I HAVE finally signed my declaration of acceptance of office, and it is a day which will be remembered in history.
At the same time as I was starting my political career at the Deane House, Tony Blair was announcing he was quitting as Prime Minister.
Needless to say, my news was promptly buried under the weight of media coverage of the Prime Minister’s announcement.
Other than a couple of small lines of print in the Somerset County Gazette and the Wellington Weekly News, I suspect my election has so far gone unnoticed by the big wide world.
I notice the County Gazette’s latest attempt to be seen as trendy is to report the news on its website in Polish, and I can’t help wondering if they have covered my story in this section.
I’ve searched for ‘Typowy Anglik Cierń jest wybierany’ but not yet found it, so probably not.
Presumably, the Gazette will also soon have Portugese, Bulgarian, and Romanian sections in order to fully reflect the extent to which Tony Blair’s EU-loving Government has undermined the ability of English citizens to find work in their own country.
A day after signing my declaration, I attended what was called a ‘Welcome Day’ at the Deane House.
It could have been titled a ‘Serves You Right Day’, after we were deluged with presentations, paperwork, and statistics in a marathon session – all this on top of the numerous email reports I have been receiving.
My briefcase was so full of paperwork by the end of the day that I could hardly close it and carry it back to the car.
I have quickly decided that one of the important skills in being a successful councillor is not going to be deciding what to read, but deciding what not to read.
With a day job to do as well, it is not humanly possible to get through everything that is presented to you.
I am not the fastest of readers at the best of times, and have been known to take the best part of a year to read a paperback.
It is going to be a case of feeling my way gently, starting with my choices of the panels on which to serve.
I will be deliberately restricting my choices to two panels, and only stretching to a third if absolutely necessary.
And I am ruling out the planning committee as I appreciate how much time commitment is needed to do this role justice – more time than I have available.
I have already received notice of four planning applications which have been submitted in my ward in my first few days in office, on top of actively investigating the circumstances of a particularly controversial application for gipsy pitches.
Being a planning committee member could be a full-time job in its own right and I will be full of admiration for anybody who serves on it.
Monday, 14 May 2007
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
When a councillor is not a councillor - yet
AFTER nearly a week of being the Taunton Deane councillor for the Blackdown ward, I have discovered that I am not your councillor even though I have been elected.
And, until I sign my declaration of acceptance office, I cannot become one.
Even after I sign my declaration, I still will not be a councillor for several more days.
This is because, technically, my predecessor remains the ward’s councillor until the council’s annual meeting on May 16.
I was supposed already to have signed my declaration, but the council suddenly cancelled the appointment while I was en route to Taunton.
It has now been rearranged for Thursday, May 10, exactly a week after you all went to the polls to show your support for me.
If I do not sign the declaration in time, I will not be allowed to attend the annual meeting.
I am not sure at present whether or not I can attend the meeting anyway, as I am working away and will find it difficult to return in time.
For those who are interested in these things, an analysis of the election results has been carried out and I am pleased to announce that all the hard work put in by the Conservative team on the Blackdowns over the past months and years resulted in us increasing our share of the vote to 63 per cent.
There was a 7.2 per cent swing in voting away from the Lib Dems toward the Conservatives in the Blackdown ward, which was the second highest swing in the whole of the Deane.
Although turnout in the ward overall was slightly lower - a fact which I attribute in large part to not having enough parish councillors in any of my three parishes to warrant an election and generate greater incentive for people to travel the sometimes several miles to a polling station - it should be heartening to us that we are continuing to build on the staunch Conservative support which exists on the hills.
Please note, if you previously read this posting and my comments about the Mayor-making ceremony, I have now deleted these references as I have since been informed that I was wrong. In essence, I was given to believe that the public could not attend unless they were a guest of a councillor. I am now told the public can turn up unannounced and attend, even though the ceremony is taking place in a Royal Marines base with all the attendant security. I apologise if, unintentionally, I have misled any readers.
And, until I sign my declaration of acceptance office, I cannot become one.
Even after I sign my declaration, I still will not be a councillor for several more days.
This is because, technically, my predecessor remains the ward’s councillor until the council’s annual meeting on May 16.
I was supposed already to have signed my declaration, but the council suddenly cancelled the appointment while I was en route to Taunton.
It has now been rearranged for Thursday, May 10, exactly a week after you all went to the polls to show your support for me.
If I do not sign the declaration in time, I will not be allowed to attend the annual meeting.
I am not sure at present whether or not I can attend the meeting anyway, as I am working away and will find it difficult to return in time.
For those who are interested in these things, an analysis of the election results has been carried out and I am pleased to announce that all the hard work put in by the Conservative team on the Blackdowns over the past months and years resulted in us increasing our share of the vote to 63 per cent.
There was a 7.2 per cent swing in voting away from the Lib Dems toward the Conservatives in the Blackdown ward, which was the second highest swing in the whole of the Deane.
Although turnout in the ward overall was slightly lower - a fact which I attribute in large part to not having enough parish councillors in any of my three parishes to warrant an election and generate greater incentive for people to travel the sometimes several miles to a polling station - it should be heartening to us that we are continuing to build on the staunch Conservative support which exists on the hills.
Please note, if you previously read this posting and my comments about the Mayor-making ceremony, I have now deleted these references as I have since been informed that I was wrong. In essence, I was given to believe that the public could not attend unless they were a guest of a councillor. I am now told the public can turn up unannounced and attend, even though the ceremony is taking place in a Royal Marines base with all the attendant security. I apologise if, unintentionally, I have misled any readers.
Friday, 4 May 2007
What a start - late for my own declaration!
BELIEVE it or not, I missed the declaration of the Blackdown ward result – in fact, I missed the whole day’s counting of the votes in hall at the Blackbrook Pavilion today.
By the time I was about to drive in there, I received a phone c all to say it was all over, the dust had settled, and the fat lady had changed and gone home.
Being self-employed, I have to earn a living for myself and my family and I had a work project which had to be finished today, which meant slaving over the computer all day until it was done.
Having had only three hours’ sleep the night before last, and one-and-a-half hours last night, I was also not in the best of shape for an election count.
I would like to say that it was my dedication to getting out and pounding the beat in my ward to canvass for support which meant I did not have time even for sleep – but that would not be true.
It was actually the same project which kept me away from the count.
However, that is now out of the way and I have had time to reflect on the election results.
For those who do not know, I won the Blackdown ward with 480 votes to the 280 which Sarah Wakefield received for the Lib Dems.
I hope that Sarah does not think I did not attend the count out of any cockiness or intended any slight toward her.
I would have spoken to her and offered commiserations and then looked forward to working with her as one of my three parish council chairmen - in Pitminster – to get things done together for the area.
Brian Simpson was remarkably quick off the mark today, very impressive. The Churchstanton Parish Council clerk had emailed me with congratulations barely moments after I had heard the news myself by phone.
He was not just congratulating me, of course, he was landing the parish’s annual meeting paperwork on my desktop for me to attend on Wednesday – it’s straight down to business now.
I’ve already had a call to sort out the formalities with the chief executive and secretary and solicitor, and there is an induction day coming up shortly after the Bank Holiday.
It’s all downhill now, as they say.
Although I missed the count myself, my ever-supportive and patient mentor, Chris Robinson, a former councillor for the ward himself, was there and flew the flag for us, as was our divisional chairman Ian Irvin.
I would like to say a big thank you to them both, and to Pamela Hankey, for each of them placing their trust and confidence in me to carry the Conservative torch – well, that little green squiggly tree thing as it now is – and to succeed in the election.
Thanks go also to all of my other supporters who have been out there delivering leaflets, putting up posters, raising funding, and generally encouraging others to vote for me, many of whom I have still to meet.
We will be organising a little ‘thank you’ reception for them all very shortly and invitations will be going out in the post soon.
My only sadness was that the Conservatives did not retain overall control of Taunton Deane Borough Council, as some of the seats slipped away from us.
Here is not the place to go into the reasons for what happened, no doubt they will be examined carefully in the coming months and any lessons will be learned.
For now, I look forward to four years of working to preserve and enhance the communities and environment which make up this beautiful and diverse Blackdown ward.
By the time I was about to drive in there, I received a phone c all to say it was all over, the dust had settled, and the fat lady had changed and gone home.
Being self-employed, I have to earn a living for myself and my family and I had a work project which had to be finished today, which meant slaving over the computer all day until it was done.
Having had only three hours’ sleep the night before last, and one-and-a-half hours last night, I was also not in the best of shape for an election count.
I would like to say that it was my dedication to getting out and pounding the beat in my ward to canvass for support which meant I did not have time even for sleep – but that would not be true.
It was actually the same project which kept me away from the count.
However, that is now out of the way and I have had time to reflect on the election results.
For those who do not know, I won the Blackdown ward with 480 votes to the 280 which Sarah Wakefield received for the Lib Dems.
I hope that Sarah does not think I did not attend the count out of any cockiness or intended any slight toward her.
I would have spoken to her and offered commiserations and then looked forward to working with her as one of my three parish council chairmen - in Pitminster – to get things done together for the area.
Brian Simpson was remarkably quick off the mark today, very impressive. The Churchstanton Parish Council clerk had emailed me with congratulations barely moments after I had heard the news myself by phone.
He was not just congratulating me, of course, he was landing the parish’s annual meeting paperwork on my desktop for me to attend on Wednesday – it’s straight down to business now.
I’ve already had a call to sort out the formalities with the chief executive and secretary and solicitor, and there is an induction day coming up shortly after the Bank Holiday.
It’s all downhill now, as they say.
Although I missed the count myself, my ever-supportive and patient mentor, Chris Robinson, a former councillor for the ward himself, was there and flew the flag for us, as was our divisional chairman Ian Irvin.
I would like to say a big thank you to them both, and to Pamela Hankey, for each of them placing their trust and confidence in me to carry the Conservative torch – well, that little green squiggly tree thing as it now is – and to succeed in the election.
Thanks go also to all of my other supporters who have been out there delivering leaflets, putting up posters, raising funding, and generally encouraging others to vote for me, many of whom I have still to meet.
We will be organising a little ‘thank you’ reception for them all very shortly and invitations will be going out in the post soon.
My only sadness was that the Conservatives did not retain overall control of Taunton Deane Borough Council, as some of the seats slipped away from us.
Here is not the place to go into the reasons for what happened, no doubt they will be examined carefully in the coming months and any lessons will be learned.
For now, I look forward to four years of working to preserve and enhance the communities and environment which make up this beautiful and diverse Blackdown ward.
Thursday, 3 May 2007
A last chance to talk before casting your vote
POLLING Day has arrived and for anybody who still needs reassuring that I am the person to vote for, there will be opportunities throughout the day to come and meet me and have a chat.The three polling stations in the Blackdown ward are located in the school at Blagdon Hill, the village hall in Churchinford, and the village hall in Bishopswood.
They will be open from 7 am to 10 pm, but the actual counting of the votes does not start until Friday, at 10.30 am in Taunton, so we will not know on the day who has won.
Please remember, that you can still vote even if you do not have your polling card with you.
All you have to do is give your name and address to the council officer on duty in the polling station.
I am going to be out and about for most of Thursday with Chris Robinson, a former councillor for the ward, and the person who has worked most closely with me to ensure I have visited all parts of the ward.
Supporters, and anybody else, will be welcome to come and meet me outside the polling stations at various times.
At present, the plan is to visit Pitminster school between 8 am and 8.30 am, and again from 12 noon to 12.30 pm, and from 5 pm to 5.30 pm.
I should also be outside Churchinford Village Hall at 8.45 am to 9.15 am, again from 12.45 am to 1.15 pm, and from 5.45 pm to 6.15 pm.
And I should be visiting Bishopswood between 9.30 am and 10 am, again between 1.30 pm and 2 pm, and finally from 6.30 pm to 7 pm.
Of course, you never know what might happen on the day, and the anticipated programme may well slip a little bit.
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
On the home straight as polling day approaches
WELL, we are on the home straight with a matter of only a few days before polling day is here and I have been canvassing the ‘urban’ areas of the Blackdown ward.It is strange to think of Blagdon Hill in ‘urban’ terms, but compared to much of the rest of the area I have been covering, this is how it becomes.
It is heartening to see the ‘Conservative’ posters that have appeared in people’s gardens alongside the road.
They remind me that although for much of the time it has been myself and Chris Robinson on a lonely trek, there are in fact a large team of supporters behind me/us.
Without the support of everybody else, we would not be able to achieve success at the polls and return a Conservative councillor.
It has also been heartening to find so much support on the doorsteps, although Blagdon provided another ‘first’ experience for me on the campaign trail with a door being shut on me rather impolitely before I had even had an opportunity to introduce myself.
I wonder if one day the householder will be in a position where he needs to come and ask for his local councillor’s support on an issue troubling him.
I am not daft enough to expect everybody to support me, but when I am elected I know everybody will expect me to support them!
There are no prizes for guessing the number one concern on the doorsteps of Blagdon Hill.
Yes, it is traffic. Interestingly, though, the more one looks at the issue, the more you appreciate it is not a single issue but a multiple one which varies according to where a person lives in the village.
Just the speed of vehicles is the problem in some parts, elsewhere it is a dangerous bend and junction, and elsewhere again it is the size of the lorries which make whole houses tremble, while other residents are worried about both the speed and size of vehicles.
I know that even going back some years to Chris Robinson’s days as the councillor for the ward he has been trying to implement a village gateway scheme to help ease the problems, but the county council refuses to help.
So, it is not a subject that is going to be easily or quickly resolved, and in my view it is going to need more than one solution.
However, I will give it my best shot and I hope that I can work closely with our county councillor – even though he is with the Lib Dems – to resolve it.
After all, we are all supposed to be doing our bit to help the local community and playing party politics should not come into a matter like this, even though it ism apparent to many that the Lib Dems on the county council like to spend their money in Lib Dem territory in South Somerset rather than in areas which vote Conservative.
But that’s another subject and one which will have to rest until the next county council elections – or will it be unitary elections?
Between the Conservative team on the Blackdowns we have now covered almost every single property in the ward at least twice during the past nine months or so and I have personally met many hundreds of electors.
We will find out on Thursday what those electors think about me.
There may not be time again before the polls to pen another blog report, and if not, then I would like to go on record now as saying a big thank you to everybody who has supported me thus far.
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