29/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Good News Poll

CON 42 (+4) LAB 24 (+1) LD 18 (-4)

That’s the result of the latest ComRes poll whose results were released today.  I don’t usually do poll numbers on this blog but it’s been a quiet week and I was struck by the interesting mathematical result here that the Conservatives have as many polling points as Labour and the Lib Dems combined. 

Reproduced at a General Election this would result in a 150 seat majority for the Conservatives.  Happy Days.

Customer Service
I had to pay some money in at the bank today so I took a stroll there and was pleased to see nobody in the queue, just a couple of customers at the two open counters.  I stood at the end of the aisle and waited for one of them to finish their business.  Sadly, things were not as they seemed.  One of the customers was involved in some complicated business that was taking a lot of time, while the other was involved in an animated but friendly discussion with the cashier. 

I waited patiently, impressed that the bank staff were taking a little time to engage with their customers and be civil.  A few minutes passed and there was no sign of either counter clearing - the discussion continued with both ladies laughing and joking about something or other.  By now, there were half a dozen people in the queue.  Everybody was relaxed but a couple of customers had that harried look about them of people who’d hoped to get finished in a hurry and had seen that expectation dashed on the rocks of fate.

By the time I had been in the bank for ten minutes the mood of the line was changing.  When I had arrived I was the sole member of this queue, but now I was at the front of a snaking, muttering row of people that reached all the way to the banks external doors.  And still the chatterboxes showed no signs of ending their little natter, let alone noticing that they were holding up a significant portion of the population of Wisbech.

You know when a group of people has reached the end of their patience.  They begin snarling pithy comments beneath their breath, staring angrily with the sort of petrifying gazes that make you glad looks cannot actually kill.  Tutting, tapping their feet, coughing pointedly.  Since I was at the front of the queue it felt like all eyes were on me to try and move the situation forwards.  I resisted, but I was pretty irritated myself since this had already eaten up an unnecessary quarter of an hour or so of my day. 

Finally I decided to take action.  “Excuse me,” I tried.  “I don’t mean to be rude, but there is a long line waiting here.”  Some people grunted their agreement.  Others looked embarrassed, which was a bit of a stab in the back since just moments ago they had been mentally willing somebody to say something.  (I’m fairly sure.)

Both the gabby lineblockers (the customer and the staff member) looked at me like something slimy they had just found in their pasta but joy of joys they did seem to get the message.  Helpfully, at that moment the other cashier cleared too and finally the line was moving.

I shuffled up to the lady who had held me up for so long and put my paying-in book on the counter.  She smiled in a sweet-but-dangerous way and said: “Thank you so much for your patience, sir,” her voice dripping with irony.
“No,” I replied, my own tone absolutely deadpan, “Thank you.  This is just how I wanted to spend half my day.”

At which point a number of people in the queue starting laughing, the other cashier started laughing, then my own cashier and I started laughing too.  The tension eased away as quickly as that proving, if nothing else, good humour is a wonderful salve.  
  

Posted in Election, Wisbech, Conservatives | No Comments »

19/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Please excuse the lack of a decent blog entry over the last few days. I’ve been in Norwich assisting in the Conservative By-Election campaign there along with an absolutely huge number of other political activists. I would imagine, by the time all this is over, the poor folk of Norwich will be heartily sick of politics of every persuasion. Blue, Green, Yellow, Red-White-And-Blue and even a little Red (believe it or not) has descended on Norfolk in a flurry of frantic activity.  The maelstrom will resolve itself, one way or the other, by the end of the week.  I suspect we’ll know a lot more about the direction of UK politics thereafter.  But for now I’m going to bed.  My feet hurt.

Me, Chloe Smith PPC, Stevo Brunton, Theresa May MP.

And there we are again…

Posted in Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Election, Conservatives | No Comments »

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 »

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 »

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.

Posted in Cambs. County Council, My Campaign, Election, Gorefield, Wisbech, Newton, Leverington, Tydd St. Giles | 1 Comment »

03/06/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Published by Mrs D N Clark on behalf of Steve Tierney both of 111 High Street, March, Cambs PE15 9LH.

Posted in Election, My Campaign, Conservatives | No Comments »

31/05/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Keep up to date with what is going on with election results … live!

Visit http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2009/05/alert-live-election-results-coverage-on.html
for more information.

June 4th

Vote Conservative
The Small Print (legally required during election campaigns.)

Published by Mrs D N Clark on behalf of Steve Tierney both of 111 High Street, March, Cambs PE15 9LH.

Posted in Iain Dale, Election, My Campaign, Conservatives | No Comments »

12/05/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Everybody Is Talking About It
Another day, another round of horrific expenses headlines from the Telegraph, eagerly swarmed upon, leech-like, by the rest of the media.  Nothing makes a bigger story than some sleaze and corruption.  Out on the streets canvassing and leafletting, people often comment about these unfolding events and I’d like to share some of the responses I give to them in the hope that a little fresh air will be able to sneak in to the suffocating atmosphere that presently surrounds politics.

Before reading this post please see the notes* at the bottom.

“All politicans are stealing from the taxpayer.”
I would respectfully point out that the upcoming elections are for County Councillors (and MEPs, but I’ll let them defend themselves.)  County Councillors don’t have huge expense accounts, or huge wages, or second homes, or taxpayer-funded porn, or a moat.  I’m a county council candidate.  If I dug a moat, cars driving past my house would fall into it.  If my bathplug breaks, I have to go down to the local hardware store with my wallet just like you.  If I choose to pretend another residence is my main home, people will just think I’ve gone a bit mad.  They certainly wont offer me any money.  If I employ a gardener, or a cleaner, or any other sort of home-help, I’d have to do so out of my own pocket (and my pockets are not that deep.  My wife and I do our own housework thank you very much.)  If I wanted a grand piano tuned I would first need to own a grand piano.  Then I’d have to save up.  I guess what I’m saying is - please remember local politicans are not MPs.  At this level of government politicans of all colours and stripes (not just my own party) are simply decent, honest, hard-working folk who want to give something back to the community.  No more, no less.  It would be unfair to tar us with the same dirty brush presently aimed at the grandees on all sides.  It would be counterproductive too.  Councillors do great work.  The MPs will be held to account, I have faith in that.  Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot and vote for some fringe looney out of spite, even is raving Lord Sutch Tebbit seems to suggest that would be a good idea.  It’s like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

“All MPs are corrupt.”
There are six hundred and forty-six MPs in the House Of Commons.  We’ve seen thirty or so names indicated in this expenses scandal.  By what measure does a couple of dozen or so from a total lot of six hundred and forty-six represent ALL MPs.  It doesn’t.  Do you think that maybe the Telegraph has withheld the other 6oo (ish) out of generosity?  It being such a good-hearted newspaper and all that?  Of course not.  It’s because all MPs are not the same.  Not even close to it.  Let’s get on and fix the problem, change the rules, sling out the real bad guys and get on with our lives. 

“What About Our Local MP?”
I’m glad you asked.  We’re a lucky constituency.  Now I’m not privy to all Mr. Moss’s details but from what I can see on his website it would appear that Malcolm Moss MP is one of those very good guys.  Malcolm has been publishing his expenses in some detail from his website for ages, which is more than many MPs have done.  He appears to keep no secrets, nor to do anything untoward.  In short, it would seem he’s precisely the sort of old-fashioned decent MP that everybody says they want (and we’ve got!).  Our prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Stephen Barclay PPC, I have come to know rather well from encounters during my campaign to be a County Councillor and he certainly seems to me to be a straightforward hard-working honest candidate, which is why I hope very much that he will end up as our MP.  I would even venture that that’s the nature of politics in North-East Cambridgeshire.  We aren’t perfect, I suppose, but nor are we currently part of this unsavory mess that’s going on and we should applaud that and hope it remains thus.
(Post updated after constructive criticism from other parties.)

**I’d like to stress that my blog contains entirely my own personal opinion.  It does not represent the opinion of the Conservative Party, nor of any other member other than myself.  I’m not infallible so I’m sure I won’t always be ‘right’.  But I do my best to speak my mind and the truth as I know it. Which is, I think, all any of us can do.

The Small Print (legally required during election campaigns.)
Published by Mrs D N Clark on behalf of Steve Tierney both of 111 High Street, March, Cambs PE15 9LH.

Posted in Expenses Scandal, Election, My Campaign, Cambs. County Council, Conservatives | No Comments »

08/05/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Click on the cartoon to see it full size!

Posted in Scorched Earth, Cartoon, Labour Party, Election | No Comments »

27/04/2009 by Steve Tierney.

Vote Blue On June 4th
If you live in the Roman Bank & Peckover County Division I will be asking for your vote on behalf of the Conservatives on June 4th.  I am sure you will hear my political opponents promise you the world on a silver platter.  I have already had a taste of some of the grand claims they make and grander criticisms of the present Conservative administration.  It doesn’t seem to matter how skewed their presentation or how invalid their comment.  They seem to think that if they promise you the Sun and the Moon and Six Miracles Before Breakfast that’ll somehow win them a seat.  In the end, I’m sure readers of this blog are well aware of the political merry-go-round.  You’ve heard enough nonsense like this over the last decade to be immune to it.  Nevertheless, this month you may be presented with dizzying spin from as varied quarters as UKIP and Labour and the Lib Dems.  I don’t want to get into that big-talking point-scoring political nonsense.  As a local candidate I just want to make a few simple, honest promises.  You’ll be able to reach me (locally) when you need help.  I’ll listen to what you say, I’ll push the things you want and I will work like a dog on your behalf each and every day.  There’s nothing grand or colourful about those promises, I know.  But you can take them to the bank.  Try me.  I won’t let you down. 

Conservative Spring Forum
I have just returned from the Conservative Spring Forum, which I visited with a number of friends and colleagues this weekend.  It was an enjoyable trip which I found useful and interesting.  The agenda could have done with a bit more meat on its bones, to be honest.  Nevertheless, the speeches and presentations I attended were solid and intelligent.  In particular, I was lucky enough to be at the Freedom Association fringe event with the folk from FensCF when MEP Dan Hannan addressed the small but attentive audience with an impromptu ten-minute speech.  As usual when Dan Hannan makes a speech I was blown away.  Nor was I alone in this as the audience were clearly just as taken with his smart, confident and intelligent arguments.  The following day he had another speech for conference, presented here.  I have been a fan of Mr. Hannan’s work for some time (I very highly recommend his book, The Plan, to anybody interested in politics and democracy in the U.K.) and so it was a privelige to hear him speak and a stroke of great fortune to be able to do so from a few feet away!  Quite honestly, It made the weekend for me!

European Elections
We must not forget that on the same day that our County Council elections are taking place we will also vote on our European candidates.  I’ve heard a few ‘normally Tory’ voters suggest they may flirt with another party as a ‘protest’ over the whole Europe and refendum thing and I’d just like to say: Please Don’t.  Let me explain why.  Most Conservatives are sceptical about further integration with Europe and even those that aren’t want to support proper democratic procedure.  The only way to make Labour rethink its blind course of destruction right now is to deliver them a sound thrashing at the elections on June 4th.  If you vote for the ‘fringe’ parties you may think this works as a protest.  And of course you have a free vote and should obviously cast it wherever you choose.  But Labour will not be shaken by a few votes moving to parties with no power or influence.  That protest will do nothing to turn their arrogant grins upside down.  What will scare them and move them to rethink their position is a Conservative Landslide.  Add to this the fact that we really do have decent, honourable, hard-working candidates who we desperately need to get elected so they can bring some sanity back to Europe and you can see why I’d quite literally beg you to remember how important this European Election is.  The European Union is the Monster in the Closet, it wants to creep out at midnight when you least expect it and literally take control of your lives.  Give your vote to the Conservatives and we’ll have a real platform to tame the beast and put it back in its cage.

Irritating? Me?
In last week’s Cambs Times, Columnist Samuel Brakespeare called me irritating.  He did it in a subtle and ironic way, but still.  Irritating?  Me?  Surely not.  My first actual outing in the local press and I get called names!  Yikes.  I suppose it’s lucky I’ve got thick skin if this is what I have to look forward to!  I’m joking, of course.  I rather like the Fen Diary regular slot, which is witty, punchy and informed.  I don’t mind that I have been labelled as a potential source of ‘good sport’ there.  At least he took the time to read my blog and comment.  I just hope that as time passes I’ll be able to get the inimical Brakespeare to think of me as useful instead.  I’m a newbie in local political terms.  Maybe I’m naive too.  But I really do think we can move beyond cynicism and actually contribute something to our communities.  That’s why I got involved in local politics and that’s exactly what I want to try and help achieve.  If I can demonstrate this then I hope even the most professional cynics will agree I’m useful rather than irritating. 

The Small Print (legally required during election campaigns.)
Published by Mrs D N Clark on behalf of Steve Tierney both of 111 High Street, March, Cambs PE15 9LH.

Posted in My Campaign, Election, Europe, Conservative Future, Cambs. County Council, Conservatives | No Comments »