June 2009
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Archive for June 2009

Not A Ghost Of A Chance (Updated)

29/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Not A Ghost Of A Chance
I received a letter recently from Cambridgeshire Police. Apparently they want to close Ghost Passage for “3 months, possibly 6 months”. Since I am a resident adjacent to the alleyway they’ve written to me to “confirm I have been consulted.”

I haven’t been consulted.

Unless this letter confirming I have been is supposed to actually be the consultation - which would be a pretty sad state of affairs I think.

Before I proceed I should stress that I write this blog entry as a private citizen, not with my County Council hat on. My division does not actually include the area in which I live (missing it by about 200 yds, but that’s neither here nor there.) So I’m writing as a resident and property owner on this issue.

For those who do not live nearby: Ghost Passage is an alleyway with three entrances that winds and twists it’s way along the back of The Crescent and Alexandra Road in Wisbech. It’s also known as “Gunson’s Passage” and is something of a historic little path, in its own quiet way.

The police state their reasons for wanting to close the alleyway (by erecting fences blocking all the entrances). These are; Graffiti Removal, Needle Removal & Prevention of Antisocial Behaviour.

I’ve seen graffiti removal being done a few times. It doesn’t take six months, or even three months and I see no reason why it would cause the alleyway to need to be closed. Needle Removal takes even less time - and I should add that in the 8 years I’ve been walking along Ghost Alley pretty much every single day I’ve never seen any needles lying around. Let’s try to keep this in perspective. Perhaps there have been one or two - a sign of the times - but it’s not like the alleyway is littered with them and I’ve never encountered any at all.

Which leads me to the sad conclusion that the real reason for closure is antisocial behaviour. Yes, groups of youths do hang around in the alley at times. Yes there is some vandalism and some antisocial behaviour on occasion. But is this really how we deal with the occasional problem people now - close the area to the public?

Quite frankly, I see a lot more antisocial behaviour going on outside the Angles Theatre beside me than I ever hear from the alley behind me. So does that mean we close Alexandra Road? Of course not. The nearby churchyard is always host to groups of drunk leery visitors to Britain, but that remains joyfully open to all. Are we really at the point where our solution is to put up fences and close up shop? God forbid the police might actually patrol once in a while to encourage order - oh no, let’s just build a barrier and sweep the problem under the carpet.

Why do I even care? It’s only an alley, right? Well first - I rather like that alley. I walk my dogs through it every night and have done since I moved to Wisbech eight years ago. But even before I moved here, when I was just visiting the town, I used it. I found it’s winding route and quaint meandering brick-lined passages charming back then and I still do. It’s mostly peaceful and it’s pleasantly old-fashioned. But more importantly I really don’t like this idea of just surrendering. Of seeing a problem and instead of trying to solve it - just walling it up and pretending it isn’t there. I don’t like to be bullied away from places I enjoy by a tiny minority of difficult social elements.

It may be that my fellow residents want the alleyway closed. It certainly is easier to throw up your hands and accept any solution that’ll move trouble on from your doorstep. But I hope that’s not the case. I hope they agree that there are other - better - ways of dealing with this than closure.

Cambridgeshire Police say this is for 3 months, maybe 6 months. That’s too long. But I worry that what they really mean is forever and this is the quiet way of getting the ball rolling. Maybe nobody cares, but I think that would be a sad day indeed.

Cambridgeshire Police want me to fill in a form saying I “consent” to the closure. Well I don’t. Will that make any difference? I doubt it. But I wanted to say it anyway.

Update 30th June 2009:

After further discussions and a flurry of emails brought on by my blog and my comments thus far, the Powers That Be assure me “everybody but me” is in favour of this. I just can’t believe that. I’ve decided to find out and have posted letters to all the residences in Alexandra Road, The Crescent and Ghost Passage asking for their views. Comments on this blog and responses received thus far seem to suggest the Powers That Be are talking from their posterior. But we’ll see when a few more comments come in. On my side of the fence - Town and District Cllr Jonathan Farmer seems to agree (and suggests most of the Town Council do too.)

On the other side of the debate - Councillor Kit Owen, while not expressing an opinion directly, suggested I was “point scoring” (whatever that means). I’m not point scoring, I’m just speaking up for what I believe. Isn’t that what we expect one another to do in a civilised democracy? County Cllr. Simon King does not share my view on this, saying plainly he “supports the closure”. I have a great deal of respect for Simon King, but I simply cannot see how the solution to an antisocial behaviour problem in a public right of way is to put up barriers to the public. This is not Northern Ireland during the troubles. This is Wisbech. So in this instance I am afraid I have to respectfully disagree with the view of my friend and colleagues.

I plan to meet Insp Sissons next week with whatever evidence I have managed to gather and state the case against closure. If any readers of my blog agree with me, please take the time to email me on me@stevetierney.org, text or phone me on 07831 616127, or write to me at Steve Tierney, 6 Alexandra Road., Wisbech PE13 1HQ. The more comments I receive the better case I will have when I meet the police.

I must again stress that it may turn out that the majority of my neighbours think this is a great idea. If that turns out to be the case then I will be disappointed, but I will pursue this no further. Democracy is democracy. I don’t enjoy causing a stink just for the sake of it. I just feel obliged to show there is another side to the argument. I hope that seems reasonable.

Posted in Ghost Passage, Wisbech | 5 Comments »

Time Lord In Town, High Maintenance & Scorched Earth

27/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Is There A Time Lord In Town?
I was walking my dogs through St. Peter’s Church gardens tonight and was absolutely stunned to see a life-size Tardis sitting amid the beautiful flower displays. A tardis! I kid you not. I presume this is something to do with the Rose Fair coming to Wisbech next week, but even if it is I really hope they leave it there afterwards. It looks fantastic! I was chuckling to myself and grinning like a loon all the way home. The gardeners have set it up so that flowers and vines trail over it, blending it into the display quite effortlessly. I probably did a double-take when it first caught my attention. I’m glad nobody was around to see me gaping gormlessly. And i’m not particularly a Doctor Who fan. Imagine how excited people who are will feel…

High Maintenance
I happened to catch the Cambs Times this week and lo and behold if it doesn’t have the full list of expenses paid to Fenland District Councillors inside. As regular readers will know I’ve taken issue with the style of an independent councillor in the past and I admit that a wicked grin crossed my face as my eyes scanned the names and fell upon my old pal Mark Archer. I’m pretty tired of the national expenses witch-hunt now but Mark has previously criticised pay and expense levels of other council employees and I feel this makes his own fair game. Now according to Mark’s FDC webpage he lives in Manea. Hardly the other side of the world from the council offices. Travel and Subsistence expenses of £1533.00 put Mark at fourth highest claimer in the council. Considerably more claimed than the leader of the council, in fact. This should not be taken as a criticism though. I’m sure Mark beavers away very hard indeed and is worth every penny.

I should probably stress that I know just how much work District Councillors do and in my humble opinion they aren’t given enough credit for their work or enough respect for their contributions. Even Mark Archer. I actually think the small remuneration they receive reflects incredible value for money since many of these guys will put incredible time and effort into their jobs way beyond the call of duty.

Scorched Earth Video

Posted in Scorched Earth, Labour Party, Fenland District Council, Wisbech | No Comments »

In Council - June 2009

23/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

In Council - June 2009
I attended my first Full County Council Meeting today and in the aftermath there are various things I’d like to talk about. Since it’s clear this is going to be a big part of why I blog I’ve decided to make it a regular feature. After each full council meeting I’ll have an ‘In Council’ post which features the things I found interesting, notable (or irritating) about it.

Today was the first meeting of the ‘new’ council too, comprised of returning councillors and a healthy bunch of brand new faces (like mine.) The elected council currently consists of forty-two Conservatives, twenty-three Liberal Democrats, two Labour(s) and one Green. Due to the sad death of one candidate - the election for the sixty-ninth seat has not yet been held and the seat remains vacant until it is.

For the most part this should have been a simple ‘by the book’ meeting since the agenda was mostly just voting on some of the officers and positions available, confirming people’s new committee posts, confirming the constitution and doing the necessary paperwork to get the new council term underway. Having read the agenda in advance I was expecting a fairly simply affair. Yeah right.

Policy Development Groups - To Be Private or Not To Be Private
During the early portion of the meeting the Lib Dems sat patiently in their chairs opposite, looking quietly self-satisfied. They proposed alternatives to various posts and - not being the majority party - lost. That didn’t matter though, I imagine they wanted to be seen to be doing and saying something and that’s fair enough. But then we got to the first sticky agenda item. The Lib Dems wanted to propose that Policy Development Groups (PDGs) be ‘public’ instead of ‘private’. More specifically, Councillor Rupert Moss-Eccardt wanted to amend the constitution to make this happen.

Jargon-Smasher (Councillese Version)
For the uninitiated, a Policy Development Group is a committee which meets to discuss policy ideas for a specified area the council handles and then makes those ideas available to cabinet for possible implementation. The groups have members from all political parties on the council and are there to make sure that all councillors, regardless of their political colours, get a chance to have input on the direction of the council’s governance.

Jargon-Smasher (Plain English Version)
PDGs are a place for councillors to share and debate ideas about what we should be doing and then to suggest those ideas later to our cabinet leaders.

The Lib Dems were saying that “openness” and “transparency” were something we should always try to achieve more of. That the public had a right to be present at all our deliberations and that making some meetings private was not sending out the right message. They used very flowery adjectives like “secret” and “hush-hush” and talked about “meetings in wood-panelled smoky rooms” a la David Cameron. It was all very imaginative and full of colourful invective.

Now on the face of it this seems like a great idea, right? Open! Transparent! What’s not to like? But just because somebody is able to dress an idea up in the current buzzwords and then pass it off with a smooth turn-of-phrase doesn’t necessarily mean the idea will stand up to scrutiny.

Anybody who has spent any time in business will know that the best, most imaginative, most incredible ideas come out when people feel comfortable enough to speak freely. That’s why so many companies try and encourage their employees to “think outside the box” and have “brain-storming” sessions where anything goes. For every fifty zany, improbable, wacky ideas you throw out there, one of them may be an insightful new approach to a problem. The trouble is those ideas tend to be much less likely to come out when the cold light of public scrutiny is shining upon you. Suddenly the fear of looking (or sounding) stupid, of saying some too controversial, of being ‘on record’ as having had one of the fifty zany, improbable, wacky ideas which didn’t pan out becomes stifling and counterproductive.

The Lib Dems want to paint the idea that PDG’s are secretive because that sounds nefarious and suspicious. Of course, that’s pure political wordplay for their benefit. The fact is PDG’s don’t ’set’ policy at all. They are the ideas stage, the place for free debate over policy possibilities. Yes, let’s be “open” and “transparent”. God knows the public have had enough of political skullduggery lately on the national stage. But like any place where business is done, representatives have a private meeting to discuss ideas and thrash out the wheat from the chaff. Then, when there are some actual policies to put forward the openness and transparency is handled perfectly well at that stage. The alternative would be turn successful PDG meetings into a bizarre spectacle where real ideas and discussion where replaced by some parties parading like peacocks in front of their pocket audience just for the sake of proving to the world how very clever they are. Which parties? I couldn’t possibly say. But the feathers would be yellow, I suspect.

A Time And A Place
The next piece of ‘excitement’ (perhaps this is a new use of the word of which you were not previously aware, if so, you will not be alone in that) was another proposed amendment. While our good friend Cllr Moss-Eccardt did not make this proposal, it had all the hallmarks of being his plaything (it was utterly inane, he was sitting next to the young lady who made the proposal, she regularly turned to him for advice during the discussion and at one point he took over on her behalf.) This proposal was that councillors “be allowed to ask questions during the first meeting of a new council”.

I should point out that the first meeting is considered (as I said in the beginning of this lengthy blog post) as being for making certain necessary decisions; the new council chairman, the new council vice-chairman, approving the constitution, appointing the new council leader etc etc. It is a structured meeting conducted for certain business and that is why this one lone meeting in a full four-year term does not allow other questions. But it seems that today was the day for making pointless amendment proposals so ahead went another half an hour of argument over, basically, nothing.

Some time into this charade it appeared that Cllr Sarah Whitebread (the proposer) became uncomfortable with the Monster she had summoned and turned plaintively to Cllr Moss-Eccardt for assistance in somehow banishing it to the netherworld from whence it came. He, the grand puppet master, grinning like a cheshire cat and bouncing up and down like Winnie’s friend Tigger (with whom he equates himself on his home page) was enjoying the spectacle far too much to notice.

End result - no pointless change in the rules was agreed. A predictable and sensible result but that didn’t stop Cllr. Moss-Eccardt interrupting the chairman (again) with his erstwhile cry of: “I protest”. One too many coffees with his Weetabix, methinks.

What I Will Be Doing
During the course of the council meeting we were informed what our posts and committee memberships would be for the forthcoming council term. We’ve all recently had to fill in forms about our previous experience and interests so that the Powers That Be have information to hand and can make informed decisions. Now I’ve got to admit I wondered how effective this was going to be. Cllr. Jill Tuck (Leader of the Council) is clearly a smart lady and knows a thing or two about all this (a darn sight more than I do, to be sure) but I wasn’t sure how well she knew me. I couldn’t shake the idea that I’d end up poorly placed or stuffed uncomfortably into the wrong job, a square peg in a round hole as it were. As it turns out I’ve been given four’positions’:

Children & Young People - Policy Development Group
Growth & Environment - Policy Development Group
Traffic Management Area Joint Committee (Fenland)
Corporate Services - Scrutiny Committee

I’ll admit to being very pleasantly surprised. I expect, if I’d chosen the positions myself, my own selections wouldn’t have been far off these. It’s very encouraging for me to see that our county leadership, even with the little exposure they’ve had to me, seem to have understood my experience and strengths well. I just hope my colleagues don’t mind a little radical thinking. I’m a Conservative Libertarian and I strongly favour localism, as per the gospel of Mssrs. Hannan and Carswell. As such, I think I might be a little different to some of my more traditionally Conservative peers. From what I’ve seen so far, the Conservative Council are a broad church with very open minds. I hope, as somebody who hasn’t come up the “usual” path into County Council, I might have a fresh (or at least different) viewpoint to offer. In the end, I can only do my best for the people of my division and for the council as a whole. Let’s hope that’s enough!

Posted in Localism, Liberal Democrats, Libertarianism, Cambs. County Council | No Comments »

16,000 And Counting…

21/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Just a brief aside.

I’m quite excited today. My latest website usage report is in and i’m now getting 16,000 Unique Hits a month. This means that 16,000 different readers access (and presumably read) my blog every month. At last count a couple of months ago it was 14,000 so the readership is growing!

Thanks to everybody who checks in regularly. This is a really significant readership and I really do appreciate each and every one of you. I hope my rambling continues to be worth the occasional look!

Figures for the last week:-
15/6/2009 Monday 627
16/6/2009 Tuesday 691
17/6/2009 Wednesday 714
18/6/2009 Thursday 657
19/6/2009 Friday 680
20/6/2009 Saturday 718
4087 Unique Visits

Graph for the last week:-

Posted in Hit Counter | No Comments »

Pothole Buster ™ & Recession - The Action Movie

20/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Pothole Buster ™
If I had to name one thing that annoys the people of the Roman Bank & Peckover Division more than any other I’m pretty sure I’d end up using the ”P” word. Potholes. Of course there are many other issues, plenty of them more serious than the rugged surface of some of our roads. But there they are every day, rattling your suspension as you bump and grind over them. If you talk to the council officers they assure you that they are doing loads of repairs - that they are out there all the time patching up the problems. If you talk to the people of the division they say they never see anybody and potholes stay untouched for months on end. Everybody understands that the last winter took its toll on the roads and that its not cheap to repair hundreds of miles of tarmac.

On reflection I really think there is truth on both sides of this. It is fair to say that the council agent’s are working hard to fix all the damage. It’s equally accurate that some places remain unrepaired for long periods. So here’s my
Pothole-Buster ™ idea. (I’m not serious about the trademark, it just makes me chuckle. Pay no attention to it.) I’d like to ask anybody who lives within my ward (Wisbech Peckover, Leverington, Newton, Gorefield, Tydd St. Giles) to report any significant pothole in their road by email or phone to me. I’ll then drive down, take a picture of it, and report it to the county agents for you. I’ll post the pothole report, the picture and the status on a webpage on this site so everybody can see what potholes have been notified to us, where they are, when the council were told about them … and hopefully when they are repaired.

Each week I’ll chase the council agents and ask about potholes which have not been fixed, pointing to the date I notified them and the evidence on the website as it accumulates. What I very much hope is that this will demonstrate just how quickly and how often repairs are done and vindicate the council a little. Of course, it may go the other way, in which case we’ll be able to keep track of the problem and make a judgement of how best to proceed.

In the end you may laugh: “What’s a website and a bunch of phone calls going to do?” And perhaps it will be a difficult task in the current climate, although I like to think otherwise. Whatever the case, it certainly can’t hurt can it?

My challenge to all readers is this: don’t just moan about a pothole and presume you can do nothing about it. Notify me and let’s get to work, together, encouraging and cooperating with the council to put our roads to rights. Pothole-Buster(tm) style!

Report Potholes to:- me@stevetierney.org or leave a text on 07831 616127
Remember to state your name and phone number, the road and area where the pothole is.

* Your right to contact the council directly is not affected by this request. This is purely my own individual idea to try and get something done in a slightly different way.
**PLEASE - Only residents of my division. I can’t do anything for people in other areas - but I’m sure your own local councillor will be pleased to help.

Recession - The Action Movie
Our country is in big trouble. Not because of the much-vaunted ‘Broken Society’. Not because of crime and antisocial behaviour. Not because of the bloated, cannibalistic public sector. Not even because of the cumbersome mass of the welfare state which successive parliaments have consistently failed to have the courage to address. It’s because of the wasted, starving economy. But wait! Before you yawn and tell me to change the channel because you’ve heard this script before - consider this:

Here’s the problem with talking about the recession right now - if you say: “There is no way we’ll see any serious recovery this year” people accuse you of talking down the economy. So all the commentators are harping on about “Green Shoots” here and “positive changes” there and even how we’re “past the worst.” The trouble is that the government has been borrowing (and printing) money like there’s no tomorrow and sooner or later that money was going to trickle into the system and result in what economists call “greater velocity of currency” and what you and I probably call “lots of shopping.” People are spending all this borrowed and freshly-minted cash and this creates the appearance of slight recovery. These green shoots are an illusion, like a bright red apple hanging from a branch but full of squirming maggots within.

In a movie of the current crisis we are somewhere near the middle of the story. We’ve done the character development and had a few car chases to keep the excitement up. But the plot is getting serious now. At some point down the line - and we’re not talking about very far down the line here - the government’s desperate attempt to borrow its way out of debt is going to come to an extremely messy end. Maybe the sale of bonds will fail when international lenders refuse to buy any more until they see some chance of a return on their investment? Maybe the dollar will crash when China decides to start divesting itself of the currency and causes a run on it - with the knock-on effect of crippling the pound? Maybe money will continue to gush into the many public sector black holes while unemployment keeps spiralling up until a critical mass is reached? There are so many weak points in this particular card castle that its hard to say precisely which way it’s going to come tumbling down - but tumble down it shall. At this point in a movie you’d really hope the ‘heroes’ of the piece would be taking action, right?

What everybody should realise is that inflation is coming. Perhaps we can keep putting it off for a bit longer if Mssrs. Darling and Brown are allowed to pursue their profilgate borrow and spend policies. But do not trust the government or the media’s talk of green shoots. They want to keep the masses calm in the face of economic armageddon for as long as possible. They are, in fact, the villains of this story. The twist at the end would be a diabolical prime minister chuckling: “Yes, yes! My plan is complete!” as he contemplated the ruin of the nation.

Even at this late point it is not too late to save the day. In our action movie, when the evil mastermind’s plans have resulted in the country teetering on the brink of destruction you might expect a dashing, square-jawed musclebound hero to arrive in the nick of time. Now I’ll agree that David Cameron’s Conservatives are probably not very dashing and certainly not musclebound. But the Conservatives are the only party with the will and the experience to fix this horrific Labour mess. After all - they’ve done it before. In fact I’d guess this movie is a sequel. Let’s hope it has a happy ending. And if we get though it intact, please let’s make sure it never becomes a trilogy.

Posted in Wisbech, Gorefield, Pothole Buster (tm), Leverington, Newton, Credit Crunch, Tydd St. Giles, Conservatives | No Comments »

The Ultimate Spellchecker & Councillese

12/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

The Ultimate Spellchecker
My English is not too bad, I hope. I’ve done a fair bit of writing (some of it professional) in my life and I like to think that I can string a sentence together without being too terrified of the consequences. That all changed this week when my friend “Samuel Brakespeare” in the Cambs Times column of the same name pointed out that I had spelt fete incorrectly as “fate”. A blog reader had emailed this to me already so, as of publication, I had already amended the entry (and thought it had escaped other notice). Just goes to show, the web is a devious mistress.

I ask you, dear reader, if there is a more powerful spellchecker than the fear that the all-seeing eye of the press is watching your words as they appear with one eyebrow cocked and the glint of a schoolmaster eager for any slip of the keypad. Now, as I look at the “publish” button on my blog software I can feel the dread creeping in. Has a word escaped my notice? Perhaps I have used a semi-colon where a period would be better? Has an apostrophe been used to indicate a plural? Have I misunderstood the difference between grammar and spelling?

Of course, despite my wry excuses, Sam was right. I did spell fate (sic) wrong. The Cambs Times helped me get it right in the end. I hope this is the start of a long and successful period of cooperation between that august publication and I. All constructive criticism is actually very welcome. I’ve got a lot to learn as a new county councillor. Jokes aside, I appreciate the input very much.

In the spirit of cooperation; in the Cambs Times Diary this week under the heading “Son thing of a problem” our erstwhile columnist might like to check paragraph 2. “A thoroughly decent chap whom I met him last year” seems wrong to me. I’m surprised the editor didn’t catch that.

Councillese
I speak a little Spanish and a little French. Enough to get by on vacations: “Hola, me llamo es Steve. Dos cerveza por favour” and the like. But I’m not one of these people that pick up new languages with great ease and so I was a little taken aback by my first training course at Cambs County Council this morning. The (very nice, very helpful, I must stress) senior staff put on a seminar which included the obligatory powerpoint slide presentation and a “carousel” system (a bunch of important staff sitting at different tables that you meet and ask questions of as you mingle around the room.) It was all very enlightening and a great deal of extremely useful information was fed to us newcomers. But I was struck by the bizarre new language that all these council staff speak. Let’s call it Councillese for sake of a more imaginative name. Anybody who has sat on a committee, or been involved in the corporate scene will have heard this sort of thing before, but the strange world of County Council has its whole own diallect. Everybody is interfacing with one another, attempting to engage and cooperate with partners, while streamlining their engagement with external bodies to maximise choice and facilitate improved outcomes. Que? After a while the words begin to wash into your brain and the sentences start to snap together and take recognisable shape. It’s surprising how quickly you catch the bug. When we took a break I even considered using a recepticle to incorporate a caffeinated beverage into my nutritional schedule. But instead, I had a cup of tea. Which was very welcome.

Posted in Cambs Times, Cambs. County Council | No Comments »

Induction Day, To Work & The Conservative Machine

11/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Induction Day
Last Saturday I proudly attended my ‘induction meeting’ at Shire Hall, Cambridge. Very earnest staff led a tour group of newbie councillors around the elegant building. Cue much “oohing and aahing” like starstruck tourists. No flash photography please, there are wild politicians around and we wouldn’t want to disturb their natural habitat. We had our photos taken (presumably so they can be stuck onto the County Council website to terrify unwary visitors who venture within.) Then we enjoyed a very pleasant buffet lunch, shook each other’s hands, and managed to ignore the fact that many of us would spend the next four years violently disagreeing across the council chamber. If I sound flippant then you should probably put it down to whistling in the dark. I now have the sober responsibility of representing thousands of people. It is a daunting idea but also a task that I am very much looking forward to. I think it’s going to be exciting and interesting and infuriating and challenging and lots of other adjectives. But you know what? I’m ready! Bring it on.

To Work
The first meeting I must attend at county is this Friday. This is not a council meeting per se, but a morning training course followed by the Conservative Group AGM (Annual General Meeting.) This will be the first time I (and a number of other new Conservative councillors) will be attending anything ‘official’ and as such I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll report in full here once its all over. By all accounts, it might be quite interesting. The rumour mill is certainly buzzing. More to follow…

The Conservative Machine
Following his healthy defeat by Cllr. Geoff Harper, independent county candidate for Forty Foot, Mark Archer was reported by the Cambs Times as saying:-

“I’m very encouraged by this. Cllr Harper knows he will have to pull his socks up because I will be standing next time.I don’t think I was beaten by Cllr Harper the candidate, more by the Conservative machine.”

I’m pretty sure Mr Archer had assumed he might win but if he says he feels: ”very encouraged” then fair enough, good for him. He really misses the point when he talks about the “Conservative Machine”. By using this sort of mechanical metaphor he is trying to convey a cold, calculating image which has no bearing on reality. The Conservatives, Mr. Archer, are a team. A solid, loyal, dedicated team. While Mr Archer loudly proclaims his ‘lone wolf’ status (a status which I’m somewhat sceptical of) and derides the team that beat him, I would respectfully make the point that all the baseless accusations, local press coverage and political cynicism in the world can’t beat a strong, hard-working team and a great candidate. If anybody should be “pulling their socks up”, district councillor Archer, it is you. The Conservative team isn’t going anywhere either. You know the old saying: “May the best man win?” Well he did. I am “very encouraged” by that.

Posted in Mark Archer, Fenland District Council, Election, Cambs. County Council, Conservatives | 5 Comments »

A New Blue Day

07/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

A New Blue Day

Friday 5th June was ‘The Count’. The day when I would find out, one way or the other, whether the long and arduous campaign I had just fought was going send me to Shire Hall as a county councillor or to the Cupboard Under The Stairs to lick my gratuitous wounds.

I should stress that I enjoyed my campaign very much. I canvassed 90% of my division and got to meet people from every corner of it; Tydd St. Giles, Gorefield, Leverington, Wisbech, Foul Anchor, Tydd Gote, Four Gotes and Newton. I leafletted every house at least twice, some more often that that. I went to every Parish Council meeting and to a great many fetes, quiz nights, events and functions. (I intend to keep doing all these things. Some people say they usually ‘only see a politician when an election is coming’. It’s my intention to change that perception where it exists.)

The night before ‘The Count’ (each time I say that I have the urge to do a faux Dracula laugh, a la Sesame Street) I thought I would be unable to sleep, such was my nervous excitement. But sleep I did. Like the dead. I’ve always been somebody who likes to work, but this was one of the toughest, most gruelling months of my life. And the last week… that was the toughest of all. So my head hit the pillow and that was all I knew until the alarm screamed me awake and I stumbled, bleary-eyed, into the Day Of Reckoning. (You think I’m being dramatic? Try standing for council! It takes on a life of its own.)

Our ‘telling’ from the previous day suggested we were at 45% of the vote in my division. You’d think this would have helped me relax, but no. Quite the opposite. You imagine you may have gotten it wrong. That there may be some place where votes have been cast quite differently to what your canvassing suggested. Labour and the Liberal Democrats had utterly collapsed in Fenland and that had become clear to us during the campaign (despite a puzzling Cambs Times online poll that suggested Labour were doing well, much to our bemusement. Luckily that turned out to be a pretty duff poll.) It was UKIP that made me nervous. Which is a shame because (and this is a personal, not a party view) I am very much a Euro-Sceptic myself and agree that we would be Better Off Out.

On the day of ‘The Count’ (Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa) I stood at the table with my Wife (Marie Tierney), My Mum (Brenda Barber) and one of my Best Friends (Samantha Hoy) watching the drama unfold. As far as I could see, in the entire building there were only two Labour people: the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (whose ‘prospects’ are so limited I can’t even remember his name) and another man in a red tie who looked very grumpy indeed. Looking around the hall, there weren’t a whole lot of Lib Dems either. But the Schooling Brothers showed up for UKIP (and they were very nice guys.) Andrew Hunt showed up for the Libertarian Party (and despite our differences, he was a really great guy too.) Even independents like Mark Archer (who was trounced soundly by Geoff Harper, proving that the world is a just place after all, in my humble opinion) managed to get there. Perhaps a message for the ‘opposition’ has been sent by impressive smaller parties and independents : “Do some work, show some interest, or you’ll wither away.”

The final result was that every single seat in Fenland was won by a Conservative. The whole area has remained that same wonderful blue and this is great news. It’s great for Fenland because decent, hard-working honest councillors have been returned to continue doing their vital jobs. It’s great for politics because it shows that even in the face of public scandal from high above and assault from opportunistic other interests all around the public here remain strongly conservative in heart and soul. And it’s great for me because I have experienced colleagues to go to for advice and guidance as I begin my own new position as a County Councillor.

Oh yeah… I won, by the way. Fifty-three percent of those who voted ticked the box next to ‘Steve Tierney’ on their ballot paper. It’s a truly humbling experience and a great honour. I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. I won’t let you down.

Thank you, everybody.

Thanks

I have so many people to thank who were part of my team and who worked feverishly on my behalf and for the Conservative party. I’ll get around to thanking them all properly, but in brief:-

Bonnie Drewry and Ann Balls plus their entire wonderful Tydd St Giles team.

Rosemary Peggs, Rachel Tranter, David Humphrey and the entire Gorefield Conservative branch and friends.

Gavin, Paul, Adam, Laura, Tom, Saluwedin and the brilliant gang at Fens Conservative Future.

Gary Tibbs, Lynny, Peter Tibbs and Jamie Edwards, who got involved purely because they are amazing friends and worked as hard as anyone (particularly Gary).

My Dad, John Tierney, who drove up from Hemel Hempstead to canvas with me.

Steve Barclay PPC, Cllr Nick Meekins, Lucy Heighton, Janet Stott, John Lewis and the many other Leverington and Peckover tellers.

My stepdad Tony Barber (and the whole Leverington team), who delivered more leaflets, canvassed more houses and walked more streets than I could have ever hoped for.

Cllr Simon King for getting me involved in all this in the first place and for being the font of all knowledge and sage advice whenever I have needed it.

My wife Marie Tierney for putting up with my barely being in the house for a month and managing all the usual things we do together, plus taking great care of our Son while I was seldom around, with good humour and grace.

And most of all:-

Debbie Clark, almost certainly the most wonderful Organising Secretary any Conservative area could ever hope to have.

Samantha Hoy - My Right Hand Girl. Who worked every bit as hard as I did and without whom I would have been lost.

Steve Brunton - Who put in so many hours of help I lost count and who deserves a medal for his dedication.

Brenda Barber - My Mum, who was the lynchpin of the entire campaign and who offered support, encouragement and almost all her free time in the same way she always has whenever i’ve needed her.

My victory belongs to all these people as much as, or more than, it does to me.

You guys were absolutely, mind-blowingly, awesome. Thank you so much for everything.

Posted in Cambs. County Council, Family, Election, Victory, Gorefield, Wisbech, Tydd St. Giles, Newton, Leverington, Conservatives | No Comments »

We Won!

06/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Cynical local newspapers, ‘Independent’ troublemakers and Massive upper Government scandals notwithstanding…

We won!

The whole of Fenland remained entirely Conservative and I won my seat with a very humbling majority.

Thank you so much for your overwhelming confidence and support, people of Wisbech Peckover, Leverington, Gorefield, Newton and Tydd St. Giles. I will not let you down.

I’ll blog more after the weekend. Now… I need a celebration drink (or two.)

Thank you again.- Cllr. Steve Tierney, Roman Bank & Peckover. Conservative.