tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post7324796816296966903..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: Behind the Scenes at the Bedford Open PrimaryIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-14641982003990462002009-10-21T14:20:43.828+01:002009-10-21T14:20:43.828+01:00Despite what you have said on today's BBC TV&#...Despite what you have said on today's BBC TV's local news, I have some sympathy for Cllr. Mrs Nicky Attenborough in Bedford, where the Conservatives lost the recent mayoral election. <br /><br />Mrs Attenborough, who herself wanted to be Mayor and is leader of the Conservative group on Bedford Borough Council, is reported to have complained about the eventual selection as the Conservative candidate of Mr Parvez Akhtar, who went on to be defeated in the election by the Liberal Democrat, in that she is said to have described the Conservative candidate selection meeting - an open meeting, where non-Conservatives had a vote - as a disgrace. She is also reported as having said, 'It was very obvious that the meeting had been hijacked ... I could see the Liberal Democrats on the front row, Labour on the back row and a sea of faces who couldn't even understand what the candidates were saying.' <br /><br />The film footage shown today by the BBC clearly illustrated a sea of foreign faces at the meeting. I, too, wonder if they were all Conservative faces. I also wonder whether all of the major parties have taken the supposed need for inclusiveness and diversity a bit far. I further wonder if the time will come when one of the major parties chooses, say, a traveller candidate, in the interests of 'inclusiveness and diversity.' Of course, I only wonder, for saying such things out loud is asking for trouble.<br /><br />The BBC now says, 'The leader of the Conservative group [Mrs Attenborough] on Bedford Borough Council has been suspended from the party for two years.'<br /><br />A cousin of mine, Dr. George Witt (1804 - 1869), was Mayor of Bedford in 1834. I guess that there weren't many foreign faces in Bedford then.Geoffrey Woollardhttp://woollard4southeastcambs.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-14554720553296128172009-09-20T20:04:01.891+01:002009-09-20T20:04:01.891+01:00This morning's local press.
http://www.bedson...This morning's local press.<br /><br />http://www.bedsonsunday.com/bedsonsunday-news/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=450409<br /><br />Oh dear.Bedford Floaternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-29502738309842524432009-09-18T11:13:26.903+01:002009-09-18T11:13:26.903+01:00Ps. It has to be said that Iain did a fantastic jo...Ps. It has to be said that Iain did a fantastic job on the night. I was one of the earlier voters to arrive and he certainly kept me keenly entertained!<br /><br />Furthermore, I don't tend to follow blogs but I seem to be regularly glued to this website!<br /><br />To echo what one of the audience shouted 'Can we vote for you Iain?'...Keep up the good blogging!Torynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-56375568461373145452009-09-17T21:54:14.916+01:002009-09-17T21:54:14.916+01:00I attended Mondays primary and to say it wasn'...I attended Mondays primary and to say it wasn't fair is ridiculous. Democracy is about rallying support from where support can be rallied from and beyond. Isn't that how every party does it?<br /><br />As far as I'm aware the candidates had less than 48 hours to gather up support from as many people as they could. Can you honestly say that each candidate would not have gone to their 'block' vote and requested their support?<br /><br />I've been a labour voter for years but inclusion in mondays primary opened my eyes to a newly emerging tory party. Parvez in my eyes was clearly the best candidate.<br /><br />I don't think the childish ramblings of a few disgruntled party 'elitists', whom seem to be clearly stuck in the past, can deter him from victory.Torynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-73907199934452828682009-09-16T20:37:58.504+01:002009-09-16T20:37:58.504+01:00I was at the meeting on Monday, and Iain did a gre...I was at the meeting on Monday, and Iain did a great job chairing it.<br /><br />There certainly seemed to me to be plenty of people at the meeting who did not come from Parvez's core support who voted for him. He was simply the best candidate on the night. <br /><br />Whatever the feelings about the process of selecting a candidate, once that process is over Conservatives have to unite behind our candidate - if we don't, the only winners will be people who do not share the sort of Conservative views that Parvez obviously does.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-14744312847981614992009-09-16T19:18:57.625+01:002009-09-16T19:18:57.625+01:00"the Liberal candidate is so useless."
..."the Liberal candidate is so useless."<br /><br />Well, Anonymous, that's definitely something I can agree with. I couldn't have put it better myself!Adam Pritchardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11340875676361180846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-32312901929274914432009-09-16T18:13:28.317+01:002009-09-16T18:13:28.317+01:00I can't question the suitablilty of the chosen...I can't question the suitablilty of the chosen candidate, as I was not at the meeting, but I would question the way it organised. I first beacme aware of the date and time from the Beds on Sunday 13/9/09. I did not get a copy through my door and was shown the article on the Monday lunchtime (the day of the meeting). Following the instructions contained in the article I tried ringing and got no answer and then emailed the organisers at 2pm to register so I could attend. A couple of hours later I received an reply appologising that the deadline for registering was midday (which had not been publisised in the paper) and therefore I could not go. Why then were hundreds of unexpected people, presumably unregistered prior to arrival, allowed in? This clearly made the process (more) open to abuse if one set of supporters can be organised to arrive en masse and let in when potential supporters of other candidates who followed the registration process were excluded. This did not let the public have a fair and representative say in the selection process as promised and showed flagrant disregard for the principles of democracy. Therefore, as a floating voter, my mind has been made up that the Conservatives will not be getting my vote as they clearly can't deliver even basic pledges.Bedford(Town)Residentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-17340025163497891842009-09-16T12:58:39.734+01:002009-09-16T12:58:39.734+01:00In reply to Adam, of course some people who are no...In reply to Adam, of course some people who are not Asian or who do not live in Queens Park supported Praveen. That's not the point. It was his necessary reliance on a 'block vote' that's the problem. When we could have had an opportunity to be on the offensive against the Liberal Democrats, the public meeting will put us on the defensive and make it harder to unify the party. This is especially sad because the Liberal candidate is so useless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-11259021242917920232009-09-16T12:23:22.356+01:002009-09-16T12:23:22.356+01:00In reply to Anonymous at 9:57, it's worth noti...In reply to Anonymous at 9:57, it's worth noting that plenty of people at the meeting who are neither Muslim nor from Queen's Park (including me) voted for Parvez. He was the best candidate on the night and represents new thinking in Bedford local politics.<br /><br />The Lib Dems must be terrified now, they have merely selected the leader of the Lib Dem group - no primary, no vote, no democracy! He's already campaiging about decisions taken on the old County Council, tedious, out of touch and voter repellent. The new thinking, bold ideas and fresh candidate are all coming from the Tories and that's good news!Adam Pritchardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11340875676361180846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-29677872931995407542009-09-16T09:57:35.711+01:002009-09-16T09:57:35.711+01:00The recent comments about an 'Islamic takeover...The recent comments about an 'Islamic takeover of the local party' and an interest in the 'demographic' profile of those attending the public meeting on Tuesday night must be of great concern to the three Conservative Associations. <br /><br />There is, of course, nothing wrong or right about a person of Islamic faith being a Conservative candidate. It is simply irrelevant. What is of concern, however, is that the candidate had to rely upon the (probable) TOTAL support of this part of the audience to ensure victory on the first ballot. <br /><br />It demonstrates that he must convince the electorate of the Borough that he has a broader appeal. If he cannot do this in the next four weeks, he will lose and the Liberal Democrats will win. Were that to happen, it will be interesting to see if Iain has the same attachment to the process - or whether he would favour some refinments to ensure that somebody can't win a nomination simply because he/she has been able to secure a significant 'block vote' at a public meeting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-71728653792818004062009-09-15T23:40:42.648+01:002009-09-15T23:40:42.648+01:00I asked them what they could learn from the experi...I asked them what they could learn from the experience of other elected mayors and if they would be following the example of the mayor of Doncaster who has cut his salary in half. <br /><br />Hmmm <br /><br />Has Iain Dale has been banned from using the words "English Democrats" on his blog by Conservative HQ !<br /><br />What if the English Democrats run a Mayor in Bedford ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-15428624423062038602009-09-15T19:40:24.446+01:002009-09-15T19:40:24.446+01:00I also watched the Look East report, from which it...I also watched the Look East report, from which it certainly appeared that we have run out of non-Asian voters in Bedford.<br /><br />I understand that the need to attend this caucus and to thereby ensure an Asian Conservative candidate was a feature of Friday prayers in several local mosques.<br /><br />Got any more bright ideas, Mr Pickles?Sorry, Bedfordnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-53633613909930758182009-09-15T18:48:33.813+01:002009-09-15T18:48:33.813+01:00Would be fascinated to see the democgraphic breakd...Would be fascinated to see the democgraphic breakdown of the people who attended.<br /><br />Having seen coverage on it on BBC Look East it seemed to me that the demographic didn't exactly match the racial mix that exists across Bedford as a whole.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-9801378005876791422009-09-15T18:37:04.924+01:002009-09-15T18:37:04.924+01:00My wife and I ran for a couple of Bedford council ...My wife and I ran for a couple of Bedford council seats a couple of years back and organised a debate between all the candidates in our ward. 4000 leaflets advertising the event led to the grand total of TWO non-activists in the audience... <br /><br />We went along last night and it was so exciting to see the enormous queue when we arrived. Ok, it took ages to get in, but that's a problem of success not failure - surely we'd rather have that than a low turnout..?<br /><br />We got a few non-Conservative mates to go along as well - and they are ALL now going to vote for the Conservative candidate in this election. See - it isn't perfect but democracy works!Mark Lehainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15538703464721727873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-35284795699394371722009-09-15T18:34:50.644+01:002009-09-15T18:34:50.644+01:00I think this photograph of proceedings (http://pol...I think this photograph of proceedings (http://politicalbetting.s3.amazonaws.com/Bedford%20hustings%20q.JPG) shows why this was a poor idea. <br /><br />Let's not beat around the bush here: if Mr Akhtar was a Christian or a Jew, he would not today be the Conservative candidate. <br /><br />This is an Islamic takeover of the local party every bit as worrying and dangerous as the Militant takeover of Labour.Tommy Ballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13809486706075373708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-51177360044208610092009-09-15T17:20:38.831+01:002009-09-15T17:20:38.831+01:00The problem with Treeblue's comments on my Ano...The problem with Treeblue's comments on my Anon. of 12.48 is that they smack of defensiveness. He/she is saying - 'we made a mistake last night but now we've got to rally round and support the candidate'. Whereas we should have be on the offensive, I am concerned that the Liberal democrats will be able to effortlessly exploit the inevitable difficulties and tensions that will now arise between and within the local Associations. The successful candidate MUST at a very early stage demonstrate to the villages that he is not a prisoner of the internecine politics of Queens Park and that he has a true feel for their concerns. He must recognise that people in the villages have chosen to live OUTSIDE the town of Bedford for a reason.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-12963244517191336892009-09-15T17:17:00.886+01:002009-09-15T17:17:00.886+01:00Eric Pickles 'Man of the People'
or not?
...Eric Pickles 'Man of the People'<br /><br />or not?<br /><br />Mike Smithson:<br /><br />"Iain did a good job in difficult circumstances and very much held the event together. He was watched over by Tory chairman, Eric Pickles, who, it should be noted, blanked me when I tried to introduce myself."Petehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02523286791950565630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-32396155240900896872009-09-15T16:00:40.116+01:002009-09-15T16:00:40.116+01:00If these primaries are going to work they must be ...If these primaries are going to work they must be run so as to be fair and democratic and so they cannot be hi-jacked. The effort in Bedford last evening was completely and utterly hi-jacked and was NOT fair nor democratic at all. Please cut the spin, we are hoping for an honest and trustworthy government not more untruths and spin.hopeful supporterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01812745662777714571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-16193265898002057342009-09-15T14:13:36.829+01:002009-09-15T14:13:36.829+01:00Hilarious gibberish on Union endorsements in Labou...Hilarious gibberish on Union endorsements in Labour selections. The big unions tend to endorse who they are told to endorse by the centre ... of the union ... who are told who to endorse by the centre of the party. So we get the comical situation of unions endorsing people with little or no TU activity, even AGAINST more active member(s) of their own unions.<br /><br />Hardly reds ruling the roost. Sometimes arguments used like : "We must back the winner!" i.e. self fulfilling twaddle in absence of better arguments.Chris Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15679067503215414300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-75370220426566926562009-09-15T13:48:03.009+01:002009-09-15T13:48:03.009+01:00Looks Like the Asian community has used the system...Looks Like the Asian community has used the system to its advantage. Nothing wrong in that but you may possibly have not selected the best man for the jobAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-12848917617087102892009-09-15T13:37:56.497+01:002009-09-15T13:37:56.497+01:00@ Anon 12.48
"The problem with the person sel...@ Anon 12.48<br />"The problem with the person selected is that he won the vote in a public meeting because he had so many committed votes on the evening. However, the chances of him unifying the local party are very poor because his victory was secured on such a narrow base of support."<br /><br />I don't disagree with much of what you say but the system that was chosen for selection is not the candidates fault, he simply made the most of it. However the Associations need to understand the divisions that have been caused by a process imposed on them but agreed by them and work fast to repair those divisions. In the end though the Conservatives of Bedford Borough (all 3 Assocs) still had a process of selection that did far more to include and interest the electorate of Bedford than any of the other main parties and the benefits of this need to be fully communicated.<br /><br />TreeblueAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-27714430172238982862009-09-15T13:33:30.002+01:002009-09-15T13:33:30.002+01:00Why not take another step and give conservative me...Why not take another step and give conservative <i>members</i> a weighted vote equal to 10 ordinary votes? That way being a member or an activist gives you more say.<br /><br />If "ordinary" voters do not like it then they can join the party?Hawkeyenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-81076795836811423902009-09-15T13:11:26.018+01:002009-09-15T13:11:26.018+01:00@ Mark Senior
So why should Smithson's 'r...@ Mark Senior<br /><br />So why should Smithson's 'report' be any more credible than your mouthings? Perhaps you believe unquestioningly everything he writes, anyway?<br /><br />More importantly where exactly did he say <i>"It would appear that the objective is to stack the meeting with as many family , friends and acquaintances as you can who will vote for you however well or badly you perform .<br />I wonder also how many of these family , friends and acquaintances do not even live and vote in Bedford ."</i><br /><br />Or do you now speak on his behalf, adding in the bits he's forgotten to write?<br /><br />You call my comments 'personal abuse'? Well, 'it would appear' that you are a very sensitive little flower - to the point of delusion. Don't get me wrong, in the field of personal abuse I can do a whole lot better than that.Unsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08307116169498533047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-57245305587555197702009-09-15T12:48:23.794+01:002009-09-15T12:48:23.794+01:00Agree with the comment about participative/represe...Agree with the comment about participative/representative democracy. I was at last night's meeting and did not feel that ANY candidate has what it takes to be an effective Mayor. The problem with the person selected is that he won the vote in a public meeting because he had so many committed votes on the evening. However, the chances of him unifying the local party are very poor because his victory was secured on such a narrow base of support. The effect therefore of an exercise in voter power is to reduce the Conservatives' chances of winning the election.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-69713252893712966272009-09-15T12:36:10.890+01:002009-09-15T12:36:10.890+01:00What will you think if UKIP or the Countryside All...What will you think if UKIP or the Countryside Alliance ensure the right result as well by bringing along all their supporters?.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12125396335746207555noreply@blogger.com