDP column on the environment, whilst her LibDem opponent is on a gap-year and will be going to University at Goldmiths College in London in the autumn.... but she still wants to be a councillor. I'm sure she does!

Even my mum, who avidly reads this blog [hello mum!] worked out that it's pretty difficult to be a councillor when you're living 120 miles away in London for the next 3-4 years. My mum knows that most councillors work hard in their wards and in committees for at least 40 hours per month.

I mean, how does Ms Clutten think she's going to attend about three parish council meetings a month in her ward should she be elected? And what about another two or three meetings per week at Long Stratton?

And what about the casework from her villages? You know, the important stuff that councillors do like assisting with housing problems and making sure that planning applications are correctly scrutinised. The sort of thing that residents elect a councillor to do promptly and locally.

Is she really going to abandon lectures at Goldsmiths and travel the the 234 mile round trip [at 40p per mile, local taxpayers would cough-up £93.60 per meeting once or twice a week] to attend a planning or licencing meeting? Not very greenhouse-gas friendly there! No wonder she declares in the full EDP article [strangely, the online version has been savagely edited] that she wants to see public transport improved!!!

And whilst she's doing all this, how's she going to be studying for a degree course that the taxpayer is provided her?

The people of Newton Flotman will want to know this. I certainly do.

I'm sorry, I'm all for young people standing for Council. After all, the Conservatives have three candidates in their twenties and our William Kemp [Thurlton ward] is younger than Claire. Frankly, Ms Clutten needs to come back in four years time when I'm sure she'll have graduated with a good degree and can devote the time required to being the local candidate, not the remote-control candidate.

I know that this sounds to be a bit of a downer on poor Jenni. It's not meant to be personal. It's meant to highlight how local LibDems have put a young lady up for council, when she's clearly going to be unable to fulfil her obligations.

It's not her fault she's got a hard-won place at University and will be away for the next few years but it does look like it's the local LibDems who haven't done their homework. Again.

Local LibDems Make History.. for all the wrong reasons

7am Campaign Update
The house journal of the Liberal Democrat party, The Guardian, this morning lampoons South Norfolk LibDems in the national press for being the first to manage to recruit a candidate who also promotes a principle opponent.

Guardian Diary 6th April 2007
· These local elections are going to be fun, though! We already have one historic first (as far, at least, as we and Tory Cllr John Fuller are aware): in Thurlton ward of South Norfolk district council, a promising Lib Dem candidate has managed to propose her Green party opponent. Bravo!

It's nice to know that The Guardian is reading my blog.

Thanks to the EDP

We have unexpectedly had the main picture story for the region's local-election round-up in today's EDP, page 9 featuring yesterday's campaign launch of our YouTube video.... now on 328 views and not even a day old.
I'd disagree with the characterisation printed in the story that there's not much to choose between the manifestos... I'd say it was a difference between business-as-usual or a fresh start focusing on the quality-of-life issues that matter.
Read our manifesto online and see for yourself.

District Council Nominations... A comical surprise.

I've had a chance to look at the nominations for the District Council elections.... and there are some surprises.

The most extraordinary revelation is the way in which the hapless LibDem candidate for Thurlton ward has actually managed to propose her Green Party opponent!

That's right... she's backing someone else whilst standing herself.

Unbelievable but true.

In fact it's so unbelievable as to be comical. How can the electors of Thurlton take their LibDem candidate seriously when she has so publicly backed her opponent as his Principal Supporter. You couldn't make it up!

I can't be sure.. but this must surely be the first time in British Politics that this has happened and it exposes their last minute scramble for candidates to fight on May 3rd.

Meanwhile, our innovative election launch video has received 272 views since 12pm.
Brilliant. More later.

Parish Council Elections

The untold story of local government elections are often the Parish Council elections, held on the same day as the district.
In my ward there are six parishes...but not all of them have a Parish Council.
Howe has only had two meetings in seven years. Kirstead meets informally twice a year. Mundham doesn't normally have an election and meets quarterly but Brooke, Seething & Bergh Apton meet one-two monthly and do have elections.
But not this time.
Neither Brooke nor Bergh Apton have attracted enough candidates to have an election so those people who put their names forward will be automatically appointed on 4th May.
Congratulations to them.
The lovely village of Seething is the noble exception with eight names nominated for seven places. So there'll be an election there.
Parish Councillors are valuable assets to their local villages and I'd like to say thank you to those that I have worked closely with over the last four years who are not standing again.... and good luck to those in Seething who'll take their chances at the polls.

Manifesto Launch Video

Our Manifesto Launch

I have today launched the party's plan for South Norfolk, "New Direction, A Brighter Future" with a simultaneous release of a comprehensive campaign website at www.snca.org.uk, a YouTube campaign video and printed & electronic versions.

Our manifesto launch has been featured on Conservative Home's front page, so we're delighted about that too. National recognition at the start of the campaign.. You couldn't ask for more.

Nominations have been published and I'll do a little commentary later. Check back soon.

Nearly There

I was in Holland yesterday on business. It was a long day. Up at 3.30am to get to Stansted and in Holland by 8am, finally returning home at 10pm. It was a bit punishing really but I was achieve what I aimed to do. Sometimes it's a bit difficult juggling family, business & political life... and remembering to feed the rabbit too.

Today, our agent has informed me that all our 46 candidates have been correctly nominated. That means that Conservatives in every ward will at least have the opportunity to vote Conservative and exercise their democratic right. I consider that to be an achievement in itself and I pay tribute to our campaign team and candidates.

All our election addresses have been sent to the printers and facts have been meticulously checked.

And tomorrow, we'll launch our campaign with a nice surprise that I believe represents a 'first' in British Politics. You'll have to wait and see! It will be worth the wait.