Letter: Will Local Voters Ever Vote Conservative Again?

Published on: 29 Nov, 2017
Updated on: 29 Nov, 2017

From Bernard Parke

hon alderman and former Mayor of Guildford

In response to: Was It a Good Day Or A Bad Day for Democracy in Guildford?

Before I am asked again what party I support I will say that I was an active Conservative worker for over five decades.

I first stood for election in the Westborough Ward in 1959 and went on to progress from divisional Young Conservatives chairman to constituency chairman.

However, I find this U-turn of election pledges very distressing. Many of the electorate gave their unqualified support for the protection of the green belt and voted accordingly.

Will they ever be inclined to vote Conservative again in local elections?

Responses to Letter: Will Local Voters Ever Vote Conservative Again?

Jules Cranwell Reply

November 29, 2017 at 1:13 pm

Yesterday in Parliament, it was stated, in respect of the Brexit impact papers, that “the worst decisions are made where there is a lack of scrutiny of the reasons behind those decisions”.

Does the same logic not apply to the lack of scrutiny of the model behind GBC’s Objectively Assessed Need (OAN)?

Scrutiny has not been possible, either by councillors, the executive, or the public, as GBC has never acquired or released the model.

The requirement for this model “to be reproducible by others” is enshrined in the NPPF.

Even worse, the Executive subjected a councillor, who had the temerity to try to reproduce the model, to a hearing compared to a Stalinist show trial.

Surely this simple fact makes the entire Local Plan unfit for purpose.
Mary Bedforth Reply

November 29, 2017 at 2:46 pm

A rhetorical question surely.

The sheeple will always go through the same gate.

It would be interesting to have the MP’s opinion on local events.
David Wragg Reply

November 29, 2017 at 2:50 pm

I know how Bernard Parke feels. The Conservatives maintain that Jeremy Corbyn would take us back to the 1970s, but in reality, Teresa May is taking the Conservatives back to the 1950s, when they treated their core vote with contempt, on the assumption that they would not risk voting Labour.

My own view is that Cameron was a closet Lib-Dem, but that May is a closet Socialist. The centre ground in British politics has moved left, with big government, a contempt for the countryside, badly weakened, even ‘hollowed out’ armed forces, and billions blown away in foreign aid.
Stuart Barnes Reply

November 30, 2017 at 9:17 am

In my experience, because all the Westminster parties (and their little brothers in the councils) have the same “take it or leave it” attitude to their electorates, most people vote against the party or candidate they hate most. Thus it is obviously impossible, for some, to vote for Corbyn’s Socialists because they espouse communism and equally impossible to vote for Cable’s so-called Liberals because they are anti-democratic. Therefore, other than the very left-wing faux Conservatives, who or what is left?

Unless UKIP make a come back I think we will have to continue to vote for the least bad rather than the best.
- David Wragg Reply
  
  November 30, 2017 at 6:56 pm
  
  Well that’s a very depressing take on politics today, but the worst of it is that Mr Barnes is probably right. Sadly, I can’t see UKIP making a comeback as that party seems to have disintegrated. It was always portrayed as a ‘one issue’ party, but in fact, digging into their policies, that was an unfair accusation.
- George Potter Reply
  
  December 1, 2017 at 1:07 pm
  
  It’s comments like these which make me suspect that Mr Barnes’ personal political views are somewhere to the right of Atilla the Hun.
  - John Perkins Reply
    
    December 2, 2017 at 3:00 pm
    
    “Liars”, “Traitors” and now “Huns”. Mr. Potter seems to have a bad word for everyone with whom he disagrees.