I will be joining Bill Furness local Liberal Democrat campaigner, and Matt Brown, a fellow commentator on local matters.
I hope that if you've agreed with my views over the near five years I've been writing this weblog, that you will consider voting for me and my fellow Liberal Democrat candidates here in Dane Valley and elsewhere.
I feel things need shaking up locally, many councillors seem complacent with the established order, and years of complacency seem to have resulted in the area being as it is and not as it could be.
Published and promoted by L. Latham on behalf of on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, Flat 1, 2 Prospect Road, Broadstairs, Kent. CT10 1RD
I presume you will be adding the cost of your internet conection to the election expenses form at the end of the campaign?
ReplyDeleteAV lets the Lib Dems in....no to av
ReplyDeleteAnon 7 36 Of course expenditure has to be accounted for as you know, also note imprint, which has been left off, elsewhere, probably by your party.
ReplyDeleteIf you need to check up I have taken screen captures, of one election website which has apparently not bothered.
Anyway good luck to all those getting off their bottoms to take part.
Presumably Bill's role will be to check the other candidates' spelling & grammar.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Tony, you have my vote, looks like, cages have already been rattled
ReplyDeleteGood luck Tony. I'm not in your Ward or of your political persuasion but we desparately need some new faces in TDC.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to the three of you. Hopefully see you on the doorsteps.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, Tony. I don't live in the ward you are contesting but understand it is an interesting one not strongly in any camp.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck Tony, I can’t vote for you as am not in your ward, although it won’t stop me from moaning to you if you get elected.
ReplyDeletePlease send me your manifesto if you have it yet, I have already published up the Labour one.
Well said Will, lets hope for a good natured contest, cheers Andrew, Bill, Michael and 8 03.
ReplyDeleteAs most of us realise this election is, as most are, about getting the best outcome, fortunately its the public who make the choice.
Tony,
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to see you putting yourself in the 'firing line'. As you may suspect I will be supporting the Conservative candidates, but best of luck to you!
_Ps , but I hope the Conservative candidates win
ReplyDeleteAnon 7.43
ReplyDeleteWhy are the majority of Labour M.P.s supporting it then?
Its lovely in Panama at this time of year!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ken, I'd like to point out that nobody is standing for anything but the best motives.
ReplyDeleteSo to the poster of abusive comments I will continue to remove your rather moronic and negative comments as was the case with the last two.
Since such comments are easily spotted by readers I wont bother with comment moderation at this point but will deal with them, as I find them.
Again thanks for best wishes and good luck and all the best to all those who are partaking in the democratic process, I've work in the morning so I shall review things tomorrow morning.
Good Luck Tony a vote for Lib Dem is nearly as good as a vote for independents.
ReplyDeleteOh Dear. I think fielding 3 Lib Dem candidates is a tactical error. Reckon you might have had a good chance with one standing but with 3 you will split the vote too far.
ReplyDeleteI know people have 3 votes but they often don't use all 3 or if they pick say 2 Labour and 0ne Lib Dem then which will they choose? Result no Lib dem winner. Also sadly Lib Dems will take hit for being in bed with conservatives at mo. Hope I'm wrong but do feel 3 is at least one too many...
Good luck anyway.
Tony why should we trust Nick Clegg's Lib Dems ever again?
ReplyDelete11:28 Ever considered the possibility that the Lib/Dems might pick up votes for not being in bed with the Labour party. It all depends which side of the fence you stand.
ReplyDelete9:13 Who said the majority of Labour MPs support AV. From the NO2AV badges being supported by Labour MPs in the house, when Ed the Red launched his Yes campaign, that is questionable. John Prescott is firmly against and he still carries a lot of influence in grass roots Labour up North.
11 28 we are hoping to win as you will appreciate Bill Furness did a first class job in placing the Tories in third last time the ward had a vacancy ( due to an absentee Tory councillor (panama))and making it tough for Labour, since then we had another disgrace (kittens) Tory councillor, and the least said about the dark arts of Labour politics the better.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter, Readit,? 8 41 anon you might as well ask should we trust the public, Clegg has without a doubt contributed more to this country than Ed Milliband or 'bigot' Brown, or anyone else in the Labour party in the last year.
When Ed comes up with a policy or even a vague notion of what direction he would like to take do let us know 8 41
Tony, you may think that Nick Clegg has done a good job but that is not the general feeling according to this weekends Sundaya Times poll. Only 24% think he has done a good job, 65% think he has done a bad job and 11% dont know. But I guess that 24% is not that bad considering that LibDems only attracted 9% in this latest poll. Its on these kind of figures that will determine the outcome of the election and not on local back biting and playground squabbles.
ReplyDeleteYou wish, 12:08, for Thanet regularly bucks national trends and polls. As with its weather, it is a bit of a micro-climate politically as well and very hard to call. The Nottingham/Dark saga will not have helped Labour, particularly in Northwood.
ReplyDeleteIn other parts, specific local issues can have an effect not necessarily even reflected in neighbouring wards.
Would take a very brave, or foolish, person to put money on the result just based on polls in newspapers.
Well said Ken Gregory and I also wish you the best of luck Tony. You are backing your play.
ReplyDeleteTHe Lib Dems should be ashamed and Tony you should be embarassed to be part of there organisation.
ReplyDeleteNever again after Nicks Lies and fake promises will vote Lib Dem as long as i am living on the planet.
Im saying No to AV - Because we now how 2 faced the alternative partys are !!!
No to AV becuase im not going to give the Lib Dems what they want after the betrayed me.
If you think Nick Clegg has done a good job i think you need to have a reality check. Hevey cut backs, fuel rises, cutting back spending on the forces, tution fees need i go on ??????
In the last local KCC elections, Thanet along with the rest of Kent did not buck the national position when Labour were almost wiped out regardless of whether the candidtes were any good. In 2005 Thanet's voters also followed the national polls of the time. May be years ago the locals voted acording to local issues but in politics times and voters have change.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWell Tony, welcome to the fray. i see from the nominations Dane Valley is a true 3 seat 3 way fight. It will be interesting to see if, in yours and Matt's case, blog notoriety actually translates into votes on the ground.
ReplyDeletebest motives - not this lot ???
ReplyDeleteDavid Cameron, Nick Clegg and Common Purpose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irKUWmain14
Sorry but you are wrong 1:45 for in 2005 Steve Ladyman bucked the national polls and trend to hold Thanet South against all, including his own, expectations.
ReplyDelete"Readit said...
ReplyDeleteGood Luck Tony a vote for Lib Dem is nearly as good as a vote for independents.
Mon Apr 04, 10:37:00 PM "
Sadly in Thanet a vote for Independents has always been a vote for the Tories, so you have a choice, vote Lib Dem = 1 vote for the Tories or vote Independent = 1 vote for the Tories so you have a choice vote Ind or Lib Dem and get a Tory Council or vote Labour and get Labour Council.
Confused in Thanet, sorry to confuse as I intended to refer to the last local election in 2007 and not 2005 when Thanet voted against the party in power at Westminster. But this is the normal trend at local elections when many good councillors are evicted regardless of their records.
ReplyDeleteMP ladyman was swept in on the Labour landslide in 1997 and in 2005 Labour were still the flavour of the month with Thanet benifitting from very generous government grants.
Bit unfair on some public spirited and well meaning people, who are prepared to stand in their own name alone, without the backing of a political party, to just be lumped in with the Tories.
ReplyDeleteSadly typical of Old Labour neanderthals who recall the days, before they introduced politics into local government, when independents seemingly were drawn from the monied classes.
Anyway, Cllr. Harrison has spelt it out for us, so if you want Labour, Clive Hart, Kay Dark and all running Thanet, you need to vote Labour. A more depressing thought I find hard to imagine.
Sorry 7:ii but the swing against Labour in 2005, when their majority was dramatically reduced, should have seen Steve Ladyman swept from office in Thanet South. He very definitely bucked the national trend to retain the seat and, as he started his acceptance speech after the count "I did not expect to be doing this tonight..."
ReplyDeleteAs for the national government grants heading Thanet's way, I think you must have been dreaming. Thanet money, like most places in the South East, was all being diverted to Labour's northern heartlands. Try researching beyond the party propoganda.
Bill Richards,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more. In normal circumstances I might have voted Labour but with the prospect of Clive Hart, Alan Poole or Kay Dark at the helm I shall be running a mile from local Labour.
Would far rather have the Conservatives in power and that's saying something!
Sadly, no Lib Dems or Independents standing in my Ward.
Cllr Harrison, I don't think the Conservative candidates in Thanet Villages will agree that a vote for Independent = a vote for the Conservatives
ReplyDeleteCllr Harrison is just scaremongering.
ReplyDeleteLocal Labour have got nothing positive to offer. Very sad.
There was a time when I would have been proud to say I supported Labour but after the way Clive Hart has behaved recently, I find myself apologising. I won't be voting Labour either.
12 08 Nick Clegg has done a good job in the circumstances, as you know, Labour in their time in office did great damage to the country and economy, few winners, apart from fat cats like Blair who's done alright and the rich got richer.
ReplyDeleteThe few who do bother to vote are likely to weigh up the facts, not vote in the superficial way, you might for X-factor or Britains got idiots.
Local factors as Bill points out, will undoubtabley effect the outcome, good to see Mike Harrison break cover, pity you were so quiet over Northwood, a story which will run and run, and whatever the outcome, I look forward to the inevitable if somewhat messy culmination, and if justice is served perhaps resulting a hasty reshuffle after the election as your leader steps aside.
Labour can consider themselve lucky that the local press is run on a shoe string these days, otherwise Northwood would have been reported in more depth.
A last word for Mike, the suggestion that voting for Lib dems is some vote for the Tories, just look how your lot helped the banks, reduced earnings for manual workers, attacked civil liberties, and let the rich get richer like Blair ( the middle east peace envoy which might explain why it's in turmoil).
Chris a good point and good luck, as you know, Bill made inroads here in Dane Valley, putting your lot in third place, during the by-election caused by an absent Tory, not reliant on notoriety of a simple blogger such as myself. However whether a blog presence will help me in this election, at the end of the day, perhaps I have through this blog influenced events, Kent TV no longer exists as it did, saving Taxpayers of Kent several hundreds of thousands a year, Turner Contemporary had extensive public local imput through consultation, Northdown House didn't get sold off.
I removed the anti AV rant as being off topic.
I have to disagree with you on one point Cllr. Mike Harrison as the top five busiest councillors (as measured by the number of meetings attended) is independent. So it is not always the case.
ReplyDeleteChris Wells, I'm as interested in that point as you are. I have no idea at this stage if blog fame and vote getting marry up. We shall see shortly though.
The big question is, for me, how many seats will conservatives loose this time around?
Matt B,
ReplyDeleteYou can't judge a councillor purely on attendance at meetings.
Look at the conservative cllr, 'Mr Panama', who was picking up his allowances and apparently being signed in by his chums at meetings. didn't have a bad attendance record considering he was overseas!...
And look at Cllr Kay Dark from northwood Ward... good attendance at meetings but does very little, if anything, else in her Ward. You can sit in meetings and pick up your allowance but be as much use as a chocolate teapot to the constituents in your Ward.
At least the conservative non-performer is not standing this time round...
How is the AV rant not relevant, I did not write it but deleting it i think was unfair. Its the Lib Dems political agenda to get AV on board so that they can be 2 faced everytime theres a new government - only if av was in place Nick Clegg would only have to swallow and not gargle the juices of the oposition leader.
ReplyDeleteLibdems have let there people down and people are angry at them its only the Libdems bods and campaigners that cant see this.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI found that fater a google search and since it was deleted after someone else posted it i thought id post it again. NO TO AV !
ReplyDelete7 50 since you seem challenged, as the originator of this post I don't recall mentioning AV so that how it is not relevant.
ReplyDelete7 54 As to re-posting this spam AV comment I will continue to remove it at every occurrence until such time as I post on the subject.
For the record AV does offer us some advance in democracy and the perpetuation of labour and Tory dinosaurs. Would Gale have lasted this long I wonder,
Ken Read may possibly be truly Independent only time and voting record will tell! The other current incumbent has a proud record of always voting with the Tories as did Bert McCastree before he showed his true colours and actually joined the Tories.
ReplyDeleteShould anyone want to check attendance at meetings please look here:-
http://tdc-mg-dmz.thanet.gov.uk/mgUserAttendanceSummary.aspx
"only if av was in place Nick Clegg would only have to swallow and not gargle the juices of the oposition leader."
ReplyDeleteThats the funniest thing i have read all week. Made me spit my coffee over my desk.
See Mike Harrison follows the usual Labour line on Independents. They are only truly independent if they vote with the Labour group in the same way as the Lib/Dems are treacherous for joining the Tories, but would have been heroes had they kept Brown in power.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the independent councillor voted with the Conservatives in the main because he found their proposals made more sense than those of Labour.
It is Bill Richards' (formerly Bluenote?) right and privilege to post anti-Labour rants, but it would be good if he did away with the cheap and silly name-calling.
ReplyDeleteParodying the waspish, spinning "doctor" over on Thanet Life, and others, with "Ed the Red" is a bit lame. And referring to Labour "neanderthals" is simply offensive. You will have more of an impact, Bill, if you keep it polite.
No, Anon, I am not Bluenote, but you are right that I have anti-Labour views.
ReplyDeleteI used the term 'Labour neanderthals' not in a collective sense applicable to all Labour politicians and activists, but those of the old school who still trundle out the language of a bygone age. Believe me, Tories have neanderthals as well like Tebbit for example.
As for Red Ed, this was not invented by Simon Moores but within the Labour party itself during the leadership campaign and arose from his evident courting of the TUC vote.
Also, I post views, as do you, not rants. Retired posts rants.
No offence intended and none taken so let's hope we have a good clean election. If only!!
Thank goodness for the LIBERAL DEMS
ReplyDeletemy pension is going up from today.
another one of their promise acted on...
Shame is that due to the imcompetance of the Previous devious Labour Government we have to pay for their mistakes to the tune of £40,000 each.
Good on you Matt,Tony and Bill for trying to get elected, The conservative Councillors let us down I thought we had a Labour Councillor as well but where is he or she?
Too busy checking on what her old man is up to in the Dark I shouldn't wonder. Or maybe she does a lot of swimming as well.
ReplyDeleteHooray for Tony and the other Lib Dem candidates, you've got Labour worried enough to consider you a real threat and blog against you over on their Reaper blog.
ReplyDeleteIf they were really cutting through the bulls**t they wouldn't have Ms Dark standing in Northwood. Shame there's no Lib Dem candidate standing in that Ward.