By-Election shows that UKIP don't only take votes from the Tories‏

The local election in Owlsmoor has thown up a chance to see where the UKIP voters would go if UKIP don't stand or perhaps where they have taken there vote from. Given that UKIP did not stand in the Borough election but did stand in the Town.

It is always assumed that UKIP votes simply take from the Tory vote. Well I'm not so sure this is the case.

UKIP received 12% of the vote which is quite a large figure of the overall vote almost putting labour into 4th place.

I would add some caveats to this, firstly this is a local election so people may know some of the candidates or may indeed vote differently to a general election because of the candidates etc. Secondly some people could of changed their vote from Labour or Tory or Lib Dem from Town or Borough, but lets for this example assume that this goes both ways and irons itself out.


Labour vote appears to me unchanged percentage wise losing only 2 votes from UKIP. the Greens are next losing 16 votes or 2% next its the Lib dems with 37 votes or 4% and the Tories the most at 55 votes or 6%.

This also means that of UKIP vote of 112 people given no UKIP choice in Owlsmoor, 14% choose Greens, 2% choose Labour, 33% choose Lib Dems and 49% choose Tories and 2% don't vote.

Does this not demonstrates that infact the Lib Dems and the Greens are also effected greatly by having a UKIP stand in an election. This is something worth remembering when working out those marginal seats.

To compare this to the 2003 Borough elections were;

Party 2003 Vote 2010 Vote
Conservative 64% 54%
Liberal Democrats 19% 25%
Labour 17% 13%
Greens 0% 7%

Owlsmoor - second in both Town and Borough by-elections

The result was announced last night of the Owlsmoor by-elections. I didn't win either of them, instead the Conservatives retained both seats. We did however come second.

Now that we have had the result, I will blog more fully about my experiences in my first campaign to run for elected office soon but in the meantime here are the results:

Owlsmoor (Sandhurst Town Council):

Peter Martin FORBES (Green Party): 50

Guy Alexander GILLBE (Labour): 124

Ian James SIMMONS (UKIP): 112

Mark James THOMPSON (Liberal Democrats): 201

Philip WALLINGTON (Conservative Party): 453

Owlsmoor (Bracknell Forest Borough Council):

Norman William BOWERS (Conservative Party): 508

Peter Martin FORBES (Green Party): 66

Guy Alexander GILLBE (Labour): 126

Mark James THOMPSON (Liberal Democrats): 238

Congratulations to Philip Wallington and Norman Bowers.

This post is cross-posted from Mark Reckons.

Election day in Owlsmoor

So my first election day as a candidate has dawned. The polls opened in Owlsmoor at 7:00am this morning.

I was canvassing up until last night and delivering "good morning" leaflets first thing this morning. I am Telling at the polling station later on and then will be going to the count this evening.

I had a nice experience just as I was finishing the leaflet delivery this morning. As I was going back to my car, I bumped into a chap who I had chatted to on the doorstep a couple of nights ago. He has given me a bit of a grilling previously (in a friendly way!) and he had told me that it was between me and the Conservatives for his vote. Well it looks like I persuaded him because this morning he told me that he was just coming back from the polling station and that he had "given me my chance"! Gave me a bit of a boost to start election day off with!

Hopefully the weather will stay nice and we will have a reasonable turnout.

I will post the results here when I know them.

This post is cross-posted from Mark Reckons.

Bracknell Tory Councillor Dismissed After Work and Pensions Investigation

I have come into some information on the Tory Councillor Denise Whitbread of the Wildridings and Central ward, Bracknell Forest Borough Council.

After some investigations I have received the following statement from the Holyport C of E Primary School Governors.

'Ms Whitbread was employed by us as a teacher until she was dismissed on 13th June 2008.
She was suspended following a benefit payment investigation by the Department of Work and Pensions and Bracknell Forest Council and subsequently dismissed.'

The following details were recently published on the web by the General Teaching Council for England here. This is repeated below;

Disciplinary order made by the GTC
Hearing of Professional Conduct Committee

On 15 December 2009 a disciplinary order was made against Ms Denise Whitbread, teacher reference number 8654912, taking immediate effect.

Ms Denise Whitbread was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct in that whilst employed as a teacher at Holyport Church of England (Aided) Primary School between September 2004 and 13 June 2008 she:

i) received Social Security Benefits to which she was not entitled

ii) failed to obey the management instruction given to her by the headteacher to inform her of developments in the Department of Work and Pensions case against her

iii) frustrated the School's enquiry into these matters by:

a) claiming she had instigated the investigation and not the Department for Work and pensions

b) withdrawing her authorisation from the DWP to answer the School's investigation queries.

Ms Denise Whitbread received a Reprimand (two years).

Holyport School comes under the territory of Windsor and Maidenhead Council so its interesting to discover that Bracknell forest Council were involved in this investigation.

She was dissmissed in June 2008 and yet the council appear to of taken no puplic action. I expect to see a statement from the Bracknell Forest Council on this subject in the local press soon. I also wonder why no action has been forth coming from the council and what will happen to her future position on the council.

Local Blog: High Level of Bracknells Empty Shops?

After reading this report here in the Bracknell Standard that a survey by the Local Data Company claiming that Bracknell has some of the highest levels of empty shops in the country. I decided to have a look around town at the impression given by the empty units.

The survey claimed that more than 20 per cent, around 38, of 191 shops in Bracknell town centre were empty. They showed the worst figures in the Southern area. Whereas the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership (BRP) that 8.8 per cent or 17 units are empty.

I suspect that both reports are correct as a shop can be vacant while a tenant is paying a lease. However I noticed that the part of the town centre where Woolworths was also has a number of units paid in part by the council. These are a good idea I believe however they are not shops other than perhaps the Tea House.

The sooner the town is redeveloped the better because the short leases on many units in town may put off many of the bigger retailers as well as the size of some of the older units.

Below are some pictures of the empty shops in town.












As you can see I won't win any prizes for taking pictures with a BlackBerry!

Finally the unit below is now a dance studio but the picture does ask a good question. I of course know the plan is now, to develop Bracknell one stage at a time, but it is a reminder of the original ambition.

I'm glad I'm not in Browns office‏

I understand that there is an argument to say that the National Bullying Helpline's Chief Executive, Christine Pratt has broken callers confidentiality to a point and this does have its own implications. However when Downing Street denies the bullying claims made by Mr Rawnsley's book (extracts here) where the head of the Civil Service had a private word with the Prime Minister over his behaviour. If you knew differently and you believe there should be consequences for bullying then I can see how Christine Pratt could be compelled to say something on the matter.

I for one do believe Christine and do not think she is using this for political reasons as she could lose her job over this if Labour get their way. I think she believes that she has to stand up to bullies.

The defence of by Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson has not been solid. I think the defense demonstrates that there is some truth in this.

If I regularly got angry at work and threw books or papers down on the floor or keyboards through computers (see here) etc then the atmosphere would be very tense and it would be difficult to get any work done and hard to raise concerns. Also if I acted like this at work eventually I would be shown the door as people would not be able to work with me.

Quite frankly im getting tired of all these comments on Gordon Brown about whether he is on medication or bullying people, I just think it is now high time for an election. Although be warned, I think this election is going to get even nastier.

One thing is for sure I would not want to be working in Mr Browns office after these revelations have come out as this would make him angrier than ever.

My Tombstone Poster

Here is my poster created using http://www.andybarefoot.com/politics/tombstone.php

These posters can be found at http://mydavidcameron.com/tombstone/

unfortunately or fortunately (depending on your view) Clifford Singer of http://mydavidcameron.com has decided to knock it on the head. Read why at We can’t go on like this… .

It is a shame but I guess the main party bloggers or indeed the parties themselves will now be editing their opposition posters. It has been a good example of how a poster campaign can backfire (a little) in this age of the web. However the best thing about it is how funny some of these posters are. I have enjoyed reading http://mylabourposter.typepad.com/blog/ too, which was setup by ConservativeHome.

I think the cunning plan by the Lib Dem's to not have any posters so far is working. Although I suspect if they do then maybe it would be a better idea to only put adverts in the press rather than massive billboards with big faces on them.

Lobbying A Scandal?

Tim at Full Fact has wriiten an excellent article on Lobbying called 'A scandal unknown?'

He uses the Headlines;

A lucrative business
Access – parliamentary passes
Embedded in Parliament
In Defence of Lobbying
Proposed solutions
A Postscript

To break down the analysis of lobbying.

Tim himself explains his article best;

'Everyone who works in politics is aware of the presence and influence of lobbying. Indeed, having worked in both public affairs and parliament myself, I was struck by the historian David Starkey’s recent remark that the modern UK Parliament was little more than “lobby fodder”. The rise of the lobbying industry risks drowning out the voices of those that do not have the money, access or know how to make their voices heard.

Full Fact decided to look at possible areas where the next lobbying scandal could arise and spoke to experts on all sides of the lobbying debate. We looked at the registers of MPs and Lords commercial interests. We also studied the register of interests for parliamentary staff'.


Please do have a read as this very much feeds into the Andrew Mackay Lobbying articles on Bracknell blog Should Andrew Mackay work for a political lobbying firm?

My personal belief is that lobbying has always had the potential to be a scandal all the way down the political line.

Local Blog: Look In Some Answers

I recently received an email after I asked Councillor Clifton Thompson some questions on the Look In Cafe. This is after I blogged on the concerns of a local campaigner contacted me and Ray Earwicker Lib Dem PPC has called for Cllr Thompson to go as Older Peoples Champion SeeLocal Blog: The Look In Cafe Campaign Continues


Councillor Clifton Thompson email is below;

Hi Darren

Thank you for inviting me to have my say on the Look In. As you will
now know the Council has issued a press release confirming that the Look
In will remain open thanks to the establishment of a new organisation
the Look In Community Café organised by Bracknell Forest Voluntary
Action

I have worked closely with the Council's Executive member for adult
services to find an alternative operator. Possible alternatives
included whether the ground Floor of the Council's offices at
Easthampstead House could be used or even the library . If BFVA had not
been able to find a new operator these options would have been
considered as we fully recognise the value of a port of call for our
older residents..

The Council opened and provided the Look In for a number of years
with a significant subsidy.. This was not a statutory obligation placed
on the Council but the choice of the Council to provide the facility .
Latterly each year the Council has come under continuing pressure to
make savings in its budget . For the coming financial year it has had to
make savings of over £3 million. When it was recognised that the Look
In subsidy could not continue without change work started, before the
budget consultation began, to find a solution.

You asked if I agreed with the Council allowance cut as suggested by
the Labour group. Councillors allowances are subject to regular review
by an independent panel to establish what the panel considers fair
and reasonable . Allowances were introduced by the Labour Government
to attract councillors and I believe should not be interfered with.
They are an easy target and this is not the first time they have
featured.. The basic fact that is that the situation arose because
Government financial controls over recent years has seen a reduction in
real terms of the amount the Council has available to spend.

You have also asked if I can let you know what a community café is -
as I see it it is a café run by the community - ie a voluntary group.

I welcome the fact that a solution has been found enabling the café
to remain open for the over 50s.

Regards
Cliff


Clifton Thompson
Older Peoples Champion
Councillor Bracknell Forest Borough Council
Warfield Harvest Ride Ward

It appears that the cafe will also be open to the over 50's

Please let me have your comments

Sir Nicholas 1st Class Comment Reminds me of a Story of Revenge

This latest story which has been well publicised story were Sir Nicholas Winterton has angrily denounced plans to reduce first-class travel by MPs and a Tory spokesman said Sir Nicholas's remarks were "the out-of-touch views of a soon-to-retire backbench MP". Of course continues to anger the public, many of whom travel in standard class.

But this did remind me of something that happened when I decided to get a first class ticket for a gig when travelling from my then work in Weybridge to London way back when I was in my early 20's. Remember this is back in the days of slam door trains and no ticket barrier machines.

I boarded on the train at Weybridge in first class, the only man in first class asked me if I had a first class ticket (he appear to be a city gent).

Anyway I said yes but I'm not showing you, he said he didn't believe me, so I said I don't care after all I have one and I don't need to show you. Anyway the ticket inspector came and I showed him my ticket first class, he showed his and it turned out his season ticket had just expired. he had to leave at the next stop. I could not hide my smile.

One good reason to not get a first class ticket (other than the costs) is to avoid people like Sir Nicholas who think that some of us are not up to his standard. Justice I think was served on that day.

Local Blog: The Look In Cafe Campaign Continues

The Look In continues to be a thorn in the side of the Borough Council, After the protest it appears that their has been some new developments.

1. I have been in contact with one of the Campaigners who helps run one of the Facebook groups to save the Look In Cafe see here and here. Angela also helps out with the Alzheimer's group, she send me the following emails;

This was sent after a recent radio Berkshire interview that Dale Birch (Borough Council leader) stated on Meridian news that the Look In Cafe could be saved as the 'community cafe' and used as a Youth Centre as well as a Cafe.

1st email.

'This is a cover up!

BFVA were sounding out various groups (like the Alzheimer's group) asking if they were interested in running a joint venture last year - before anything was announced. I believe the council hoped to do the swap over without anyone noticing and were it not for Clare and Bill Heffill they might well have succeeded.

This is NOT what the people who marched, and signed the petition wanted. We hoped to keep the Look In as it is now, with the same staff, but with measures to save money, and to put in ideas to make it a self funding cafe. Plenty of people were willing and able to help with ideas and practical help.

The centre is not geared for a youth group, this raises lots of questions. They will need some equipment for young people - pool tables, juke box etc. Is there room for this as well as a 'Community Cafe'? and who will clean up after the youth club?

We have not been given any idea that this will be for over 50s during the day either. The current clientele surely deserve more respect than this?

I feel really let down by the way the council has managed to twist this to make themselves look like saviours.

2nd Email,

When the closure was first announced in December last year I was in the Look In.

A reporter from the Bracknell News came to cover the story and the council was told she was coming. A council representative arrived, told the staff the reporter was not allowed in and waited outside to make sure she didn't come in! Many people went and chatted to her outside. WHY did the council make this stupid ruling?

Then Meridian News came - this time the council allowed them in but wanted to be there to give an interview. Mr Dale Birch and a lady from the council came. After the interview Mr Birch made a fast exit leaving the lady to keep an eye on things - Meridian had a strict time limit.

Then it was the turn of Radio Berkshire. Again, the reporter was not allowed in. WHY not? Again, lots of people went outside to talk - in the freezing cold, and there was quite a queue of people wanting to make their feelings known.

Yesterday (Wed 17th Feb) Meridian turned up 'unexpectedly'. The staff were not told until mid morning and even then no time was given. I imagine it had been organised by the council who hoped the place would be quiet, but it rarely is at lunchtime and every table was occupied. Again, Dale Birch arrived for an interview, but would not do it inside the cafe. WHY NOT?

Celebrities are often accused of manipulating the media - in my opinion the council has done just that!

One last point. The final decision regarding the future of The Look In was not due to be made until 3rd March, another 14 days from now, but the staff were notified of their redundancy several weeks ago, their final day of work being 1st April.'

2. Ray Earwicker Lib Dem PPC has called for Cllr Thompson to go as he has not fulfilled his role as Pensioners Champion and has not attending the protest March where over 100 people attended. The Lib Dem Press release on this can be found here .

3. A new blog has been setup to keep the public informed on the ongoing developments at the Look In its address is http://bracknelllookin.blogspot.com/2010/01/save-look-in-cafe.html


I can understand Angela concerns, it does all seem as if this was part of a longer term plan and I am also concerned that using the cafe as a youth centre could also lead to funds from the other youth centres being diverted? Is this all Spin from the council to say they have saved the cafe when it has actually been changed and not saved?

What has Cllr Thompson done to help on this matter, I have emailed him to ask what he has done as 'Pensioners Champion' to save the Look In Cafe and what does the 'Community Cafe' actually mean.

Andrew Mackay and Julie Kirkbride's Appeals

Paul Waugh of the Evening Standard has an excellant Blog called 'Mackay and Kirkbride may not want Legg/Kennedy as referees' which I would like to direct my readers too.

As well as linking into Mark Reckons's blogpost about MP Andrew Mackay he finds a damaging verdict which was buried in Sir Paul Kennedy's ruling on their appeals (retired High Court judge).

As Paul Waugh writes (taken from his blog post)

Kirkbride

We learned from Sir Paul that she argued that hubby Mackay's "family" lived in our near her Bromsgrove constituency, "hence making it his natural home". As a result, he claimed ACA for their London home. Ms Kirkbride said that her own designation of London as her natural home stemmed from the fact that she was "based in London as the princpal carer" of her child.

Sir Paul was distinctly unimpressed with this line of argument. "I find it a little difficult to accept your suggestion," he wrote. His final judgment is more brutal:

"To my mind the fundamental reason why the arrangements which you made cannot be regarded as acceptable is that they lost sight of the purpose of ACA, which was to assist Members to fund the cost of accommodation when they needed a second home in order to fulfil their duties.

"It was never intended to relieve them of the costs of their main home, and you operated it in such a way that you achieved that result"

Mackay

Sir Paul says Mackay should have realised that the Fees Office was mistaken in approving his arrangements.

"It seems to me that the advice was plainly mistaken, and indeed that you should have recognised it to be mistaken.

"As I have said in my letter to your wife, the fundamental reason why the arrangements which you made cannot be regarded as acceptable is that they lost sight of the purpose of ACA, which was to assist Members to fund the cost of accommodation when they needed a second home in order to fulfil their duties.

"It was never intended to relieve them of the costs of their main home, and you operated it in such a way that you achieved that result".

I agree with Paul Waugh that this is truly devastating stuff. I also feel that the above is yet more proof that they continue to be in denial of any wrong doing and continue to get away with what every they can.