Illogan Campaign Report - Lib Dems revert to their prime directive

The campaign in Illogan is certainly hotting up - even before the closing date for nominations!

We have already managed to deliver an introductory leaflet across the whole of Illogan and around 750 of a second leaflet.

Yesterday was busy. One team of activists hit the streets to begin the task of talking to the voters of Illogan. There was also another team working hard on leaflet distribution.

Today will be a similar effort with dual teams out talking to people and delivering leaflets. I am absolutely overwhelmed with the support that I have been getting from MK members from all across Cornwall and I really can't say thank you enough or as much as I feel.

As far as I know, at the moment, I am the only candidate who lives in the Electoral District of Illogan. I live in the very heart of Illogan in Churchtown. As you would expect  from an MK candidate, I am very much campaigning on real local issues. I believe that people should have a greater say in the decisions that affect their everyday lives. We need to protect our villages and hamlets from inappropriate development - new housing should be matched to local need and not to fuel profits for developers and encourage the spread of second homes and holiday lets. The roads in Illogan are neglected. This has to be addressed and someone should be holding Cornwall Council to account if they are failing in their statutory duty or their own stated policies in maintaining our roads. These are real issues for Illogan that people recognise on the doorstep.

But other candidates have been busy as well.

The Lib Dems have been putting in a bit of work. I have to say that I feel disappointed with David Ekinsmyth. David was the Lib Dem candidate in Illogan last year and he ran a very positive and honest campaign. This time round it seems that he has submitted to the Lib Dem party machinery and the prime directive of 'get elected at any cost' syndrome. I was particularly disappointed that David's leaflet appears to claim all the glory for the hard work that Illogan Parish Council has put in to negotiate the transfer of Illogan Park to Illogan parish Council. The transfer of the park to IPC has very much been a team effort and in consultation with the public. I don't think that claiming the credit for this will do David any favours. In fact I know it isn't. One person I spoke to told me that they hadn't yet decided who to vote for but that they had definitely decided not to vote for the Lib Dems after reading their leaflet and seeing how the Illogan Park issue had been reported. Karma.

Unfortunately the Westminster based Lib Dems also seem to want to mislead and misinform the local debate. In 2013 David Ekismyth finished in fourth place. He was soundly beaten by MK, Tory and UKIP candidates and barely managed to beat the absentee Labour candidate. Despite this we have the usual Lib Dem bar chart on the front of their leaflet showing how the Lib Dems and Tories are neck and neck with Labour a poor third. No mention of MK and no mention of UKIP. Of course the bar chart is based on data from the whole of the Camborne/Redruth/Hayle constituency from the general election as long ago as 2010. This manipulation of statistics is simply devious and dishonest and is a further reflection of the Lib Dem prime directive to get elected at any cost.

One of the MK teams of volunteers reported seeing a rather forlorn looking pair of Tory canvassers. The report described them as looking dispirited and very tired - but at least they're out there trying to talk to voters.

As yet, true to form, there is no sign sign of any UKIP activity. I guess that this is hardly surprising as their candidate, a member of Hayle Town Council, would have a long way to travel before he even began to knock on doors. UKIP candidates in local elections around here have a track record of treating voters with contempt. They hardly bother to even deliver leaflets let alone engage with local people. Instead they rely on the constant barrage of mainstream UK media reports to win them votes. Any decision that the UK may make to leave or stay within the UK will not be made at Cornwall Council.

Any Questions?

Today's social media has many different facets with different applications catering for different needs and demands.

For example Twitter is good for ongoing news and pithy comments and critiques. You only have 140 characters to 'tweet' so you have to keep things simple. It's good for asking questions but it can sometimes be difficult to answer them.

Earlier today someone asked me a very fair and reasonable question on Twitter - trouble was that the answer needed more than 140 characters to do the question justice and I decided to answer the question via this blog and link to the blog via Twitter.

This got me thinking - perhaps I could invite questions from anyone who is thinking about who to vote for in either the upcoming Illogan by-election or next year's general election.

So if you or anyone out there in social media land would like to ask questions through either Twitter or Facebook then please go ahead and I will try my best to answer them as best as I can without feeding trolls.

Why should anyone vote for me to become the new Cornwall Councillor for Illogan when I am standing as a candidate for Truro & Falmouth in the general election?

First of all I live in Illogan, I have a business in Illogan Highway and I devote many hours to working for Illogan through my voluntary work as a member of Illogan Parish Council. I am committed to working hard for Illogan and I have a personal stake in it because I live here. None of that has changed because I have been MK's PPC for Truro/Falmouth and my committment to Illogan would not somehow decrease if I became the Cornwall Councillor.

I don't see, either, that being a Parliamentary candidate for Truro/Falmouth would be any different to being a Parliamentary candidate for Camborne/Redruth/Hayle in terms of how it would affect my work as a Cornwall Councillor. The fact is that the two activities are entirely different and require different approaches and need to be 'filed' in different compartments. A PPC needs to have a wider strategical knowledge and experience whereas a Cornwall Councillor needs to specialise in his Division to be truly effective. Compared to other candidates I am the only CC candidate who has this local commitment to Illogan. Other candidates are being shipped in for party political purposes. Mebyon Kernow has hard working Cornwall Councillors. Both Andrew Long and Loveday Jenkin are Cornwall Councillors and PPCs. They were both returned with large enhanced majorities last year because people recognise the hard work that MK councillors put in once they are elected.

In fact being a PPC is likely to enhance my capability to do a good job as CC for Illogan as it is enabling me to make a wider range of contacts - some of whom might be invaluable in helping with particular challenges in Illogan - this opportunity is not available to my opponents as far as I am aware.

As well as being politically active I run my own business. Doing all of these things means that I have to be good at time management, prioritising and working towards goals. I believe that these are skills that I have have managed to develop fairly well over a thirty year business career. If I were elected as CC for Illogan then I would use my councillor's allowance to employ someone to manage my business during the time that I spent doing CC work for Illogan. This means that I would actually have more time available to work for Illogan and several of my staff who live in Illogan would see an economic benefit.

So does being the MK PPC for Tru/Fal mean that I would be likely to take my off the ball for Illogan - definitely not. I see the two roles as being complimentary and mutually enhancing - certainly not acting to exclude each other.

New MK Forum

If you are a member of MK why not sign up for the 'Members' Section'?

Take part in online discussions through the forum.

You can sign up here.

Facade

Definitely not a political post!!

Back in the early 80s I used to be in a New Romantic rock band called Facade, playing bass guitar.

We're trying to find time to get together once more to relive the old days and play some music together again.

Ok - so we were never going to make number one - but we had a lot of fun!

Many thanks to Richard - lead guitar and vocals for digitising this 32 year old recording.

Please be gentle with me :-)