I have just got back from Quex Farm open day, I am afraid what pictures came out at all are not very good as my camera is dieing of some strange digital disease click on the link for the pictures http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/blogpicts2/id113.htmThis is a good one to take the children to as they were allowed to climb into the cabs of the agricultural vehicles and play with the controls, also a ride round the farm on a tractor trailer and all free.
One Thanet blog has gone this week namely Ramsgate News, this is a shame as its content was unusual and well worth the occasional read.
I have just been on a delve of the other local blogs using http://thanetblogs.blogspot.com/ designed for the lazy blogger in a hurry, I suppose in a way the blogs of our local councillors are interesting for what they don’t say.
No posts on our local Labour councillors blogs since the county election results and no mention of the Ramsgate parish council anywhere, I suppose it’s a bit early for that yet.
On the whole it was a very strange election due in the most part to the expenses scandal, it is strange how our system works as the conservatives made huge gains based on a reduced vote.
Looking back on it I am not sure what result I hoped for, what is clear is that the country most especially the Labour voters are very unhappy about their MPs expenses.
Next will be the results of the European elections and as MEPs are chosen using proportional representation a protest vote has much more effect, I voted for UKIP in these elections and am curious to know how many others did the same.
Michael, I think you have hit the nail on the head, Labour voters unhappy, Tory voters content. That explains a lot, Split the labour vote amongst the others and result, the conservatives have a majority across the country.
ReplyDeleteIf you remember, Ramsgate was dominated by Labour, but now its even. Seems that some labour support went to Conservative.
Don’t really know that they are content Ken, pretty much all of the voters and councillors of all three main parties that I have spoken to seem unhappy about the low vote, disgust in politicians seems to be the main emotion.
ReplyDeletePerhaps people haven’t cottoned on yet that the way the Daily Telegraph released the story and timing it to coincide with the election run up had a very large influence on the election results.
I have some reservations about government selected at the whim of the way a newspaper releases sleaze and am wondering if it wouldn’t have been better all round to have held on to the story until after the election.
Say come the general election a newspaper releases a news story that causes a Labour landslide, do you think people would be happy, even most of the Labour voters.
Equal sleaze all round but the Labour voters seem to have been the most disgusted.
With the turnout in KCC elections less than 40% and most Tory candidates only achieving half of the votes at best, it looks like ony 1 in 5 voters activily supported the Tories and of course the other parties faired even worse. Its a position of strength for the Tories. The public could not careless at the moment what they do up at Maidstone. With no effective opposition to ask the questions its up to the bloggers of Kent to keep watch.
ReplyDeleteKen Gregory is under a false illusion if he thinks decent local tories are content locally with the current leadership of TDC and his cronies, nothing could be further from the truth! Thanet Strife commented that whilst upon the doorsteps there was a bad general feedback about the characters, the conservative county councillor candidates were all characters who have come out in the main against the leadership and voted for a change.
ReplyDeleteIntegrity wins through in the end decent Conservatives will have to keep saying to themselves for a while longer!
To keep on thread, Michael, I picked up a really good HP camera and docking station, plus software and leads at Minster Boot fair today for ...........£2. Bargain or what
ReplyDeleteLocal Tories content, Ken? I think not from what I know about local life-long Conservatives. They may have voted Tory for county but it wasn't exactly a landslide due to the presence of UKIP. UKIP we know has attracted disaffected Tories who would never vote Labour.
ReplyDeleteI have spoken to many of what I, as a Labour supporter call, 'true Conservatives', and they are not happy with you and your colleagues at TDC. Perhaps you were too quick to post 'Tory voters content', after all, they didn't turn out in enormous numbers, did they? The feeling is that you and others don't represent what they think of as 'the Conservative Party' so wait and see shall we?
Ken, with out two party system here in Thanet, the choice is the party where MP's suck the teet to get their moats cleaned, of the party who want to pilfer enough cash to be able to afford a moat.
ReplyDeleteNot much of a choice, and if you think the Tories can take any credit in this mess, you are very much missing the point.
30% turnout means the majority of people understand you are both as bad as each other, and it doesn't matter who you vote for. The two main parties cock it up in the end, just in slightly different ways.
But having played both sides of the pitch, you'd know that.
Actually a brief look at the 2005 results shows, contrary to what Councillor Gregory thinks are 'content Tory voters', a dramatic drop in the Tory vote, due in Ramsgate and Cliftonville to the presence of UKIP and Broadstairs to the two strongly supported Lib. Dems.
ReplyDeleteCheck the figures out on the kent.gov.uk website and see for yourself.