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.

More election literature.

So far twelve items put through our letter box.  The worst by far is the Liberal Democrats parliamentary candidate's leaflet.  The best is from the Green Party's general election candidate.  The Labour Party's leaflet is not a patch on the local elections leaflets.

I await the local elections leaflets from the Conservatives, Green Party and the Liberal Democrats.  Only one UKIP candidate has delivered a local election address.

Electionitis

Election literature is pouring though our letter box. So far the Conservatives (two), Labour and Liberal Democrats have delivered their general election material (or to be precise, the Royal Mail has delivered it).

In keeping with previous elections the Labour document is the best in terms of layout and clarity. The Conservatives literature is fussy and not easy on the eye.

The worst communication by far is the Liberal Democrats  offering.  Why does the party keep publishing its naff bar charts?  What would possess a Labour supporter after the Coalition to vote Lib Dim to keep the Tories out?

UKIP has delivered an election address for the local elections.  It makes the point that the retiring UKIP councillor had an excellent attendance record at council meetings.  The other UKIP councillor who resigned after three years on the council had one of the worst attendance records.

Charmless letter from Richard Benoy

Last Friday the Courier published a letter from Richard Benoy in which he attacked former UKIP borough councillor for Rusthall, Piers Wauchope.  Fair comment much of it but Mr Benoy would do well to remember that Mr Wauchope replaced Bob Atwood at the behest of the electorate. You cannot blame Mr Wauchope: blame the electorate.

The final paragraph of Mr Benoy's letter:

I must congratulate you, Piers, for getting your photo in with your goodbye letter.  I think most of the people who voted for you  had forgotten what you look like.

Well, I have news for Mr Benoy.  I haven't a clue what you look like and I am a Rusthall voter.  Mr Benoy was co-opted onto Rusthall Parish Council in 2011 and has been returned in 2015 in an uncontested election.  At least Mr Wauchope ran the gauntlet of the electorate.

Mr Wauchope did not communicate well with the electorate.  However I doubt the parish councillors have much to communicate to the people of Rusthall, apart from a whopping 8% increase in the parish precept.

Exciting times on heritage railways (2)

My first post on this subject was posted on 9th April 2012.

A few snippets:

North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Through services from Pickering to Whitby.  Network Rail track used from Goathland to Whitby.  New platform at Whitby for use by NYMR trains.

Swanage Railway

Now linked to Network Rail and through running possible.

Bluebell Railway

Has made it to East Grinstead and through running to Network Rail possible.

Rother Valley Railway

A great deal of development at Robertsbridge and rebuilding of bridges on the line striking out to Tenterden.  Short siding connection with Network Rail at Robertsbridge. However no link yet between the Rother Valley Railway and the Kent & East Sussex Railway.

Spa Valley Railway

Opened to Eridge.  No physical link to Network Rail

Great Central Railway

The two sections of the railway (Ruddington to Loughborough and Loughborough to Leicester) to be joined once the new bridge over the old Midland Railway at Loughborough is built.

Festiniog Railway and West Highland Railway

New platforms at Porthmadog to simplify through running.

New Rusthall Parish Councillors

Below is a list of the members of the  Rusthall Parish Council for the period 2015-2019.  Four new faces including Alex Britcher who chairs Rusthall Village Association and is one of the two Labour candidates in Rusthall for the Borough Council elections.

Also elected in June Moore who is standing as a UKIP candidate in  Frittenden & Sissinghurst at the Borough Council elections!

ELECTION OF PARISH COUNCILLORS

PARISH OF RUSTHALL PARISH

Date of Election: THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

RESULT OF UNCONTESTED ELECTION

I declare the following to be elected as Parish Councillor without a contest -

NAME OF PERSONS ELECTED	HOME ADDRESSES
Richard John BENOY	Woodpeckers, Rusthall Park, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. TN4 8NP

Jennifer Ann BLACKBURN

64 Parsonage Road, Rusthall, TN4 8TA

Alex BRITCHER

1 Manor Road, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 8UD

Jonathan Daniel CLARK

Home Farm, 92, Lower Green Road, Rusthall, Kent, TN4 8TN

Barry John EDWARDS

8 Ashley Gardens, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 8TY

Maggie FRASER

4 Redland Avenue, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 8AJ

June MOORE

50, Westwood Road, Rusthall, TN4 8TP

Keith Charles PUNYER

75 Southwood Road, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. TN4 8SR

Maria Jane SIMMONS

Gingerbread Cottage, 23 Upper Street, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 8NX

Dated  10 April 2015                                                                              WILLIAM BENSON

                                                                                                            RETURNING OFFICER

Tunbridge Wells Council has not published......

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has not published the names of people nominated to stand for parish council seats in parishes (or wards of parishes) where there is no need for an election as the number of candidates equals or is below the number of vacant seats.

Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council has published the information in respect of parishes within its boundary.

Two e-mails from me to TWBC have not been responded to.  Time for an official complaint or reference to the Electoral Commission?

UPDATE:

Response from TWBC.  the information will be published later today on the Council's website.

Couldn't agree more.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11531755/Party-manifestos-must-include-coalition-red-lines.html

Apathy reigns in Rusthall

There will not be an election for councillors to Rusthall Parish Council.  Apathy reigns, but then this comes as no surprise.Who would wish to be associated with an organisation that is unnecessary and does not provide value for money?   The Council suffers from committee-itis, a bureaucratic disease  Does it really need a planning committee, a finance committee and an allotments committee?

Southborough Town Council Elections

Two matters of note.

No Independent candidates contesting any of the seats on a 'Save the Royal Victoria Hall' platform.

An Independent contesting West Ward is Jacqui Jedrzjewski, a former Labour town councillor and the Labour candidate in the Tunbridge Wells constituency at the 2005 general election.

Rusthall Ward Election: UKIP contests seats from Hawkhurst

TUNBRIDGE WELLS BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTION OF BOROUGH COUNCILLORS THURSDAY, 7 MAY 2015 .  RUSTHALL WARD.

Candidates for two seats:

AUSTEN John Oast Cottage, Stream Lane, The Moor, Hawkhurst, Kent TN18 4RD UK Independence Party (UKIP) 

BISHOP Russ 2 Hope Villas Highgate Hill Hawkhurst Kent TN18 4LG UK Independence Party (UKIP) 

BREWER Clive Graham 69 Ramslye Road, Tunbridge Wells Kent TN4 8LT Labour Party

BRITCHER Alex 1 Manor Road, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells Kent TN4 8UD Labour Party 

HOLTON David Charles 88 Southwood Road, Rusthall, TN4 8SP Green Party

HUGGETT Thelma Rosemary Littledene, Liptraps Lane, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3AB The Conservative Party Candidate

LEWIS Peter 26 Simmonds Court, High Street Rusthall Tunbridge Wells TN4 8BQ Liberal Democrat 

MCLACHLAN Catherine Shaune 5 Erskine Park Rd. Rusthall Tunbridge Wells TN4 8UT Liberal Democrat 

PODBURY Joy Shawlands, Stockland Green Rd Tunbridge Wells, TN3 0TU The Conservative Party Candidate


The surprise is that the two UKIP candidates  defending the only UKIP seats on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council both live in Hawkhurst!  Surely they could have found candidates who live closer.  Indeed one UKIP candidate who lives in Rusthall is contesting a seat miles away - Frittenden & Sissinghurst.  A UKIP candidate who lives close to Rusthall is contesting Hawhurst  & Sandhurst.

Admittedly political parties contest seats with 'paper'' candidates but surely UKIP has serious candidates who live closer to Rusthall than the two individuals they have put forward to contest the two seats?

The Labour Party has been active in Rusthall.  Both Liberal Democrat candidates live in the ward, as does one of the Labour Party candidates.  The Green Party has a Rusthall resident as its sole candidate.  One of the Conservative candidates lives in Sherwood, the other close to Rusthall.  

Former Tunbridge Wells Tory councillors sign up for other parties

A general election candidate has to secure the signatures of a proposer, seconder and eight assentors.

Perusing the list of candidates in Tunbridge Wells I note one of the Liberal Democrat candidate's assentors is Adrian Ekins-Daukes a former Conservative councillor.

Terry Cload is an assentor for the UKIP candidate.  Mr Cload is a former officer of the local Conservative Association and councillor representing Pembury on the Borough Council.  He is standing for UKIP in Pembury, the ward he represented as a Conservative.

Sheffield-London by train

Once there was a variety of routes used by through trains from Sheffield to London.  The Great Central ran trains via Nottingham Victoria and Leicester Central to Marylebone.  The Great Northern ran services via Retford to Kings Cross and also via Nottingham Victoria and Grantham.

The Midland ran trains via Derby and Leicester, via the Erewash Valley line to Trent and thence to Leicester and  via Nottingham and Melton Mowbray to St Pancras.

Now the only though trains run via Derby and Leicester to St. Pancras.  The Great Central route closed in the 1960s and whilst there was a service via Retford to Kings Cross for a short time it too was withdrawn. British Rail ran a Sheffield-Nottingham-Leicester - St Pancras service for a number of years but now all London-Nottingham trains terminate at Nottingham. Most of the current London-Sheffield services terminate at Sheffield: at one time most were extended to Leeds, some continuing to Bradford or to Carlisle and thence to Glasgow (Thames Clyde Express) or Edinburgh  (The Waverley).

Under privatisation there is now no competition for London traffic to Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds.

Rusthall Parish Council Election

In May nine seats are up for grabs on Rusthall Parish Council.

The Rusthall Parish Council Abolition Group is gearing up to contest seats. In its four years existence the council has very few achievements to its name.  The traffic calming measures in Lower Green Road have had no effect on traffic speed.   Apart from that.....  Can anyone provide a list of achievements which show the Council has provided value for money or been of any benefit to Rusthall's residents.

The Council employs a clerk whom I have no doubt is hard-working and justifies her remuneration.  But do we need a parish office?  Will the old fire station be a white elephant and a financial drain on Rusthall's taxpayers in years ahead?

The problems in and around Rusthall persist: potholes, uneven pavements, High Street parking congestion and the lack of a island on the A264 at the top of the Terry Path.  Of course these matters are the responsibility of other councils, but the Parish Council has failed to bring pressure to bear on the other councils.

Rusthall Primary School is to reduce its intake to a one form entry.  Many Rusthall parents send their children to other primary schools.  What has the Parish Council done to support the school to become the school of choice?

Here's wishing success to RPCAG.

Rusthall's Councillors

On 29 January I noted that the two Rusthall councillors on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council are contesting parliamentary constituencies at the general election on behalf of UKIP.  One of the councillors, Piers Wauchope, has resigned so there will be two seats up for grabs in May.  The other seat is held by Victor Webb.  His period of office ends this year.  Will he be contesting a Rusthall seat as well as the parliamentary constituency of Derby South?

Over the garden wall.....

A lady of more mature years enjoyed sunbathing naked in her garden.  Her neighbour, a bachelor in his sixties, took exception to this and contacted by telephone his local councillor.  Could the Council do anything?  The councillor decided he wished to gaze upon the naked lady (for evidence purposes, of course) and hot-footed round to his constituent.

Search as he did the councillor could not see the naked lady.  He turned to his constituent and asked why he had telephoned him  and wasted the councillor's time.  'But I haven't' came the reply.  'Climb on that chair, lean over the fence and crane your neck to the left.'

Post 2015 General Election

A few days ago I wrote this:

'With a hung parliament the most likely outcome of the 2015 election it is likely there will be more horse-trading, only this time not only will the Lib Dems be involved but also the Scottish Nationalists, UKIP and a few other minor parties. The interests of the political parties will be paramount.  The electorate will have no say in the matter. The political parties should inform us before the election of their intentions in the event of a hung parliament, who will cosy up to whom, which policies will be abandoned?  Fat chance of it happening.'

Below is a a link to the editorial in today's Daily Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11475957/Ed-Miliband-could-still-do-adeal-with-the-SNP.html


From the above:

'Since another hung parliament is the most likely result, voters are entitled to know precisely how far the parties will go in post-election dealings with possible coalition partners. The favoured brush-off that “we are not anticipating anything other than an outright victory” will not be good enough. Setting out the red lines for coalitions and pacts will be the principal theme of this campaign so the party leaders better get their explanations ready'.

Rusthall Public Conveniences: Down the Pan

Some of the candidates for the Rusthall Parish Council elections in 2011 stated they would seek to promote the reinstatement of the public lavatories in Rusthall.  They remain closed and it looks likely they will be demolished.  A planning application seeks permission to build a private dwelling on the site.

The Parish Council is hell-bent on turning the old fire station into a parish office and a space for youth work.  Why does the Council need an office?  It is not as though the Council does much; many parishes do not suffer for lack of an office.

Rusthall Parish Council: Whopping tax rise

Today I received a letter from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council setting out the details of my council tax bill for 2015-16.

Kent County Council, Kent Police and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has each raised its demand by 2%.  Kent Fire and Rescue's demand comes in at 1.9%.

Rusthall Parish Council's demand is a whopping 8% rise.

Post 2015 General Election

Remember the aftermath of the 2010 general election? Like the whore of old the Liberal Democrats jumped into bed with the highest bidder.  In the process election promises were thrown out of the window.

With a hung parliament the most likely outcome of the 2015 election it is likely there will be more horse-trading, only this time not only will the Lib Dems be involved but also the Scottish Nationalists, UKIP and a few other minor parties. The interests of the political parties will be paramount.  The electorate will have no say in the matter. The political parties should inform us before the election of their intentions in the event of a hung parliament, who will cosy up to whom, which policies will be abandoned?  Fat chance of it happening.

Railway signals

When I was nowt but a lad I liked watching trains.  A short walk to line side would be rewarded with a succession of goods trains interspersed with passenger trains to far-away destinations  London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Bristol,  Leeds to name but a few.  Acquisition of a map of  railway lines soon provided me with a detailed knowledge of the location of towns and cities.  Then came the Beeching Report, followed by the axing of  many lines, although one large system, the Midland and Great Northern Joint, closed in 1959.

The trains and steam locomotives fascinated me: Streaks, Jubilees, Crabs, A3s, Black 5s, 8Fs, Compounds, Directors...the list could go on and on.  What I was not aware of then was the thermal inefficiency of steam locomotives and the waste associated with their operation.

To keep the show on the road railways use signals to keep trains apart.  When I was a youngster railways used for the most part semaphore signals operated from signal boxes. A box kept in touch with adjoining boxes by bell codes.  Some boxes were very busy with trains passing every few minutes, but others might see only one or two trains an hour.  These signal boxes were known as mechanical boxes.  The signalman operated signals by pulling levers attached to wires which ran to the signal post.  Signals were lit at night by oil lamps.  Foggy weather obscured the signals and the lights, so on foggy days a man would be posted at signals to assist drivers to identify signals and decide if it was safe to proceed.

The advent of colour light signals obviated the need for fog men, although it did not stop all accidents caused by lack of signal sighting.  The Lewisham crash was caused by the failure of a driver and fireman to see two colour light signals.

The railway is now mostly operated by colour light signals from boxes which cover many miles of track.  Far more efficient.