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Claire Wright poised to become East Devon MP, as Hugo Swire gives up the fight
Conservative MP for East Devon, Hugo Swire, has announced he will stand down at the forthcoming General Election, in the face of what independent experts see as the strong likelihood that Claire Wright will win the seat from the Tories.
Claire says: “Party Politics is in turmoil. I stand ready to take on the issues that matter to people here in Devon East of health services straining to cope, underfunded schools and the irreparable damage to our environment under the watch of the current Conservative government which lurches from one crisis to another and has put narrow party political interest above the needs of local people.”
NB Seaton and Colyton are not, unfortunately, part of the East Devon constituency. We are in Tiverton and Honiton, of course, and we wait to see what challenges our current MP Neil Parish will face in the election.
I’ve used £750 from my Locality Budget to help Axe Yacht Club to buy entry-level sailing boats to provide free taster sails for children as young as 7.
The Club will buy two secondhand entry level sailing boats, which will be used throughout the sailing season to provide free taster sails for non-club members to give them the opportunity to experience sailing.
‘These will be very stable boats’, the Club says, ‘that allow young children (7 to 10yrs) and those with additional needs access to enjoy the mental and physical benefits of this exciting outdoor sport on our beautiful coastline.’ The Club are also contributing to the cost.
People lining the streets clap and cheer as fire engine leads Colyton Carnival procession in ‘Save Our Station’ protest
In my second demonstration of the day, I carried a placard (alongside district councillor Paul Arnott) behind the fire engine last night at Colyton Carnival. A huge turnout from the town and surrounding area and great support for the campaign to save Colyton Fire Station.
Inspiring exhibition by Hilary Arnold in Beer’s Bomb Shelter this week
On Friday I spent a couple of hours helping to hang a new exhibition of paintings by Hilary Arnold, the Seaton-based artist who is also a friend and strong supporter of local causes. I think Hilary’s work is really special and her latest paintings take it in striking new directions. 10 to 5 daily (10.30 start on Sundays). Hilary’s WEBSITE
My plea at today’s Exeter protest against Johnson’s vandalism – where the Tories can be defeated (especially Exeter, Totnes, East Devon), we will need a single opposing candidate to make sure we win
At today’s rally in Exeter, I urged that in the coming General Election, the pro-European parties and voters should support a single candidate against Johnson’s hard-right, anti-democratic Tories. Most obviously, on the south coast of Devon we should support incumbents Labour’s Ben Bradshaw in Exeter and Liberal Democrat Sarah Wollaston in Totnes together with Independent candidate Claire Wright (pictured) who is the main challenger in East Devon. Claire won 21,000 votes last time to Tory Hugo Swire’s 29,000, and will be poised to capture the seat if the small numbers who voted Labour or Lib Dem switched to her. Clare’s website is HERE.
In the Tiverton and Honiton constituency (which Seaton and Colyton are part of), it is not so obvious that any of the opposition parties can win. The Lib Dems have adopted Dr John Timperley (right), who is taking a strong line on the NHS, while Labour and the Greens have not yet announced candidates. I have not yet made up my mind.
Fire Service chiefs fail to answer questions at Devon County Council private briefing – but they are worried about the level of opposition
Yesterday I attended the private ‘masterclass’ for county councillors with Chief officers Ian Howell and Pete Bond – arranged instead of the public Scrutiny hearing which the Fire Service had refused to attend.
- I protested about the over-complicated design of the consultation and the way it has closed off opportunities for the public to express views about particular stations – they said it was signed off by the Consultation Institute (I shall be writing to them) but like some members of the Fire Authority, I don’t think it is credible.
- I challenged the misleading assumptions on which the calculations about ‘savings’ of life are based – they failed to respond.
- I asked them if they accepted the estimate, based on their own data, that 600,000 people would have increased risk due to slower response times – this would include everyone in the Seaton and Colyton area – again they failed to answer.
- I asked why they said it wasn’t about ‘cuts’, when papers presented to the Fire Authority showed clearly that saving money is a key driver.
Although I got to raise some other points about Colyton, I was cut off by the chair and didn’t get a chance to come back in. I’ll be writing up a full objection (and a paper for when this comes to Scrutiny – as I have insisted – on 25th September) and will post this here.
Three things struck me even more forcefully, from this meeting and re-reading the papers in preparation for it:
- As with the hospital cuts, the bottom line here is asset-stripping. The sites represent over 80 per cent of the financial gains from the 8 proposed closures.
- Even more than with the hospital beds cuts, the ‘alternative’ ( in this case more ‘prevention’) is pathetically weakly developed. They’re selling off the family silver and not giving us any serious detail on what they’re offering instead. In all likelihood, they’ll pocket the gains and the prevention activity will barely materialise.
- Finally, they are worried about the high level of negative TV and press coverage – keep up the campaign!
Seaton & Colyton MATTERS 