Friday 12 April 2013

Another Lot of Thanet Election Candidates announced



This first lot is for the TDC election caused by Sandy Ezekiel being sent to prison.



And this lot caused by Ian Driver resigning from Ramsgate Town Council.

 And this lot for Brodastairs and St Peters, my thanks to Chris Wells for pointing out in the comments.

Neither of these elections effect me as they don’t involve candidates from my electoral ward, but they do beg the question; where are the online presences of some of the candidates.

Living as we do in the age of the internet, one would expect a google search of the candidates name combined with Thanet or the Thanet town they live in would produce something that people could grapple with.

I would expect anyone who aspires to become a community leader to have made some sort of mark on the world wide web.   


I don’t know what other people think, but I would say not having some sort of internet presence today can be considered as suspicious, ones first though being; what are they trying to hide?     

Obviously neither election will be decided by the majority of electors who always vote for the same political party, but both will be decided by the minority of people who both bother to vote and who vote for different people dependent on the circumstances.

My guess is that a for a fair amount of these people putting the name of a candidate they may vote for into an internet search engine will be a first port of call.
 
this picture is to illustrate a comment

48 comments:

  1. I hope Louise Oldfield is elected. Then we can all ask her "What have you done for the regeneration of Margate?"...

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    1. Frankly Peter hers was the only name in that lot that I had heard of and I wondered if it was just me, have you heard of any of the others? And would you vote for someone you had never heard of? Replying to your point though, I wonder what the others have done for the regeneration of Margate, I guess in the case of Louise running a successful business in the town is about the most you can do.

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    2. It could be argued that her constant campaigning against other businesses and developments more than cancels out her contribution.

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  2. You are incredibly myopic Michael. Wendy Chaplin has been an officer and volunteer for the Conservative Party for many years, currently my supportive Ward Chairman in Margate and Cliftonville; Rozanne Duncan a former Conservative councillor of many years standing; Seth Proctor a Broadtsiars liberal Democrat of some years standing; the only one I had not heard of is Alan Currie, and you just published a glowing press release about him on your other blog. Similarly in Ramsgate Barbara Byne stood in Northwood at the last District election; Trevor Shonk and Brian Urwin you must know. You have not, of course listed the Broadstairs Town Council candidates have you. Any reason why not?

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    1. Half of the voting public are myopic and you have just insulted them by implying that they are not political aware. How to win votes! Maybe you should have found another way of insulting Michael.

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    2. Anon of 407pm hallo again.....think about it for a moment. You have just insulted the voting public; I was merely poitning out to Michael that his previous frequent suggestions he is politically aware/ and /or engaged because of his blog and campaigns look pretty thin in the circumstances. Please try and keep up!

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  3. Would like to be able to contact my elected rep by email but other than that I don't need them to have a facebook account, twitter account, website or blog. It's about how they do the job not about having a prominent online presence - Ian Driver has a significant online presence but........

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    1. Hear hear; a real world person on your blog at last Michael, and not an anorak!

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    2. I suspect that some people's online presence would be highly detrimental to their election campaigns (who in their right mind would vote for someone as bitter as Tony Flaig or as lazy as Matthew Brown?).

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    3. I guess the problem here is that out in the real world most people who may vote, wouldn’t know, or even know of the party hopefuls, may have received some election bumph, probably have the most hazy idea of the difference between, parish, district and county councils, but wish to vote and to their bit in participating in our democracy.

      I don’t think I would want to vote for someone who was a computer illiterate, or someone who was computer literate but didn’t contribute to the internet in some way, it does suggest keeping a low profile and only going for the benefits of office.

      I would expect people who care about local issues to say something somewhere about local issues and I guess at the moment that somewhere is the internet. That is assuming these people are standing to represent local people and to resolve local issues.

      Chris as I have said before there is a lot I disagree with you about, but if you were standing in my ward I would vote for you, past experience has shown me that if I raise an issue with you do respond and you do try to resolve the issue. Most councillors don’t even respond let alone actually try to do something.

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  4. Dated Friday 5 April 2013 Sue McGonigal
    Returning Officer
    Printed and published by the Returning Officer, Election Office, Council Offices, Cecil Street, Margate, Kent, CT9 1XZ
    STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED
    District of Thanet
    Election of a Parish Councillor
    The following is a statement of the persons nominated for election as a Parish Councillor for
    Parish of Broadstairs and St. Peter`s - Viking Ward
    Name of Candidate Home Address Description (if any) Reason why no longer nominated*
    BINKS
    Roger Keith
    37 Callis Court Road, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 3AH
    The Conservative Party Candidate
    HEALE
    Martyn
    Flat 4 Balmoral Mansions, 27 Albion Street, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 1LU
    UKIP
    PROCTOR
    Seth
    65 Beacon Road, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 3DF
    Liberal Democrat
    SYMONDS
    Dick
    12 North Foreland Road, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 3NN
    Labour Party Candidate
    *Decision of the Returning Officer that the nomination is invalid or other reason why a person nominated no longer stands nominated.
    The persons above against whose name no entry is made in the last column have been and stand validly nominated.

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    1. Sorry I missed that one Chris and have now added it, put it down to the way TDC publish these things, instead of a simple webpage with all the details links to various different pdf files, which aint that easy using a phone during tea break.

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    2. Well said Michael. It's bit much the public payign for public services then having to do it themselves. And then being criticised by a publicly-funded councillor for doing so. Chris should get onto TDC and sack a few of them.

      A concern is the number of people standing in towns they don't live in - like Chris its its playing the system to get reelected. No councillor from differnet towns should be elected nor doublehatters.

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    3. Does the returning officer get any additional payments for acting as returning officer, or is it all covered by the humungeous salary she gets as Chief Executive.

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    4. Anon 9:23, unfortunately the candidates within the party system do not also get the wards or divisions they would prefer to stand in, but where their party wants them to stand. I am quite sure Chris Wells would much prefer to stand in Broadstairs, a far safer area for the Conservatives, but the two slots there are already taken by two long serving county councillors.

      As for your double hatters, let me advise you, having been a councillor, that to have representation up through the tiers of local government can be very useful. As a town councillor, for example, one may get a complaint from a resident about dustbin collection (district) or potholes (county) or such other matters outside your remit. Rather than just saying we do not deal with that, how much better to turn to a colleague who is a district or county councillor and get the matter dealt with at the right level.

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  5. I hope Ms Oldfield IS elected. Then she will be as ineffective as the current shower of villains and lacking in any ability to make decisions ... there her negativity will be at home and maybe Margate regeneration can continue without her constant whingeing. For many of us she lost ALL credibility when she claimed [and continues to claim] that the proposed Tesco is 'On The Seafront' when it is in All Saints' Avenue. Anyone who depends on lies to make a point is surely an ideal candidate for Council.

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    1. Amen! Even the "Arlington House Margate" blog seems to only feature comments supporting Tesco these days, and a friend who formerly owned a shop there (& was initially against Tesco) now just wishes they'd get on with it.

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  6. "I don’t think I would want to vote for someone who was a computer illiterate, or someone who was computer literate but didn’t contribute to the internet in some way, it does suggest keeping a low profile and only going for the benefits of office. "

    Can't see how it necessarily suggests keeping a low profile - perhaps they choose to raise their profile in other ways - meetings, mailshots, email etc.
    I suspect Paris brown wishes she didn't have her online profile !

    Just because someone chooses to operate differently to you doesn't make them wrong or untrustworthy. I respect your right to choose, respect theirs !

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    1. Well Realworld, let’s for a moment assume you are a floating voter, Cllr Wells has told you that the Conservative candidates are very nice people, but then he is a Conservative so he would. So let’s for a moment assume you are going to devote an hour of your life to finding out about the candidates, so you can decide who to vote for, if you can’t find them on the internet, how would you set about it?

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  7. Seth Proctor must be pretty desperate to become a councillor - he's standing in all three !

    One must wonder why somebody is so desperate to become a councillor - especially in an area where they don't even live..

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  8. Louise Oldfield has an internet presence. She has fought her campaigns with research and attention to detail. Isn't it her who travelled daily to the Court having gained a Judicial consent to report on the Ezekiel trial. Lord knows why she bothered. But she is clearly a fighter.

    Some of the comments here seem very mean spirited. Whereas for anyone running a business to commit to time for public service, whatever their politics, has to be respected surely ?

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    1. It's a shame her "research and attention to detail" doesn't extend to the geography & recent history of Margate!

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    2. So Peter your beef is that you think her research is too limited. And in support of your opinion, your evidence ? And in support of your opinion have you sought to communicate with her at all ?

      And a summary of the "Geography and recent history of Margate" you feel she so far has neglected to research ?

      Knowing nothing about Louise I looked up her Facebook profile and see that she originates in Sheffield. Isn't it interesting how often a person at least trying to fight for Thanet is not actually of Thanet origin.

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    3. Yes, I've communicated with Louise directly many times (mostly via her Margate Architecture blog, but I've also met her in person).

      As for my evidence that Tesco are NOT proposing building on Margate seafront, I looked at a map; & my evidence that Arlington Arcade has always been a failure, I've visited it regularly since 1999 & I've spoken to long-term residents who said many shops were boarded up even in the 70s.

      I don't give a damn where people are from, but at the same time I do object to outsiders telling us what's best for the area when they've failed to do proper research, particularly when the majority of people (judging by the Facebook comments on the Isle of Thanet Gazette page every time the isuue is raised) clearly DO want it!

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    4. Just to clarify this for people who may not understand the location of the proposed Margate Tesco which Peter supports and Loise opposes I have bunged up an artist's impression of the development ant the bottom of the post.

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    5. Thanks Michael.

      For those who don't know the area, the seafront / beach runs parallel to the road on the left of the picture (note how Tesco is hidden out of sight behind a crumbling 200 ft tower block, with smaller stores & possibly a hotel on the actual sea-facing road).

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    6. Sadly Oldfield's volume and willingness to cause tax payers money to be expended over pointless lost causes, that the people of Thanet CLEARLY don't support, she demonstrates perfectly why she is not fit to be a councillor.

      TDC are already overrun with councillors willing to throw good money after bad in pointless court actions, it certainly doesn;t need another.

      Add to that the mis representations and outright lies she has to make to support her arguments, and the her unsuitability becomes all the more stark.

      I am intriqued, what does she do for Thanet, how many do her (or Driver) employ, and why does she fight so dishonestly to prevent a major employer moving into Margate, that the residents clearly want?

      Perhaps if she wants to support thye views of the residents of Margate, she should stop her pointless, expensive and self serving court actions, and get behind a development people clearly want.

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  9. Just to clarify. I knew nothing about the candidate when I first read the blog. Then I did some internet research. Which is the point of the blog isn't it ?

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  10. Twenty three comments, so far, and only one anonymous. This is refreshing.

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    1. I strongly suspect "Realworld" isn't his / her real name... ; )

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    2. Personally I don’t care who the anons are as long as they give themselves some sort of nametag so I can tell one anon from another.

      I have spammed the bloke who copies bits of local history from other sites and other people’s comments from here, sometimes adding the odd obscenity and sometimes not. I don’t even bother to read them through to find out anymore.

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    3. Michael,

      My point entirely. Many of the anons are in truth the same person.

      The bloke you have spammed: he is the kind that used to write obscenities on toilet walls.

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    4. Allan MallinsonApril 13, 2013 9:17 am

      A bit unkind, John, for I think the only poetry that I can recall from school days was from the boys toilet wall:-

      S**thouse poets, when the die,
      have erected in the sky,
      in tribute to their splendid wit,
      a monument of solid s**t.

      Probably find the author went on to get a first in English at Oxbridge (or runs a bookshop somewhere! Only joking, honest, guv.)

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    5. Allan,

      The one that sticks in my mind is:

      Here I sit broken hearted
      paid a penny and only f*rted

      Anon. seen in the toilets on the Boundary Rd rec.

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    6. Allan MallinsonApril 13, 2013 9:34 am

      John,

      The crabs in here can jump six feet,
      but no good going in next door,
      the crabs in there can jump six more.

      Perhaps we should get together to write a book of toilet humour. Certainly more interesting than polluted aquifers and 0% salaries.

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    7. And anonymous comments are held to be of lower quality??? Good grief.

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    8. Well they are in your case 6:18...

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  11. Peter you are making a case for why you wouldn't vote for her. This is not the same as making a case arguing that someone is an unworthy candidate. Thanks Michael.

    Yours is a simple example of the errors of assumption being projected as fact.

    Do I own property in Thanet ? Do I invest in Thanet business(es).? You actually don't know.

    I may have money in Tesco for all you know ?

    Clearly you have a parochial mindset.

    I have a slight interest in Roger Gale and his history. And research shows that you, on the basis of he helped you get a job, concluded that he is a great MP. If your only arbiter is whether a politician helps you personally or disagrees with your personal views then that is further evidence of your archetypal parochialism.

    If you meant it is Ms Oldfield who is from out of area then rational thought should be given to what you meant by "Recent history". Surely you define the history as a period during which she was a resident in Thanet ?

    I still think your comments are mean spirited. I don't doubt that you care about the Tesco issue but you must surely recognise that others cared to oppose it. It doesn't make them bad people. It simply makes them people with a differing view to yours.

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    1. Where did I say that she wasn't a suitable candidate? It's just that her stock response to everyone lately seems to be "What have you done for the regeneration of Margate?", yet when asked the same question she goes very quiet.

      Roger Gale didn't help me get a job, he helped me KEEP my job, but as someone who's lived in either Thanet or Herne Bay since 1985 I'm well aware of his history, as well as how he has helped many people I know (unlike Steve Ladyboy who was worse than useless).

      By "recent history", I mean the history of Arlington arcade. She claims that the shops are empty because their contracts weren't renewed, yet the vast majority were boarded up at least 15 years ago, some since the 70s. So her campaign is based on poor research of both location & history.

      As for "mean spirited", there's many people around here (including some of those who live in Arlington House itself, unlike Louise) who would like to see what has been a shabby corner of Margate for decades finally transformed.

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    2. Have to agree with you Peter. Having in Thanet only a couple of years before you, Arlington was a an uninviting semi derelict slum back than, the only change has been the fact that the work "semi" in my previous description is no longer required.

      Arlington is crying out for development, the only thing stopping it is some nimby's and Oldfield, shame on them both.

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    3. So hamilton and Checksfield have allowed Arlington to be derelict for almost 15 years or more and now moan that nothing has been done and criticise those attempting to do so.

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    4. You're obviously confused anon: it's not me or John who's opposed to Tesco!

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    5. As Peter pointed out anon, i whole heartedly support the Tesco's development, as do the VAST majority of those living in Margate/Thanet.

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    6. screw tesco and their nasty evil food. they have destroted local business as have all the corporations storing their money offshore. they let us foot the deficit on our own

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  13. The constituents of Cliftonville East will receive leaflets about their prospective candidates telling them what they have been doing for the local area over a number of years or in some cases nothing. soome will have a internet presence some not, doesn't really mean either would be a good or bad councillor. some will have a genuine interest in that area while some have other agenda.

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  14. hey just wondering where are the candidates for the margate area. please reach me on facebook.com/michael.berry.18007218?ref=tn_tnmn

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  15. no worries i found them. thanks though

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Comments, since I started writing this blog in 2007 the way the internet works has changed a lot, comments and dialogue here were once viable in an open and anonymous sense. Now if you comment here I will only allow the comment if it seems to make sense and be related to what the post is about. I link the majority of my posts to the main local Facebook groups and to my Facebook account, “Michael Child” I guess the main Ramsgate Facebook group is We Love Ramsgate. For the most part the comments and dialogue related to the posts here goes on there. As for the rest of it, well this blog handles images better than Facebook, which is why I don’t post directly to my Facebook account, although if I take a lot of photos I am so lazy that I paste them directly from my camera card to my bookshop website and put a link on this blog.