Back in the saddle.On Thursday evening I was reselected by my local Conservative Association.
This means that I will be the candidate again at the next election, expected in around three years time, in 2009.
The already lengthy selection process was complicated by David Cameron's laudable desire to increase diversity in our candidates at the next election which meant that our re-selection was frozen mid process last November.
Thankfully the candidates department in London clearly thought that we don't have enough ex fish-mongers in Parliament and chose to support my bid to be reselected.
I am looking forward to taking up the campaign again, and would like to take this opportunity to thank all those of you who have offered voices of support and encouragement.
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15 comments:
I saw the Herald this morning. Congratulations, you'll be the next Bay MP I'm sure.
Congratulations, I hope you go on to be the next MP.
As an aside, can I invite you to add your site to our Directory at www.rightlinks.co.uk. We are trying to bring Conservatives together online.
Congratulations Marcus on your re-selection. Lets hope you follow Geoffrey Cox's example in Torridge and West Devon who after failing narrowly in 2001 went on to win the constituency convincingly four years later.
Well done,
Best of luck for the future.
Marcus, if I'm in the area, I have every intention of doorstepping heavily for Adrian. However, I look forward to the contest and wish you luck; you are making your views known on a number of issues with a decent, archived site, and engaging with the world.
One day, all politicians will blog, in the meantime, any blogging politician should be encoruaged, regardless of party. Serf's right though, sign up to rightlinks, it's a good site, even if I do use it mostly to check the opposition.
Still, one things for sure, we won't have a NuLabour MP.
It's important to have a strong local candidate and can connect with your community. You are doing a brilliant job blogging too, have you tried podcasting as well? A lot of politicians prefer it.
Did you blog during the last election? I would like to research a book about politicians who blog, if you can help at all or make any suggestions, I would be very grateful
Good luck with the campaign. I can't wait to get stuck in again.
Congratulations Marcus, and best of luck!
I doubt you will ever get my vote a I have been an animal of the left all my life but I will say well done to you because you have brought some open-ness and honesty into politics in Torbay at last.
Also although some have forgotten I know that if it hadn't been for you Upton St James' would have most probably closed by now.
Old Leftie - Marcus had nothing to do with the saving from closure of Upton St. James School [USJ] ! Indeed he has not influenced ANY decision impacting upon the bay.
As a Lib Dem, whose step-daughter attended USJ and having attended some of the council meetings / events relating to the future of the school I can assure you that it was campaigning parents and the local community that saved it - though the support of local Lib Dem councillors Jenny Faulkner and Gill Hayman, in addition to the subsequently elected mayor was much needed and welcomed.
Congratulations Marcus on your selection as PPC.
Already though I am wondering how far you will need to pander in the next election to what your leader called the fruitcakes, nutters and mostly racists of UKIP and UKIP-inclined voters ?
Do you agree with your leaders verdict on UKIP Marcus ?
Surely from a Tory perspective it was foolish to alienate eurosceptics by such foolish remarks ?!
Your comment about my involvement in Upton is unfair Barry, if I may say so.
On the day the much leaked closure plan was formally unveiled I organised and printed a leaflet urging parents to fight the plans and explaining their right to do so; which I took to the school gates and handed out that very afternoon. At that point no-one had thought about fighting the decision and all the parents were resigned to their unpleasant fate.
As a direct result of the leaflets we were approached by a couple of the parents and in the early days they were advised by me how to get a pressure group up and running; and how to manage the campaign to succeed politically.
I made no secret of the fact that I was helping them, but equally we didn't publicise the fact for fear that it would be used by the Lib dems to dismess their legitimate demands to keep their school open.
Those people took the campaign forward - with great success, and the main credit must go -and has always gone- to Ruth and the others who put in the really hard work.
I was very pleased to help further during the General Election and also by campaigning internally with Nick Bye after he was elected to make sure that the school was indeed saved.
You may not remember, but the Lib dem councillors voted en-masse to close that school, not just once - but twice over.
If the control of the council hadn't changed they would have done it, too.
So don't try and re-write history by saying Lib Dem councillors 'supported the campaign'. They did nothing and Adrian Sanders did nothing either.
The schools issue (because they tried to shut the special hearing unit at my own kids school in 2004 as well) was more proof that the Lib Dems talk about helping the disadvantaged but in office do the opposite.
Marcus,
I carefully wrote that LOCAL Tormohun Lib Dem councillors supported USJ, as did I as a LD voter.
You know full well that central government regulations meant the Council had to look at the issue of surplus places and I am still concerned about the long-term future of this excellent school.
I did feel at the time that Nick Bye jumped on a populist bandwagon and felt the campaign was cynically used by him to promote himself at times, particularly with the putative mayoral poll in mind.
After all, since when have Tories representing wards like Galmpton showed interest in deprived areas like Upton ? Put simply I felt Nick Bye was grandstanding and, since election, has done little for our poorer neighbourhoods.
It seems like Mrs Raikes leads an officer-led council. I seriously think that by 2009/10 Mr Bye's 'leadership' of the council will be a negative factor for you during the next GE campaign.
So c'mon Marcus....DO YOU agree with your leaders' comments about UKIP ? A straight yes or no will do ?!
Barrie, I said before the last election that trying to 'please' UKIP was a waste of time because imo very few of their core voters have any intention of voting Conservative- now or ever.
UKIP have an impossible proposal- unilateral withdrawal from the EEC. Because a referendum decision was made in 1975 a unilateral withdrawal from the EC without another referendum first is a non-starter legally.
Therefore an honest political offer would be simply to put our continuing membership of the EU to another referendum - which is a proposal I support.
As it happens I believe that in the end the public would probably vote to remain in the EU, even though it drives us all nuts.
As for the 'closet racists' comment I will refer you to the article in Private Eye this week which points out the very many links that remain between UKIP and the BNP at all levels.
UKIP is unfortunately becoming a far right group and many of their supporters are people with views on immigration that are wholly unacceptable to me.
I would rather those people stayed in another party than tried to join ours -so yes, I am pleased with what Cameron said.
Macus,
Totally agree with your comments regarding UKIP. They ARE a far-right party and you correctly point out the absurdity of this 'impossibilist' EU pull-out position.
There has been a deal of entryism and crossover of ideas between the BNP and their fellow travellers into UKIP.
Frankly eurosceptic democrats SHOULD vote Tory rather than for a party containing many rancid racists [UKIP] or neo-facists [BNP]- even though this might make it harder to secure a Lib Dem victory locally.
Your position on Europe is in all fairness one you've consistently held and I welcome the clear 'democratic water' between UKIP and yourself. However, will you be as explicit in your condemnation of UKIP publicly ? I have my doubts, but hope I'm wrong.
Lastly I note you rarely ever answer any of my comments about Nick Bye. Rarely do you offer unequivocal support for Nick or defend him publicly. Why ?
You talk about Torbay Council in an abstract way. As for some recent Torbay Council decisions which you berate, haven't you noticed that it is Nick and and Tory cabinet that are responsible for such now ?!
Congratulations Marcus, you deserve it!
David Burbage
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