Latecomers

The second Conservative candidate for Milton has begun campaigning. The first having gone, and having done little that I could see, we now have an eleventh hour campaigner. Perhaps there is something in leaving it to the last minute, we shall find out on May 5th.

I have yet to meet Mr Nelson, but I wish him, and all who are standing, all the best. I hope for success, but I hope more for a good contest where the electorate has some real choice as to who they wish to represent them.

Banging the drum? Banging his head more like

Probably the most unsavoury character in this year's local elections in Southend-on-Sea is Daryl Peagram. Mr Peagram is the Conservative candidate in Westborough ward. He has little regard for the truth and  his approach to political activism does his party no credit at all. I am frankly astounded that he remains the Conservative candidate, and whilst I could celebrate his ineptitude instead I mourn that his brand of gutter politics is given full endorsement by a party that should know better.

If ever a candidate deserves nil votes it is this man. His presence on the ballot paper demonstrates only how desperate the Tories have become in Southend.

Standing up or not, the indecipherable Mr Duddridge (or 'How to keep falling short')

Y'know, I have little patience for Tory policies but I try to avoid being personal, and I actually like many of Southend Tories. To be honest, Jimmy "I will skip whilst I trash your human rights" Duddridge is actually an affable chappie.

I had to smile at his latest email to me.

I wrote

Dear James Duddridge,
I believe important decisions about the whether the schools in our constituency become academies should lie with parents and teachers - not the government.
As my MP will you please stand up against the government's plans to turn all schools into academies? I'm counting on you to represent my views in Parliament.
Many thanks
Yours sincerely, Julian Ware-Lane

There followed my full postal address.

His office has responded thus:

Thank you for contacting me.

If you have an issue which you would like me to help you with, please ensure you have included your name and full address so I can ensure you are a constituent and write to you. If you have previously provided your address, my apologies however I will need you to confirm it again for Data Protection reasons.  If you are enquiring about an event invitation or tour of the House of Commons or Big Ben, please call my office on 01702 616 135. Finally, if you are writing in regards to a campaign you will most likely find a response to your concerns on the ‘Issues’ section of my website, which is detailed below.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me and for reading the above.

Yours sincerely,

James Duddridge MP

Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East

Not only is my inquiry ignored, but so is the fact that my address was included in my original email. And no, I do not want a tour of Big Ben, thank you very much.

A bit early, but here it is - intouch with St Laurence Ward - Election Special 2016

This is a more subdued offering from St Laurence ward's Conservatives, although still a limp offering. If nothing else, the abuse of grammatical rules make one wince. Cllr Flewitt boasts about voting against the Joint Administration's budget, meaning that he would have seen more cuts. Still, this correspondent can agree with him on his desire to retain the Cancer Unit in Southend-on-Sea.  would encourage all to sign this petition - Get Southend Hospital's vital cancer scanner up and running