A dangerous junction?

Following months of disruption the road works in the centre of Royal Tunbridge Wells have been completed and buses are running again between Goods Station Road and Monson Road via Fiveways.

Traffic priorities have been changed at the junction of Mount Pleasant Road and Monson Road. There is no right turn out of Monson Road.  Traffic coming from Fiveways must now give way to traffic travelling in either direction on the Mount Pleasant Road/Monson Road axis.

One effect of the changes is that traffic is moving faster from Mount Pleasant to Monson Road and visa-versa.  There is heavy footfall across Monson Road at the junction with Mount Pleasant Road and I fear there will be accidents involving pedestrians.

Tunbridge Wells Council: wrong again.

From the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council website:

Councillor Podbury was elected to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council to represent Rusthall but she is not an elected member of Rusthall Parish Council.  She is an elected member of Speldhurst  Parish Council.

EDP results

The English Democrats are dishing out a fair old bashing to UKIP in the context of the leadership dispute within the latter party.  I suppose it deflects attention away from the abysmal performance of the English Democrats.

London and SE

English Democrats
Maggi Young – Bexleyheath and Crayford	151	0.3
Robin Tilbrook – Brentwood and Ongar	173	0.3
Kim Gandy – Dagenham and Rainham	71	0.2
Steve Uncles – Dartford	211	0.4
Graham Moore – Erith and Thamesmead	188	0.4
Gary Butler – Faversham and Mid Kent	158	0.3
Charles Vickers – Stevenage	115	0.2

Yorkshire and Humber

English Democrats
Ian Sutton – Barnsley Central	477	1.3
Kevin David Riddiough – Barnsley East	440	1.1
Therese Hirst – Bradford West	98	0.2
Louise Dutton – Don Valley	242	0.6
David Burnett – Doncaster Central	309	0.8
David Allen – Doncaster North	448	1.1
Colin Porter – Penistone and Stocksbridge	500	1.1
Sharon Pilling – Rother Valley	377	0.8
Dean Walker – Rotherham	116	0.4
Elizabeth Breed – Sheffield Central	68	0.2
Matthew Roberts – Sheffield South East	141	0.3
Justin Saxton – Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough	171	0.4
Steve Clegg – Sheffield Hallam	167	0.3
David Haslett – Sheffield Heeley	122	0.3
Alan England – Wentworth and Dearne	309	0.7

North East
English Democrats
Neil Humphrey – Berwick-upon-Tweed	88	0.2

North West
English Democrats
Valerie Morris – Bury South	170	0.4

Wales

English Democrats

Stephen Morris - Monmouth                  100       0.2

Liberal Democrat Claptrap in Tunbridge Wells.

In 2010 the general election result in Tunbridge Wells was as follows:

Con   28,302  (56.24%)   Lib Dem  12,726  (25.29%)   Lab  5,448 (10.83%)  UKIP 2,054  (4.08%)

Green 914  (1.82%)  BNP 704 (1.40%)  Ind  172  (0.34%)


In the Lib Dem election address for 2015 the following statement caught my eye:

James MacCleary: The choice to beat the Tories here

The General Election here in Tunbridge Wells constituency will be a close fight between hard working Lib Dem campaigner and the Conservatives.  

At the last general Election Labour finished a distant third place, more than 7000 voted behind the Liberal Democrats.

More and more Labour supporters are switching to back local Lib Dem James MacCleary this time - the only candidate that can hold the Conservatives and UKIP to account here.

Sadly for Mr MacCleary the election contest turned out to be anything but a close fight between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.  The Lib Dems nosedived to fourth.

Where were all those Labour supporters switching to to the Lib Dems?  The Labour vote was up, both in numbers and as a percentage.

2015 Result:

Con 30,181  (58.69%)   Lab  7,307  (14.21%)  UKIP 6,481  (12.60%)  Lib Dem  4,342 (8.44%)

Green  2,659  (5.17%)  Ind  458  (0.89%)


The electorate was not fooled by this Lib Dem nonsense.

Good election results for Tories in Tunbridge Wells

The Conservatives held the Tunbridge Wells parliamentary seat.  Nothing newsworthy, however the other parties positions merit consideration.  Labour came second and UKIP third.  Many had expected the positions to be reversed.  The Liberal Democrats finished fourth having previously been second.  At least we might be spared from having to feast our eyes on the stupid bar charts which feature in Lib Dem election literature. The bar charts are intended to show that the only way to beat the Conservatives in Tunbridge Wells is to vote Lib Dem.

The Tories gained four seats on the borough council: two from UKIP, one from Labour and one from the only Independent.

UKIP crushed in Rusthall

Election results for Rusthall

Borough Election, May 2015 - Thursday, 7th May, 2015

Rusthall - results

Election Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Thelma Rosemary Huggett	Conservative	874	19%	Elected
Joy Podbury	Conservative	804	17%	Elected
Alex Britcher	Labour	593	13%	Not elected
John Austen	UK Independence Party	463	10%	Not elected
Russ Bishop	UK Independence Party	430	9%	Not elected
Clive Graham Brewer	Labour	420	9%	Not elected
David Charles Holton	Green Party	397	9%	Not elected
Catherine Shaune McLachlan	Liberal Democrats	356	8%	Not elected
Peter Lewis	Liberal Democrats	326	7%	Not elected

A decisive result for the Conservatives.  UKIP lose two seats.  Appalling result for the Liberal Democrats.

Election Day

Toddled off to the polling station and voted for a parliamentary and two borough council candidates.  Not a single teller in sight.  Most unusual, in the past at least two parties have had tellers present to ask for voters' electoral numbers.  The Labour Party's general election candidate and one of its two borough election candidates were lurking outside the polling station.

All over soon

I am suffering from election fatigue.  Bombarded by election literature and television programmes I have withdrawn to my Facebook page to read and comment on anything so long as it is not about the election.

The decision has been taken in respect of the candidate I intend to vote for at the general election.  The local election is rather more problematic.  I do not vote for 'paper' candidates as such candidates have no intention of being councillors.  Nor do I vote for candidates who live many miles away from the ward they are contesting.

NHS safe under Labour (so they say).

Patients were not safe the previous time there was a Labour government.  Just ask the people of Staffordshire within the catchment area of the Mid-Staffordshire Hospital.  Hundreds died unnecessarily at the hospital. Labour mismanaged the NHS (as have the Tories) and has no claim to be better than the Tories.