Out Campaigning Across The Country

If you're a keen reader of my blog I bet you have been very disappointed and possibly close to suicide with the lack of activity over the last week. But don't worry, I haven't died, I have just been very busy campaigning up and down the country.

Last weekend I was in Newark helping out with the parliamentary by-election there. Working with the local Newark CF and nationally with Colonel Cooper I am trying to get a good presence in the area for CFers. I hope with the election day countdown approaching people from London, Manchester and Birmingham will come and help.

Myself and Oliver Rainbow the Newark CF Chair.

The Newark candidate is Robert Jenrick who is currently very busy travelling across the whole of the very large constituency of Newark. Our campaigning paths crossed last Monday in the beautiful village of Normanton where he met several locals and delivered lots of his local newspapers.

That same day I also met the leader of the Conservative group on Bassetlaw council, Keith Izzard. Bassetlaw council elects in thirds and Keith's seat is one chosen this year to be up for election. Keith seems a great councillor who has done a lot in the community. He was born in the ward and has stayed there for the large part of his life, if not all. He also knows the best pubs to go to for a lunchtime break.

On the Monday I also went campaigning in Tuxford with Therese Coffey MP, one of the first MPs to come to Newark. We started out doing some canvassing and later in the day switched to deliveries. We got the whole of the town covered which was very good going for our small team. I was also present when Therese got bit by a dog, which resulted in national headlines on the BBC.

I genuinely hope that our efforts will pay off and that Robert Jenrick will be elected to serve the people of Newark. Robert is hard working whilst the UKIP candidate, Roger Helmer, is not.

I suspect this picture will be put on many leaflets about UKIP in Newark.

Later on in the week I went back to Wisbech to help in the Roman Bank by-election against the local UKIP threat. You'll be pleased to know we won and achieved a swing from UKIP in comparison to the county elections last year when they won the seat. From what I saw people beginning to become fed up with UKIP locally because they are doing stupid stuff. This includes voting against a local train station*, wanting to charge for parking in the market square, bullying adopted children, using racial slurs at a fire station and being guilty of benefit fraud to mention a few things. It's a very long list of cock ups. Also it's virtually impossible to contact the UKIP county councillors by email, letter or carrier pigeon. No wonder the electorate are turning away from them.

Sam is a friend of mine and I know she will do a lot of work for all the villages in the area. This is why I did lots of extra campaigning for her until the sun went down on the days leading up to the by-election. It's great to see all our hard work paid off.

Photo courtesy of the Wisbech Standard.

These were the results:

Clark, Samantha (Con) 763

Lay, Alan (UKIP) 537

Diggle, Barry (Lab) 193

Murat, Erbie (Ind) 70

Court, Stephen (Lib Dem) 24

Turn out: 29.7 pc

Photo courtesy of the Wisbech Standard.

*A universally popular idea in Wisbech.