Monthly Archives: May 2010

Thank you, Clwyd West

Posted on May 7, 2010 | 5 Comments

A long, but very gratifying night. 

At 3.00 a.m. I was informed that my slender majority of 133 had been transformed, courtesy of the electors of Clwyd West, into one of 6,419.  My gratitude to the people of my constituency for their renewed confidence is unbounded.

Today, after four unremittingly hard weeks of pavement bashing, door knocking and flesh pressing, I decided to sneak a few hours off.  But the phone has rung constantly, the BlackBerry has continued to buzz and I have spoken to innumerable friends, colleagues and acquaintances, all offering their good wishes.  I am so grateful to them all.

The campaign has been hard, but rewarding.  I have had the support of a tremendous team of volunteers from all parts of the country, all of whom have given cheerfully and unstintingly of their time, patience and money.  I have spoken to literally thousands of constituents, most of whom were surprisingly pleased to find a politician on their doorstep.  I have enjoyed being out and about in the towns, villages and countryside of this exceptionally lovely constituency.  I have laughed a lot.  I have developed a good tan.

And now, at the end of it all, I sit here, glued to the TV, awaiting events at Westminster, to which I am pleased to say I shall be returning next week.

It has been a great month.  Thank you, Clwyd West.

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Posted in Clwyd West, general election

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Thirteen years of Labour

Posted on May 6, 2010 | Leave a comment

In case you should need a reminder on polling day, this is the record of thirteen years of Labour:

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Posted in general election, Labour Party

Labour candidate tries honesty

Posted on May 5, 2010 | 5 Comments

Having spent the last four weeks fighting against the most dishonest Labour campaign I can remember (the Clwyd West Labour party brought out yet another disgracefully untruthful leaflet yesterday), I am encouraged to see that at least one Labour candidate has decided to try honesty this election.

This is what Manish Sood, candidate for Norfolk North West, has to say about the state of our country after thirteen years of Labour government:

“The loss of social values is the basic problem and this is not what the Labour party is about.

“I believe Gordon Brown has been the worst prime minister we have had in this country. It is a disgrace and he owes an apology to the people and the Queen…

“We really have to come down hard on the Labour party … and the prime minister really does have to wake up…

“We have to get back to basics where people can leave their money outside for the milkman without it being stolen.”

Douglas Alexander, Labour’s election coordinator, told the BBC that he understood Mr Sood’s constituency party “had been considering deselecting him for some time”.  A wee bit too late for that now, Dougie. 

I have no doubt that my friend Henry Bellingham, who is defending the seat for the Conservatives, will romp home tomorrow with a huge and increased majority.  But Mr Sood may retain the loyalty of a few diehard Labour voters relieved to have a local candidate who is possessed of sufficient backbone to stick two fingers up at his party’s rotten and deceitful election campaign machine. 

Labour will need more Manish Soods in the months and years to come.

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Posted in general election, Labour Party

Every little helps

Posted on May 3, 2010 | 2 Comments

Travelled over to Delyn, the prospective seat of our excellent candidate Antoinette Sandbach, yesterday, where David Cameron was visiting Holywell’s Tesco store.  I was astonished to be greeted by Tesco’s chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, who was, as might be expected, a most impressive, switched-on individual, but also a thoroughly nice guy.

David’s plane from Newquay had been delayed, so I spent a lot of time speaking to the Tesco staff who had stayed behind after the store’s closing time to meet him.  I also enjoyed the incongruous sight of a major press operation in the fruit and veg department, with cameramen jostling for the best position.

David finally arrived, accompanied by Samantha, and went off for a fifteen minute conversation with Sir Terry.  He then returned to fruit and veg and fielded half a dozen or so unprepared questions from staff members on issues as diverse as education maintenance allowance and the conditions experienced by our troops in Afghanistan.

It was an interesting experience, not least because it gave me the opportunity to observe the press pack at close quarters.  Most of them looked as harassed as the politicians.

I understand that Gordon Brown visited a Tesco yesterday, too – the store in Hammersmith, where he was accompanied by Prunella Scales, who used to appear in the company’s TV ads.

This close to polling day, in politics, as in grocery, every little helps.

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Posted in David Cameron, general election, Gordon Brown

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Blast from the past

Posted on May 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

Yesterday, I attended the last hustings of the campaign, this time an all-North Wales event hosted by the CBI at Bethesda.

The Liberal Democrats were represented by Bill Brereton, the former deputy chief constable of North Wales.   My friend and fellow Welsh select committee member, Hywel Williams, appeared for Plaid Cymru.

Labour were represented by Alun Pugh, the former Welsh Assembly member, who is, like Hywel, attempting to win the new Arfon seat.  I had not seen Mr Pugh since he lost his Assembly seat three years ago.  I was struck by how little he had changed, notwithstanding the changes that had taken place all about him.  Asked a question about whether we had too much government and too big a public sector in the UK, he replied that it was not possible to say what the optimum size of government was and that, all in all, there was a lot to be said for nationalisation. 

Furthermore, he didn’t seem to think that the scale of public sector pension liabilities was something to be over-worried about.  Needless to say, this went down like a lead balloon with the businesspeople present.

Mr Pugh seemed very out of sync with the Blairite, freeish-market third way vision and very much old, not to say prehistoric, Labour.  I have no doubt that if and when in-fighting breaks out within the Labour party after the election, Mr Pugh will be manning the barricades alongside the likes of Jon Cruddas.  A Miliband type he isn’t.

At the end of the meeting I sped off back to Clwyd West, bidding farewell to Hywel and assuring him that I would be delighted if he came second to the excellent Arfon Conservative candidate, Robin Millar.  A true gentleman, Hywel responded in similar terms.

Friendship is friendship; politics is politics.

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Posted in general election, Hywel Williams, Labour Party

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