Daggers down please

Yesterday I managed to see a snippet of Norman Lamb and Tim Farron's discussions with LibDems and members of the public on BBC. We have got two very good candidates for leader and although I know who I will be voting for I'd be more than happy serving under the other should they win.

Unfortunately there are some ruptions on social media between hardcore members of each camp. The leadership contest is something that is meant to bring members together in healthy debate and discussion on where we want the party to go and what we want to achieve. 

Sadly I have seen rival factions arguing on Twitter (yes there is a difference between arguing and debating) and there can be a lot of pro X or Y tweets fired about. Yes I am a little guilty of the latter but I made the conscious choice to take down my banner and keep the pro X or Y tweets to a minimum concentrating on other things... Did I mention I've written a book? 

This is not the time for petty infighting and squabbling. We were almost were destroyed in Westminster a month ago and were in councils across the country like Medway. 

Yesterday's TV segment proved the scale of the uphill battle we will have with the tumour of Tuition fees still festering in our chest and the big question being;

"How can we trust you again?"

I think Tim hit the nail on the head about trust needing to be early and this is definitely going to be the long game with no rapid turn around in five years and it is going to take A LOT of hard work together.

So let's put the daggers away and concentrate on the future of the party we all love and think of her future. Yes debate, no to squabbling and let us all decide as adults, get this done and move on together and rebuild.

The LibDems' Titanic revival

Five years ago I made a prediction about the fate of the party in the General election in 2015.

Sadly, I was right.

Early last week I made a prediction about the fate of the Medway LibDems in the local elections which drew heavily on a metaphor of von Spee's fleet with the two Councillors leading the three candidates and despite wild inaccuracies from our opponants we were out gunned despite a valiant show went down with all hands.

Sadly I was right again.

Last Friday night as we sat waiting for the Local vote mulling over the General election the Titanic soundtrack came onto my I-pod and I pictured the scene where Thomas Andrews, Titanic's

designer  was explaining to Captain Smith, Bruce Ismay and collected deck officers how the vessel would sink.

She would go down by the head with water flowing over the water tight bulkheads - There would be no stopping it.

This got me thinking about the National party. Clearly we have hit a big 'burg and after the loss of a swathe of very talented MPs we were going down by the head and it would only be a matter of time before people were abandoning ship enmasse and only a few loyal members would go down with the ship still tirelessly working in the Engine room.

This prediction is looking, thankfully, to be unfounded.

Greg Mulholland MP - Fighting back

Over the weekend whilst I was mulling things over and having these dark thoughts the strangest thing happened.

Out of nowhere thousands of supporters rose up and joined the party, including my friend Caz and I'm working on my wife still. These people are angry at the treatment of a party who had given so much in government and was being punished for Tuition fees and for putting party before country and joining the Tories in a Coalition to reverse a horrendous financial deficit. They were also the compassionate side of the Coalition for the most part having passed many reforms and measures (such as 20 free nursery hours, free school dinners, income tax threshold etc) to help working families.

The big question of who to lead us is also hanging over us. With so much talent lost to the parliamentary
party there was an inherent fear that there would be a vacuum but this is not the case. Tim Farron, former president and one of the leading lights is being touted as a serious leadership challenger as is Norman Lamb who has worked closely with Nick Clegg over the years. Behind the scenes as well is Greg Mulholland who is tweeting frantically about change within the party and getting leaner, keener and meaner as well as getting up out of the dust immediately and pushing forward with all its might - a sentiment shared by many of us!

This party is not deceased, nor is it mortally wounded. It has escaped the fate of Titanic and is looking like the engineering crew will get her back afloat and going again and I am very excited to be a part of this!

Bye-Bye Liberal Democrat dreams

I reworded Don McLean's "American Pie" a few years ago so that it would be about the possible dissolution of the party in the 2015 election.

Last week I tweaked it in case of... Well... What happened on Thursday night.

Any way, here it is...

A long long time ago

I can still remember how Nick Clegg made me feel,

An' I knew that if I had my chance,

That He could make a difference 

An' maybe we'd be happy for a while.

But 2015 made me shiver

With every Focus I deliver

Bad news on the doorstep

I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried 

When I read of the rise of Nige,

But something touched me deep inside,

The day our party died.

So bye-bye Liberal Democrat dreams

Got the party into power 

But it all got messed up

And Labour lords were drinking whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that you'll die.

This will be the die that you'll die.

Did you read the Orange book?

And do you have faith in Clegg and co?

If Libdemvoice tells you so.

And do you believe in liberalism

Can Gladstone save the country's soul?

And do you still lament Lloyd George?

Well I know that we all agreed with Nick,

Because I saw it on your Twitter feed,

We wanted him to win,

Cos' we're not sure of Cameron's blues!

I was a lonely Liberal Democrat

With a yellow rosette and orange book,

But I know I was outta luck in May in 2015,

I started singing,

So bye-bye Liberal Democrat dreams

Got the party into power 

But it all got messed up

And Labour lords were drinking whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that you'll die.

This'll be the day that you'll die.

Now for five years we've been on our own,

And Labour have been throwing lots of stones

But that's not how it used to be,

When Nick Clegg was on our TV

With a speech he borrowed from Paddy

And a voice which came from you and me,

And while Gordon Brown was left to frown,

Nick Clegg stole Cameron's thorny crown,

The country was adjourned,

No Government was returned!

And while Liam Bryne wrote that note

The Tories gave us a ruling part

We started cheering for Clegg

The day, the Coal'tion came

But they were singing

So bye-bye Liberal Democrat dreams

Got the party into power 

But it all got messed up

And Labour lords were drinking whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that you'll die.

This'll be the day that they die.

Helter-skelter 

in that summer swelter 

Some of us fled to a fall out shelter

The deficit was high and raising fast

We pulled unemployment to the grass

The Tories tried for a tuition rise

With Nick Clegg on the sidelines in a gag

The outside world held its breath

Surely we'd uphold our pledge?

We all got up to shout

But the MPs never threw it out

As the students tried to take the field

The Tories & Clegg refused to yield,

Do you recall how you felt,

The day that Cleggo lied?

Labour were singing;

bye-bye Liberal Democrat dreams

Got the party into power 

But it all got messed up

And Labour lords were drinking whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that you'll die.

This'll be the day that they die

And there we all were in one place

Liberal Democrats lost in space,

With no time left to start again,

So come on Clegg be nimble,

Clegg be quick,

Nick Clegg lost out to Nige's UKIP

'Coz of the whole student thing

An' as I watched Nige on the stage,

My fists were clenched in balls of rage,

No angel forged in hell,

Could break Farrage's spell,

An' as their polls rose high on the night,

Our party was a sacrificial lamb,

I saw Labour laughing with delight,

The day, our party died

They were singing;

bye-bye Liberal Democrat dreams

Got the party into power 

But it all got messed up

And Labour lords were drinking whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that you'll die.

This'll be the day that they die

I met a girl who ran for the Blues,

And I asked her for some happy news,

But she just smiled and turned away,

I went down to the Gunwharf count,

Where we would see if we'd got in,

But the council result was already out,

In the street the children played

Whilst the Liberals cried and tried to dream,

Not a word was spoken,

They say our pledge was broken,

And the three men I admire the most,

Clegg, Danny and Doctor Vince

They found themselves outta luck

The day, the party died,

And they were singing

So bye-bye Liberal Democrat dreams

Got the party into power 

But it all got messed up

And Labour lords were drinking whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that you'll die.

This'll be the day that they die

And we were singing;

So bye-bye Liberal Democrat dreams

Got the party into power 

But it all got messed up

And Labour lords were drinking whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that you'll die.

Two more local Tories defect to UKIP

Today the Medway UKIP were proud to announce that they are now the third biggest party in the Council having leapfrogged us (LibDems) having gained two new councillors via defection.

Yep, Councillors Vaughn Hewett and Tom Mason, both former mayors, have joined UKIP. No one seems too surprised at Mason but Hewett has raised a few eyebrows.

The big question is; Is this a prologue for May’s elections?

Hard to say at this point, all that can be said is that two people have swapped party, they were not selected by the people and their constituents in their wards will not get a choice until the May local elections.

The other thing is that these two former Conservatives have been close to the cabinet and the failings of the Conservative administration in Medway over the last God knows how many years. UKIP like the rest of us opposition parties is to defeat this incompetence with fresh voices and faces not bring those same faces back under another label.

Some might say that they have swapped sides because they saw which way the winds were blowing but that is just probably the ramblings of a bitter cynic isn’t it? After all if you are going to defect you should do so for your convictions and beliefs and that the new party represents our outlook more than your old party right? I’m sure that was for that reason, there has been quite a bit of desquite in the Local Conservative party with a long running split between the Rainham and Rochester branch and definitely between backbenchers and the cabinet.

It also makes me wonder about the disinterest and/or distrust of traditional parties that has grown to the point that people will vote UKIP even if they stood a pot of lard.

All that I can say is that Medway’s political landscape is going to change, maybe not the personnel but the colour of their ties and rosettes.

Same old Labour - Same old... Y'know

As those who follow me on Twitter will know, my days of being actively involved in politics are looking like they may soon be over (more on that later) and part of me is relieved.

As the election campaigns really set in here in Medway and ground work is laid down for the general & local elections next year the uglier and nastier things get.

As predicted the lines between national and local politics have become blurred and the three remaining LibDem councillors (as well as the standing candidates) are being blamed for supporting the Coalition nationally.

Their ministry of Propaganda has began churning out tweets regularly saying things like; 

"Medway Libdems supported the trebling of tuition fees"

"Medway Libdems support the Tory privitisation of the NHS"

"You can't trust the Libdems"

What a load of hogwash. I could easily turn round and say:

"Medway Labour supported the illegal invasion of Iraq"

"Medway Labour supported the Fuel escalator & RPI on rail fare that robbed hard working commuters."

"Medway Labour supported the reckless management of the economy that pissed the nations money down the drain"

"You can't trust Labour with your money"

I know full well that none of their (or my) statements are true. From our end there was a lot of anger at Tuition fees. As we have no MP we as a group tend to look more at local Medway issues and what we can effect. Also as we don't have an MP we cannot get them to vote a certain way. I have, however written to our incumbent MPs on a few topics requesting information and clarification on a couple of topics but that has mainly been as a resident!

I'm also tired of seeing messages saying all the LibDems will be wiped out, Labour will defeat your MEPs, take your wards and remove you. I feel like a tumour festering at the heart of Medway ready to lanced. I often wonder will my wife will come home from work and find I have disappeared into the "The Night and fog" (check out Nacht & Nabel decree on wiki for the reference).

So, I find myself asking why? Why are they targeting us in this way and not their arch nemesis Darth Cameron?

I have come up with a theory. 

Since the Coalition began Labour under Ed Miliband have defined themselves as simply "Not the Coalition." 

Cameron could hold up a lump of coal and Ed would say it was white. They say they wouldn't do things but they have little in the way of alternatives. The Libdems are seen as the weaker part and so they look to extend their majority by assimilating our seats. After all Labour has been moving from the left for the centre ground for the last couple of decades and left leaning liberals will be tempted to vote Labour over the seemingly right leaning liberals.

The other problem is Labour are actually hemorrhaging supporters to UKIP. A lot of working class families who gave up on Labour last time and who are still not convinced are looking at UKIP as saviour or as a protest vote. They know Labour screwed the economy and failed to deal with immigration and Europe, the Coalition have done little to salve that and only UKIP are saying they will deal with them. Where can they get voters??? Oh yeah, Libdem supporters.

It amused me that they wasted a PPB on how Clegg is a joke but still haven't given us an alternative, where is Ed talking about the EU or tackling UKIP? Does he or his party have an opinion? 

I'm feeling better off out of this childish point scoring and blowing smoke for votes. I got involved in politics to help people and my community and I feel disheartened that a few feel the need to resort to these levels to win votes. 

If my departure wasn't already dictated by events beyond my control I'd stand and fight for what is right.

As it is, I'm almost relieved to let the children play and I can redirect my energies to something more worthwhile.

In Clegg we trust?

As Conference comes around again there have been the usual rumblings and suggestions in the Press that Nick Clegg's leadership of the Liberal Democrat party is coming to an end and that dissatisfied activists are going to try and oust him this weekend or make serious challenges to his leadership.

These have proved baseless since the Tuition fees rise three years ago but still haunt the party. The thing is there is light at the end of the Coalition tunnel and many activists are starting to look at 2015 and wondering if we were to go for a new leader now would be a good time to get them in and feet under desks.

Although Nick has scored many goals for the party and we have got more than we deserved out of the Coalition agreement (so much so the Tories are claiming our policies for their own!) I do still fear that we have been tainted by some of the rotten policies to come through this government. Controversial bedroom taxes, the badger cull, harsh economic cuts that could have been handled a lot better and the rise of train fares yet again.

I was brought up to be able to think for myself, however I also learnt and accepted the line that I should follow orders quietly and just get on with things and I have supported the Coalition through the rough and the smooth despite any misgivings.

I had hoped we would be more vocal in our opposition to some of the Bluer policies but that has not come to be despite the Lords reform betrayal.

Indeed Nick has rebelled against the Government once...

His popularity with the voters has plummeted over the last few years and there is a raft of really disgruntled members (the ones who haven't left us for Labour) and there are others like me who are starting to waiver a little bit.

I personally feel uncomfortable with some of the policies that we have put our name too and although I think we will survive and be in a stronger position come 2015's election I do feel that maybe new Leadership is required to help us stand apart a lot more.

Don't get me wrong, I love Clegg. I think he was fantastic and personally very charismatic - it was his pre DPM campaigning and ethos that brought me forward to be active in the first place but he has been lost in David Cameron's shadow and unfortunately I fear that his star has dulled and he has agreed with Dave one too many times.

Whether Conference will ratify him again or revile the Coalition is something to be seen and I will stand where I have always stood, behind our leader whomever that will be.

Eastleigh spirit isn't enough

Unfortunatly Paddy can't be everywhere

Recently I saw an article comparing the hard fought Eastleigh by-election to the battle of Stalingrad. Though I can see some parallels in the great scheme of things and country wide campaigns it doesn't stand up, after all Stalingrad saw the beginning of the end of the Wehrmacht in Russia and the Soviets sweeping west to Berlin and victory.

A more fitting analogy would be the early years of German blitzkrieg.

Now bear with me whilst I indulge my other hobby...

The Blitzkrieg worked by massing forces at a Schwehrpunkt before creating conditions of aerial superiority. At the expense of the rest of the frontline they would dominate a local area. This was due to limited resources, equipment and money. The only thing they had in good supply were some of the finest trained and hard working infantry in the world.

In Eastleigh, hard working foot soldiers, years of vital intelligence and canvassing techniques were combined with the heavy artillery and armoured columns of our MPs, Tim Farron, Nick Clegg and the dynamic Lord Ashdown. With the whole party's attention and support coupled by what we do best, grafting and hard fought canvassing, victory could be achieved.

I'm not saying it was easy or down playing the hard work that every one put in, far from it, I'm in awe.

2015, however is a different campaign and on a wider scale. Such favourable ground and mass party support cannot be afforded when we will be fighting on a national scale as well as local elections. The country's media will not be paying the same amount of attention to every seat, if you get an opponent who has foot-in-mouth like Maria Hutchins the chances of national exposure are a lot smaller.

National party members won't be donating to your elections, local Chairs or candidates won't be able to call on Nick or Tim to help canvass. Without sounding like the voice of doom, local associations should plan for the likely event that they will be defending or attacking on their own. Though I'm sure HQ will form local Schwehrpunkts in areas that are seen as vital holds, areas like Medway will not be on the list as we will be low priority and resources will be ear marked for elsewhere.

Labour will be coming for our party in 2015 in a similar way as the Soviets post Stalingrad, with numbers, backing, media, propaganda and riding high on anti-Government vote.

What we can take from Eastleigh is that our activists work damn hard and are exceptional at what they do on the doorstep. We have a message of success in Government and locally and, just like Eastleigh we can dig in and fight - more importantly we can win and I intend to do that right here in the Medway towns.

Battle field Medway 2015 - my retraction

I made a boo-boo and now am retreating

Occasionally I get things wrong... Ok, I get things wrong most, if not all, of the time.

At the time of writing my last post I believed I was writing fact.

When I was young I was taught, by my police Sergeant Grandfather taught me three tricks for investigation.

1. Rarely ask questions, you can learn more from just listening.

2. If you hear something once it is a rumour, twice coincidence, three times there is something in it.

The third thing he taught me, that was backed up by my History degree is always have evidence to back up your claims.

I have been reliably informed by Cllr Vince Maple (leader of the Medway Labour group), Cllr Tristan Osborne (Labour's press officer) and three activists that, and here comes the embarrassing part, Isaac Igwe has not been selected as Rochester & Strood's Labour candidate. At the time of writing they have no candidate yet.

I'd heard the rumour from three separate sources but hey - we all make mistakes.

So sorry for causing confusion, especially to Alan Collins, who based his blogpost on my faulty intel and also to Mark Reckless himself who contacted me to verify my claims.

Whether or not Isaac is the candidate or not is fairly irrelevant at this stage. Should Polls stay the same and barring a political disaster my prediction will stay the same for the same reasons. I am relieved that my reasoning has been supported by Alan Collins' predictive computer programme, if you've not read his post you really should.

Of course no one but my wife claims to be infallible and it is entirely possible that with the right candidate, enough hard work and campaigning then we could see Rochester & Strood go Gold...

Battle field Medway - 2015 General election

Well, the big two parties have selected their Candidates for the 2015 election and the lines are being drawn but the battlefield is constantly changing and 2015 is not 2010. Things have changed and a Tory walk over is far from certain. Indeed my predictions show them losing one MP, keeping one and a fight that is fairly difficult to call as it is dependent on so many factors. I’ll try and explainmy reasoning.

Rochester & Strood: Reckless vs. Igwe

Mark Reckless has been somewhat of a wild card within parliamentary politics. He has been very good to his constituency and very vocal in his achievements and activities. The main cause for concern for the area being Boris Island and of course rail fare increases, both of which he has fought tirelessly for.

There are things he has been weak on, where as Tracey Crouch rebelled against the Legal aid bill Mark voted for it which meant constituents with asbestosis would find it harder to get compensation, Medway is one of the hardest hit areas in the South east so there will be a bit of disappointment with some constituents.

There is also a lot of discontent on the Isle of Grain over the LNG gas works which vocally hits Twitter, but ultimately these votes probably won’t make that much of a difference.

As with most Cathedral cities Rochester is fairly conservative and there seems to be a general air of satisfaction with their incumbent. One of the reasons for this is that he has and will rebel against the Government if he feels it is not in the interests of the constituents or the country at wide. He is not “Lobbyfodder” in the least.

The greatest weakness and strength though is Europe. Mark is exceptionally anti-Europe and has been one of the Referendum’s greatest supporters which is a popular move with the somewhat older population in Rochester (especially my elderly Grandfather on the Davis Estate) and although the opposition will no doubt say that is his sole raison d’etre and attack him for not dealing with Welfare or cuts in general. However the otherside is – UKIP probably won’t field a candidate in Rochester. It wouldn’t necessarily be a target seat as Mark is so anti-Europe that it would be a waste of resources to replace him with someone who is saying the same thing.

As for Councillor Isaac Igwe, who is the only Labour representative in Strood South, elected in 2011, he is the Labour candidate for 2015. He is notably known for (under Declarations on the Medway Council website) for campaigning for keeping the Marlowe medical centre open. (Of course it was his Conservative Ward mates and the afore mentioned Mark Reckless who secured it, so the points cannot really go to Isaac Igwe). He is well thought of in local Labour circles and is definitely one to watch. The only criticism is that according to some sources he can be a little hard to understand due to his accent which means he may come off poorly in husting style events. However with a dedicated team of hard working activists, something Labour have quite a stock of in the Medway towns I’m sure they will dent Mark’s majority. However with all of the local council seats and three Parliamentary targets it may be a bridge too far especially with Mark’s record it.

My Verdict: CONSERVATIVE HOLD

Gillingham& Rainham: Chishti vs Clarke

Rehman Chishti has been a good Conservative MP, he has towed the party line to the utmost and according to ‘They work for you’ he Hardly ever rebels. He has voted for the rise in tuition and against AV, has backed EU integration and has worked hard for his constituency. I must say in the times I have contacted him on trains and Medway’s education standards he has been very helpful and forthright, I couldn’t ask for more.

However, certainly in Gillingham, his footprint is very small (no pun intended on his stature) and there is a lukewarm opinion of him. At my end of Gillingham I’ve received two news letters, six months apart but identical. It may seem silly but in today’s politics you need to be seen in the media and heard to be doing things or people lose interest.

The Labour candidate on the other hand is former MP Paul Clarke who arguably only lost his seat due to the violent swing away from Labour rather than his being a bad MP. In many circles he is still well thought of and fairly popular. His return was almost prophesied shortly after he lost his seat.
Rehman has got a strong Conservative base in Rainham, Walderslade and Hempstead but the Libdem, Independent and Labour wards of central Gillingham will cause him quite a bit of trouble especially if UKIP run a candidate and split the Tory vote. As he is a solid Coalition MP he will be judged, unlike Mark and Tracey who have displayed separate personality and rebelled for their constituents, on the Coalition’s record and I can’t see that ending well personally.

My Verdict: Labour Win.

Chatham & Aylesford: Crouch vs. Osborne.

This is a tough one to call. Regular readers know the high regard I hold Tracey Crouch in and that I think that she has done a good job as MP. She has proved critics wrong and has been consistently good for the people of Chatham & Aylesford and fought their corner, rather than the party’s when the necessity arose. Many constituents, or at least the ones I’ve spoken to, have a good opinion of her and her politics as well as her approachable manner and willingness to listen.

Her opponent is Cllr Tristan Osborne of Luton & Wayfield. Despite his on line persona and the opinions of the Conservative Council, Tris works very hard for his ward in Luton & Wayfield and is part of the regular group of Labour campaigners in the Medway towns and has begun his campaign online fairly early. Chatham is mainly a Labour area and if, with a large enough anti-government swing Tristan could find himself ahead by Tracey by a nose. This could be further helped by the UKIP factor. Although not pro-Europe like Rehman or anti like Mark, Tracey's approach seems to be take it as it comes and as she sits somewhere in the middle of the Conservative party her share of the votes may be further diminished by more right wingers turning away from Cameron's more liberal brand of Conservatism.

Then again, there is her track record. She may, on the sheer strength of her record and personality maintain the majority or at least lose an acceptable amount from the 2010 13% to see her through. It is hard to say at this point.

My verdict: Anyone's gain.

Just on a closing note though I have not mentioned the Liberal Democrats in the Medway towns. Our critics would say that the party is dead and that we haven't the strength to fight a general election and a local election in 2015. As a member of the Exec committee I'm not in a position to discuss our election stratagems or strengths and weaknesses. We have strong candidates and the party is stronger, more dangerous than the critics realise. Beware the Yellow Peril, we might just surprise you in 2015 or split the vote enough to cause an upset!

What do the Libdems and Richard III have in common?

I was thinking about this on my way into work, a lack of sleep and still mulling over the Richard III documentary from last night still blighting my mind, and started to draw up some parrallels of our time in Coalition and the short reign of the Shakespearen villian and the last ruling Plantagenet monarch. History is always written by the victors, and what is the best way to seal your claim to power? Demonise the other guy and their acts. Let's be honest, there is a very good chance Labour will be resurggent in 2015 and the Libdems could pay quite heavily. How will our role in the Coalition be remembered?

Following the death of Edward IV, Richard became ward of his nephew Edward V who he later had declared illegitimate. Then with a lose coalition of lords and after a sermon at Westminster Cathedral to the laymen he was declared King by popular move, after all he was a war hero.

The party did a similiar act in taking a small amount of support and forming a Coalition and Clegg, the hero or modern British politics and a popular choice would take the lead. Though, like Richard - not with much of a legitimate mandate.

Richard’s reign as king was marked with beneficial changes to the statue and legal reforms including the introduction of bail, a court of requests so that the poor could have their cases heard and even a council of the north which allowed the Northern territories to grow and be integrated into the national infrastructure and in tow with London.

The Libdems have brought in a Pupil premium, helped break up the banks, proposed in electoral reform, cut income tax for the poorest, raised the number of apprentices, making education more accessible to poorer families, environmental green bank and renewable energies and many more.

This is not what we’ll be remembered for. Already Nick Clegg is painted as a liar and spineless – indeed I’m waiting for the jokes about his spine being found under a car park in Leicester to start. The big blot on his reputation is the Tuition fees U-turn that has been a stain on all of the party’s achievements and will be brought up time and time again in 2015. Very similar to Richard’s stain, the disappearance of the Princes in the tower. Whether he killed them or no, whether people remember that the libdems made the repayment scheme fairer or not – those are the stains that we carry and the ones our opponents will call from the roof tops and will be remembered by history.

Like Richard, the party are very optimistic of victory in 2015/Bosworth field, indeed welcoming it to as a chance to prove their mettle and trump their successes but there are those of us who fear the worse.

None the less, I shall don my armour and draw my sword and stand at Nick’s side for good or ill.

Personal manifesto and local politics

As 2015 gets closer and the candidate selection process is looked at for the Medway Libdems I am forced to wonder if it is even worthwhile me standing at the next election.

Apart from personal issues such as work, money, family etc there is of course the big question of;

Will I get elected to my ward of choice?

The answer is; Probably Not.

The answer is very predictable because I am a Libdem.

A good chunk of the dislike that will be aimed at us in 2015 is somewhat earnt. Some of the things we have been associated with in the Coalition will damage us, even the bits that aren't our fault or were part of the negotiations between the two parties.

Then of course there is the Tuition fees thing. I admit, freely, the MPs who broke their pledge, and not all Libdem MPs did, should have stuck by what they said.

Medway Labour will no doubt be coming for us and am sure they will be happy to not hide the destinction between the Coalition and the hard work that Councillors Juby, Kearney and Smith have put in for their wards within Medway Council.

The Conservatives, likewise will also be keen to use Labour's deficit and blank paper against them with a quick Can you trust a Libdem?

There is a lot of things that need doing in the Medway towns. Gillingham North & South wards are made up of hard working yet poor people - some of the poorest in Medway. They don't care about a new Bus station, a bridge to nowhere, whether Councillor Chambers should have acted a year ago on Rochester airport, or the state of Chatham. They care about what is available to them, their neighbourhoods, their amenities and their lives.

The other parties often seem to busy bickering among themselves and grand standing over the big things that they forget the small things. ( The criticism that the Libdems spend their time squabbling with the Independent group is rubbish. In all of the exec meetings and sub meetings I attended in 2012 Andy Stamp only ate up thirty minutes - in the Force knows how many hours!)

Medway Council's Conservative administration also seem Chatham-centric with all their work aimed at beautifying Chatham town centre with it's new bus station, Gunwharf quay, work to preserve the high street and even wasting time worrying about the name "Rats bay". In the meantime what does Gillingham get?

Yes, there is the sport facility at Medway park, more Brompton than Gillingham but... There's also the new frontage to the Railway station - that's it.

The roads are still cracked and pot holed, the High street devoid of good shopping, play areas vandalised and still with broken glass over them, heck even the Love Medway app won't work out here having taken a month to clear away debris I reported on it. In the end I contacted a Councillor. These things are not things the ward Councillors can effect on their own but need to be addressed by the Council as a whole, and it is something as a resident I would fight for as a Councillor.

I may not have grown up here but my heart has always been in Gillingham. I go for walks around the ward, make notes and listen to issues. My daughter is at nursery here and by 2015 will be at school here, my wife works here, uses the public transport, shops here and we live here. Improving Gillingham and the Medway towns is at the heart of everything I do and plagues my waking hours. I would work so hard on case work, meetings and fight the resident's corner at every opportunity.

I am not about playing politics or oneupmanship- if I was I'd have taken the easy route and joined Labour or the Conservatives. Politics isn't about the struggle of red over blue and yes even gold, it is about the people, their wants and needs.

As I said at the beginning though, it makes no difference. I am a Libdem, my opponents will sling mud and call on people to judge me on the actions of others and not my own. I am not Nick Clegg, nor am I Danny Alexander or Vince Cable, I am no more culpable for their actions as they are for mine.

I will stand, I want to make the difference, I want to improve the towns and the lot of the residents but will that win votes?

I can but hope that personal politics outweighs the dated party personal politics

Credit where credit is due - well done Tracey for the 155

Used with kind permission of Tracey Crouch

Although this was well out of our (Medway Liberal Democrats) current sphere of influence, I've kept an eye on this story from afar.

Arriva buses had cut the evening service 155 bus which had run from Chatham via Rochester, Borstal and onto Aylesford. It's an important route for those who live out in Eccles & Borstal as there is no real alternative transport and to be honest Aylesford is a bugger to get to by train from the Medway towns.

The Independent campaign has fought hard and contacted their elected representatives (cllrs Tolhurst & Baker both Conservatives and of course the local MP Tracey Crouch).

Whilst the campaigners and councillors met with portfolio holder Phil Filmer, Tracey got quite heavily involved with both peoples and indeed Arriva having Several! meetings.

It was agreed very recently that there be a stay of execution of six months whilst Arriva looks at figures and there is a sort of "use it or lose it" campaign.

As the campaigner's website states "Proof the tide of rural decline can be reversed when people come together to make it happen" - the very soul of democracy and localism and something I applaud.

It is interesting that the local voice of the opposition misses Tracey's role and instead absorbs a lot off the glory for himself. Although I do agree with the Labour record at trying to bring the Conservative administration in Medway to account and he has spoken of this before - I found a couple of loopholes in his arguments.

Firstly the bus station. Regular readers will know that I have consistently said what a complete shambles this was and both of us agree on that. It is kind of a seperate issue though in this case as it has nothing to do with ticket prices and the 155.

Secondly, looking at the stats. The drop of 9.3m to 8.9 m does seem large but it isn't even 5%. In a year that is hardly a drastic figure and could reflect any number of causes not just prices. Lets be honest, they've a business to run and with fuel prices going up - which they have consistently under the Coalition AND Labour (who brought in the fuel regulator) and with the withdrawal of Council subsidy as they, like the last Labour government felt that it should be up to users to make up the difference rather than taxpayers.

Any way, that's by the by.

The third point interested me the most. It was the useage of this phrase;

Those residents from outside Medway have also been specifically impacted by the cut to thr (sic) 155 service which goes through two Medway wards and impacts many of my residents in Burham, Eccles and Wouldham.

Hold up Custer... from memory Tracey is their MP until the 2015 election. As a PPC who was elected to that position all of 3 months ago, who already represents Luton & Wayfield and a resident of Rochester how are they your residents? After all they haven't elected you (yet). It is fair to shout when their MP has failed them but in this case surely Tracey and you agree on the outcome?

Any way, as everyone has omitted in their works on the subject I wanted to take this space to say:

Well done Tracey!

 She's worked hard on this and has secured a vital transport lifeline for the rural residents in her Constituency.

You may think it strange that an "Opposition" party member is supporting the MP but... Credit where credit is due.

When a broad budget is voted on and cuts are made by Government and Council there will always be chinks in the armour like the 155. The mark of a good local MP and Councillor is one who can stand up for residents and campaigners and fight for the important ones that have slipped by along with ones that can be lost.

A Solution to the Nick Clegg problem

After last night's Libdem exec meeting myself and Ed Jennings retired to a Top Secret facility to discuss party matters, both local and National.

Ok, we were sitting in his car opposite my house but we were discussing Politics - and in doing so we hit upon the solution of the "Clegg leadership dilemma."

You see, although both of us respect Nick and acknowledge all of the hard work he has done we also both acknowledge that his leadership in 2015 could well be deadly to the party - which means new leadership before then. Any new leader would have to be free of the Coalition "taint" but to drop them into the saddle in 2014 will not give them time to get themselves into order before the big election of 2015.

That's when Ed hit upon the solution. Who is a well respected Libdem? Who has leadership experience? Who could lead us into a successful election that wouldn't see us obliterated?

Doctor Vince.

Despite his role in the Coalition, Vince remains popular with in the party and with the voters - even with the other parties. He's a stalwart and hard working. Definitely the man to stop and reverse the rot.

The problem is, that even though he would be a great leader in the long term, he doesn't appear to be the sort of leader that will win elections. For some reason elder statesmen like Cable, Campbell, Brown or Major are out and Blair, Cameron and Clegg are in.

So unfortunately after 2015- 17 unfortunately, after a leadership marked by a stunning recovery of fortunes, Doctor Vince would stand down and make way for a new leader to rebuild the party, redefine us and prepare us for 2020 and possibly prepare us for any future Coalition politics or dare I say it? A future opposition party.

Currently our suggestions are David Lawes, who despite the expenses problem, remains a firm party favourite and well respected Liberal thinker and politician. The other is the energetic and popular party president Tim Farron who has fought the corner of the membership and stood his ground against the Whips and followed his conscience. Either way, it's a tough call that members will need to make later.

This is, of course a suggested course of action/ prediction but whomever you'd choose as Party leader after Vince you have to admit; He's the guy for the job in 2014.

Return of the Ed-i

"Our Policies are.... erm... ah..."

I awoke with a jolt yesterday afternoon. Having fallen asleep on the train as I usually do after an early shift I drowsily openned my eyes and browsed the paper. Suddenly, in the editorial section Ed Miliband was staring back at me with the words "Labour is riding high"

That's when the adrenaline kicked in and I truly awoke.

Jenni Russell's article makes for difficult reading at first but I do think that she's hit the nail on the head.

Labour are ahead in the polls- it is an inescapable truth. OK you can argue that polls are not always indicative of public opinion or that this is natural for an opposition party mid-parliament, but let's address the fact.

It does seem that the public have short memories and are more concerned with the here and now. Labour's criticism of the economy (which they left in a shambles), railway fare rises (on a formula they put in) or over News international (with whom they'd been quite cozy.) - Indeed, it is a great time to be in opposition.

The big question is; What do they stand for? At the moment it seems like its just "the opposite to the Government." This, unfortunately, will get them elected as it was too close in 2010 and a few marginal seats may swing the balance in a natural anti cuts vote.

The problem is you need policies to make a government work and I'm not convinced that they can do it at the moment. They talk about "predistribition" - the end is something that all parties want but they have no idea how to get there!

They talk about fairer capitalism but when Ms Russell asked a senior strategist what that entails, the response was;

"He expected individual businesses to come up with their versions of good capitalism, telling me that the business community was expressing a lot of interest"

A more responsible capitalism is really desirable and something I really think its something that needs adopting BUT you can't leave it up to the individual businesses or it won't happen. Look at this Government's pledge to equal women's pay - it was left to individual companies and so reform has not happened.

It is all well and good giving out well meaning sound bites about change but it's absolutely necessary to have a way to get there and actually forcing through change (that goes for everyone) because if you leave it to individual businesses to do as they see fit nothing will get done.

If Labour are serious about forming a Government they do need to be responsible and define themselves on their own and actually develop policy with a route rather than just an end. Don't just cruise into power on the back of not being Tories.

Oakeshott calls for Libdem change and Clegg to go

Lord Oakeshott's comments on Radio 4 today made difficult reading on today's Telegraph website - but necessary.

We have lost over half our market share... Since the election and any business that had done that would be looking very hard now at both strategy and its management to see how we get some of that back because otherwise we are going to lose a large number of seats.

Very true. It is something I've dwelt on and something we're working hard on in the Medway towns.

Lord Oakeshott also points out that 39 out of our 57 MPs were holding their seats against the Conservatives - now we've served in Government with them the obvious anti-government swing is to vote Labour. Also in seats we're we've won against Labour there will no doubt be a big swing away from us.

But I don't really need to state the obvious.

We do have a very good brand and very good policies which are popular... we have to fight very hard just to put the message across but to get it implemented in Government.

This is very true, Lords reform, AV referendum, Pupil premium, rising the Income tax threshold etc etc... these are our policies and we need to shout about them on the door step now and get into the press.

We can't be stood on the doorsteps in three years time shrugging our shoulders and blaming the Tories for not implementing our stuff with a coy We tried attitude.

We're angry that Clegg's "emergency rich tax" hasn't gone through because George Osborne (heir to a fortune/ lordship) doesn't like it and dubbed it Envy Tax. So we need to be shouting about it now and making the public aware that what we were doing.

What of Nick?

I can understand the calls for Nick to go. He has done a difficult thing by leading us into Coalition with the Conservatives and his tenor as DPM has been met with mixed reviews unfortunately he lags behind Cameron and Miliband in the poles despite the hard work of balancing a Coalition.

I'd like to see him stay, I think he's done a good job but as a figure in the media, he is roundly disliked and hated. May be a fresher face would help in the next election - then again who would take the charge, especially when it looks like we could nose dive! Maybe Nick should lead us through the election and stand down in 2015 for a new face/leadership to begin the somewhat inevitable repair?

The other option is for Nick to stand up. Lets take this righteous wrath over Lords reform and Wealth tax and shout. Stand up against Cameron, be vocal - you are our leader, Deputy Prime Minister - bang some heads and make a loud stand and not go quietly into the night.

If we show our independence as a party with our own Liberal agenda and school of thought and different to the Tories now - we can achieve more popularity and backing.

Rehman Chishti MP MIA for two months!

Last November I wrote a series of posts asking Where is Rehman Chishti? and ultimately had to withdraw from my salient point (here) as his record in Parliament showed how hard he was indeed working for the people of Gillingham & Rainham.

I was happy to leave it at that. Even more so when I received a letter from his office dated 16th July. To explain; I signed the online petition regarding "Lords reform" *mutter mutter discontent...* and it sent a generic email to my local MP. I was expecting nothing from it or any communication just a fools hope that my MP might listen or be swayed by a plea from an interested party.

A few days later a Westminster headed envelope arrived and in confused apprehension I opened it and read the following;

Dear Mr Sams,

Thank you for your recent email regarding House of Lords reform.

As you are aware, all three major parties committed to reform of the House of Lords in their 2010 manifestos. This was reflected in the coalition programme for Government, which said that we would "establish a committee to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber on the basis of proportional representation."

The House of Lords has many qualities that are worth preserving. It values the ability of Peers to take the long view, to provide an alternative perspective and to ensure legislation is of the highest standard. The reforms will ensure that the Government keeps what is good whilst allowing the people to decide who gets to act in their name.

You will therefore be pleased to know that I support the Government's proposals.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Rehman Chishti MP

I was shocked. It had been a generic email and hadn't expected a response.

I was disappointed (to say the least!) when the reform didn't go through but I felt buoyed up that my MP had voted for it.

Then I received an email from a friend who sent me the following link... go on have a look, I'll wait here...

It appears that Rehman didn't vote for Lords reform. In fact he hasn't been active in Parliament since 23rd May with a while off in April!!!

In fact his last question in the house was on Lords reform at Deputy Prime Minister's Questions on 22nd May;

Can the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that House of Lords reform was in the manifestos of all three main political parties, and does he agree that it is absolutely right and proper that politicians should now keep to their promise and enact this much-needed reform?

Which begs the question of what is he doing instead? After all that appears to be two months MIA.If I stopped going to work for two months they'd fire me and with good reason. The electorate would feel the same way. The primary function of an MP is to represent us, their electorate. That's what they're paid to do, that is what they are elected to do. Its not publicised that heavily now but you can bet your bottom Euro that Labour will pull it out of the bag in 2015.

I don't want to get all preachy and vindictive, after all there may be a very good reason for this massive absence, but I feel a little betrayed that I've been personally assured of support but yet when it was needed it was not there.

2015 is going to be a Very tough election for Rehman, especially if the boundary reforms go through and he loses typically Tory voters to a pro-Labour marginal seat with, if rumours are to believed, a fairly popular local former MP Paul Clarke waiting in the wings to stand again. He is NOT doing himself any favours by just failing to turn up to work for almost two months, right before recess!

I'm sure I don't have to reiterate that political opponents will be watching his record with interest.