Tag: elections

Whilst I’ve been undertaking an in-depth study of cocoa levels in eggs, the first offering from the blue nest has plopped through my letterbox. A 16 page glossy A5 booklet — clearly they have money to spare. According to the waffle on the back cover they are ‘more green, more local, more family-friendly and less arrogant’. That localness is clearly demonstrated by the vast amount about what they are doing in my ward. A big, vast zero. Not a single mention of anything specific for the people of this ward. (There is a mention of their plans for the canal, but that is primarily for visitors to the town centre — benefit to the inhabitants is just consequential.) Highlight of the booklet is the index that tells me that Page 1 is the Front Page. Wow! Such insight!

I’m less impressed which their spun financial statements, where they compare the figure for three years’ worth of Council tax rises under the previous administration, with one year’s worth of increase under their own administration. Surprise! The rise in one year (3.4%) was less than that over three years (42%). For the record, the three blue years have seen an increase of over 11% compared with 42% in the last three red years, which I’d have thought was a good enough comparison itself that didn’t need to be spun into something bigger.

I also read that “it’s the Conservatives who are repairing, maintaining and restoring the parks, leisure centres and the Wyvern.” Hmm, would that also be the same Conservatives that halted restoration of Faringdon Road Park within months of taking over, when it was only half completed, and have proposed to close the Health Hydro?

Here is komadori’s prediction for the political dialogue in Swindon over the weeks ahead.

Those in the blue nest will claim that everything that the council has done well over the last couple of years has been down to them, in the face of obstruction by the NuLab government. They’ll claim you should vote for them because they’re the only party committed to fighting crime and anti-social behaviour (including graffiti), dealing with traffic congestion and protecting the green spaces in the town centre.

Those in the red nest will claim that everything that the council has done well over the last couple of years has been the result of government initiatives, which the Tory council only implemented grudgingly. They’ll claim you should vote for them because they’re the only party committed to fighting crime and anti-social behaviour (including graffiti), dealing with traffic congestion and protecting the green spaces in the town centre.

Those in the yellow nest will claim that everything the council has done well over the last couple of years only happened because they campaigned for it before the other parties were interested. They’ll claim you should vote for them because they’re the only party committed to fighting crime and anti-social behaviour (including graffiti), dealing with traffic congestion and protecting the green spaces in the town centre.

Those in the other nests will claim that the council has done nothing good over the last couple of years and their party’s one-track agenda would have solved all the problems before they even started. They’ll claim you should vote for them because they’re the only party committed to fighting crime and anti-social behaviour (including graffiti), dealing with traffic congestion and protecting the green spaces in the town centre.

Two of the main parties (the blue and yellow nests) have announced their candidates for the local elections in Swindon. In the imaginatively named Central Ward the three main parties’ candidates are Karen Leakey (from Broadgreen, in ‘Central’), Steve Pipe (from Abbey Meads) and the aforementioned Derique Montaut (from Moredon). So far all claim to be concerned about crime, anti-social behaviour (including graffiti) and preserving green space. Aah, such a diverse choice….

Yet another missive from he who does not know his name. This time it’s a letter from Derique in which he tells us Derique said “I’ve been extremely busy meeting and talking to local people”. Just like last time, I presume. Strange too that he writes about himself as if he was another person. Derique wants to know what local people think about these issues, and said that “I hope that people will take just a few short minutes of their time to complete my survey… and I look forward to hearing your views”. Well, if he actually bothered to knock on my door, rather than just shoving bits of paper through my letterbox, I’d take just a few short minutes and tell him.

Still, at least he is communicating. I’ve yet to hear or see anything from either of the other two main political parties.

I’ve just received the first leaflet through my letterbox for the coming local elections. It is from Derique Montaut (or is it Derique Montaur, it is hard to tell, as the spelling is different on each side of the leaflet) who is, it says, ‘working hard in central ward’. I guess that is why the ward news section of his party’s website hasn’t been updated since January 2006. The, rather small, leaflet that he left says ‘Derique Montaut called today. Sorry I missed you!’. But Derique, you didn’t, I was in. You just couldn’t be bothered to knock on the door and talk!