The election still has scarcely touched Whitehall Gardens – just one lefalet and no canvassers. The leaflet is a Tory one. It features eight photos of the Tory candidate, Angie Bray, and five photos of David Cameron. Presumably printed in the days when they thought he was a vote winner.
The big slogan is “Vote Angie Bray For A Local Voice in Politics.”
But the text says “I have been the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for the past three years, which has given me plenty of time to get to know the constituency”. That would not meet many people’s definitions of being a lcoal person. The leaflet is coy about where she actually comes from and lives. Anybody know?
On the Ealing Central nominations it just says ‘lives in Ealing Central constituency’ – why would you NOT want to put down where you live if you’re supposed to be local?
“Angie was born in Croydon”
“Later she went to St. Andrews University in Scotland to read History, where she met her partner Nigel, with whom she lives in their house in the Southfield ward of Ealing.”…
http://tinyurl.com/37km66w
“where she met her partner Nigel, with whom she lives”
Oh dear…The tory faithful won’t like that.
Angie Bray is a Conservative Party politician and was (a)member of the London Assembly for West Central London from 2000 to 2008. She is a former journalist and went to work for the Conservative Central Office Press Office as the head of broadcasting in 1989. She served as the press secretary to Party Chairman, Chris Patten during the 1992 General Election and went back to help the Press Office again in the 2005 General Election.
She was elected to the Assembly in 2000, and re-elected in 2004. In July 2006 she was elected leader of the Conservatives on the London Assembly. She did not stand for re-election in 2008
She was placed on the ‘A-List’ of Conservative Party candidates ahead of the next general election and will stand in the Ealing Central and Acton constituency at the next general election.
Live links on Wikipedia –
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/goldlist/2006/05/as_promised_thi.html
Angie Bray’s website
Biography from the London Assembly
Ealing Acton & Shepherds Bush Conservatives
So that Craig can familiarize himself with her mug shots, here is a Flickr photostream. One is good – she is gazing adoringly at Boris.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44945375@N05/show/with/4130941996/
“Angie Bray in Ealing Central and Acton was unabashed about using political links formed while working for the Tory communications machine to help her private PR clients.”…
http://tinyurl.com/37hyklr
Firing at the wrong target again, Craig.
Criticise her policies by all means but attacking her as “not local” is pretty desperate stuff. And in any case, she sounds fairly local to me- she’s obviously lived in west london for many years.
More to the point, since when did being a “local” matter when standing as an MP (except to give an excuse for ad hominems?) Very few MPs are actually locals in the sense of having been born or lived most of their lives in the constituencies they represent.
More important is how well they understand the needs of their constituents and what they’d do if elected.
I wouldn’t vote for her – but because I disagree with her party’s policies, not because of who she is and where she was born.
John D Monkey
I can’t criticise her policies because the leaflet gives me almost no idea what they are – it’s mostly photos, and the little text there is blurbs on about her being local.
You may feel that’s not an important factor. I tend to agree with you. But it’s not me who raised it. If you are going to make a point of something, it ought at least to be true.
And “West London” is rather big. There is a hell of a difference between Holland Park and Acton in economic problems.
I would say that it does matter. Not so much in the fact that being ‘local’ is in and of itself a qualification to do the job, but if more MPs were local to their areas, we’d surely have a wider range of people as MPs. As it is, members of well-established party hierarchies and an insular political class are parachuted in to many constituencies. I don’t think we’re well served by a house packed with overambitious career politicians like that.
“Local Voice” certainly sounds like someone born in a place, or at least naturalised by virtue of living there for many years. And the rival parties will be able to use the fact of misleading advertisement. So this sounds like an unwise tactic.
“Every picture tells a story, and this picture says you can’t trust a Lib Dem.”…
http://tinyurl.com/2dqjq73
“Blaydon will be too close to call ?” Lib Dems”
“Everyone knows that the Conservatives, whose candidate lives in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, cannot win here. But for the first time in generations, Labour cannot afford to take Blaydon for granted.”…
http://gatesheadnews.blogspot.com/
“Tunbridge Wells”…In a North east seat. You coudn’t make it up. No wonder the tories are out to deliver leaflets for the Lib Dems…
tinyurl.com/2cm3nzg
Blaydon will fall to the Lib Dems. Did you know that the Labour donor owners of Corus get millions of dosh for closing the plant down, through carbon credits?
Craig
http://tinyurl.com/o5lx8l
“Blaydon will fall to the Lib Dems”
Some of the stuff coming through my front door tells me the ex New Labour MP Dave Anderson may think he is in trouble or council tenants are facing armageddon…Something tells me Dave Anderson is telling the truth…
Click on “Defending Council Housing”…
http://tinyurl.com/362zqtc
Even the Lib Dems say they don’t know if it is true or not?.