Here are the results!
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey!
Meeting lots of interesting people - it was great fun.
Maybe - sigh of relief from some.
Looking forward to seeing how James Airey, Ulverston West, shapes up!
Sad to feel that things will be going downhill for much of Ulverston East with much alienation on the part of many people . . . . .
I shall still enjoy asking awkward questions here on the blog.
Politics at the moment is in a right state mainly because our lack of involvement.
Will we get a new breed of person getting involved?
What will the Hutton election throw up?
I'll be glad to have a break pursuing other interests.
This blog will continue in some form.
Any ideas for what I should do next?
Many of the replies will no doubt be unpublishable!
21 comments:
You gave it a good go Geoff, 248 people put their faith in you.
Geoff thanks for all your hard work. Sorry you didn't get elected keep your chin up!
Sorry you didn't get elected geoff keep your chin up and thanks for all your hard work
Once i have got my head round a few ideas Geoff me and you can get together and have a talk about some ideas, we may not be in the council but i am sure we both have some far better ideas than most of the people in power.
Good result.
All the best
Tom
You're right about not enough people getting involved. 31% voter turnout is pathetic really.
That's over two thirds of people who are basically saying they don't care about the decisions being made at county level that affect their town.
As the saying goes "In a democracy you get the government you deserve and you deserve the government you get."
Good effort Geoff, you deserve the weekend off, then back to it on Monday.
Well done Geoff you split the vote and have robbed Ulverston East of a very dedicated Councillor, Wendy Kolbe. Just two weeks before the election Ms Kolbe was awarded a community champion acolade, one of 18 throughout Britain, by the Development trust association, at the south bank in London, for her work in securing, and saving Ford Park from the clutches of Cumbria County Council. Had this been reported, which it couldn't be, because of the election perhaps the result would have been very different. This was only one of her many achievements in 20 years as a councillor. We have lost a councillor of great integrity, and a champion of the people of Ulverston East. Thank you Geoff.
Commiserations.
I am amazed and disappointed that the conservatives won - no contact with the electorate and a couple of leaflets with nothing in them.
It shows that we get the representatives we deserve.
Col,
You might be upset that Wendy has been voted out, but to suggest that Geoff is somehow responsible is ridiculous.
Geoff 'split the vote' did he? And how exactly do you know how many of those voters were going to vote Labour? For all you know, every single one of the people who voted for Geoff might otherwise have voted for the Conservatives.
And how dare you imply that Geoff shouldn't have run in the election - this is a democracy after all. He may have done as much if not more than Wendy had he been elected - we'll sadly never know. You could just as well blame Wendy for taking votes off Geoff...
The truth is that Labour took a hammering up and down the country. However good local councillors were, they have been punished in large part for the actions of their friends down at Westminster.
People are entitled to vote for whoever they want. If Wendy could not persuade enough of the electorate she was the person for the job then that is her concern, not of an independent candidate.
When you have got over the upset of today I hope you will see this.
p.s. Geoff plans to carry on his work in the local community. As a 'champion of the people' Wendy is free to do the same and to run at the next elections.
You got my vote Geoff but it's a shame Wendy Kolbe had to go too. If the system was fairer we'd have had something like Single Transferable Vote: I think that majority of voters for Christopher Loynes (Green Party) and you would have listed Wendy as a second preference. Still, I voted for what I thought was right and the voting system will never change if people do not apply pressure. Well done. I feel that if people cared more (like you say) you would have received more votes too, as the Conservative candidate was frankly rubbish.
Well done geoff,better luck next time out of all the one's standing your the only one who got of his arse and went door to door.In the lead up i never seen one other councilor going door to door all i got was a leaflet put through the door.Maybe if wendy got of her arse and went door to door she may have got more votes.I went into town thursday and seen hornby prancing around town with his side kicks talking to people,why only on the day of the election tho why didn't he go door to door weeks before like you goeff?
Agree in the replies to Col, people can vote for who every they want, while events down south haven't helped all parties in these elections it was upto Wendy to work extra hard to get the votes.
The same thing happened with Tim Colins at the general election, he thought the vote was in the bag and didn't put any effort in maintaining his votes
Looking at the results, the turnout was alot lower 31.7% (approx 1100 voters less) compared to 57.5%, maybe this is what lost the seat.
Looking across the district turnout has dropped by upto half
Thanks for all your support.
I'm already back in action having just returned from a tour of the town.
I'm planning to go back to the grassroots and see what interest there is in people working together.
A small group of sincere people who are doers will achieve a lot.
I'm planning to leaflet a section of the town to suggest a meeting.
Strike while the iron is still hot!
Which area should I choose?
How about Cllr Col's patch? (Town Centre to Lightburn Park)
We have several problems here that need sorting.
A group effort will be more effective than operating individually.
Any interest?
Are there people from West Ward that want to join in?
Or is it - turn over and back to sleep?
Ok, I give in and that's democracy at work, but I think Wendy was a victim of the westminster stuff. Thing is Geoff did get out there and connected with people, even if he alienated some, we just pushed bits of paper through doors, which in the present climate was not going to achieve anything at all. Least of all explaining that the expenses scandal was nothing to do with local elections.
As an example, one of our very active volunteers at Ford Park who had always supported Wendy Kolbe in the past. At this election they told us they had ripped up thier ballot paper believeing all polititions were the same, and this action would send a message that said a plague on all your houses. I suppose it did, but did they really understand that this was an election for their local county councillor, and that this action was going to help elect someone they didn't want. I don't think so, but that's democracy at work, and there's probably more of these people who don't understand how the system works than those who do.
It would be interesting to know how many spoiled papers there were, wouldn't it.
Like you say Geoff, most people vote for a party rather than for a person, which is our fault, because most of the time we're invisible. We should take a leaf out of your book and spend more time knocking on doors, or holding surguries. Unfortunately we don't all have the time to do this, and we don't get paid either, at least on the town council we don't. we don't even get expences, or allowances. We have have jobs and care for families so time to engage is limited. That's where this new fangled internet can really help. Your blog has created a lively forum, and long may it continue. I will look forward to the rebranding.
Col,
I'm interested in the word "rebranding".
What have you in mind?
The "Time" argument.
Geoff has time, others haven't.
I'm not sure that this entirely valid.
First - my "surgery" every Saturday at 11 -12 am at Poppies is very painless - and enjoyable - one hour only - if nobody comes - time to read the paper. The management is very understanding - shows willing.
Visiting door to door is more a question of whether it's an activity you enjoy and look forward to. I do because I meet such a lot of interesting people and rarely get a rebuff.
Norman Bishop-Rowe gets lots of brownie points for visiting occasionally but he's the only politician that was mentioned that people had ever seen . . .
If we are enjoying life in general we have energy for lots of things especially if they are things we enjoy. Chores become fun depending how we look at them.
Television, I find for the most part boring and irritating whereas four years ago I even watched a soap and the occasional antique auction.
Now tidying things up I can't stand - I want to "DO"! But then if I have lots of it - like a couple of months worth - then it can be fun - so many lost things found and all that empty space.
Turning things into fun is the trick.
I remember a chat with Mrs Stone of Ford Park (environmental studies fame). We were washing up at a parents evening and turned the activity into a game of who could do what. Now there's a woman I fancied - I never got a look in!
I don't know about rebranding, but what I think would be great is a community website for Ulverston in which everyone could take part.
The 'conversation' currently takes place in lots of different places (e.g. this blog, Knowhere Ulverston etc) and it would be nice to pull it all together.
It could also be a place where people could post about events and get people together for activities, or run polls and debates on issues affecting the town.
How it would satisfactarily be run or moderated I don't know!
pmsl @ geoff fancing the arse of Mrs Stone,if it's the same one she was my teacher at ford park for rural science,she was sound like.
Seems to me that col's a bit bitter over wendy kolbe been voted out and is laying the blame on geoff for getting off his arse and going to meet the people who he wants votes off.Now i'll be honest i don't vote because they do nowt for me,i never see them and i only knew who my local councilor was when i click a link on this blogg and it informed me.But this year i thought stuff it and went and voted and i voted for geoff,the reason been is that he came to my house put a leaflet through my door and then came back the following day and knock on my door.Now if someone takes the time to do that then they've got my respect,i couldn't do it myself but fair play to geoff for doing just that.Maybe if wendy got off her arse and tried to meet the people of the town and took the time to go door to door she may have got more votes than she did.Now col will come back and say she's done this she's done that she doesn't have the time to go door to door,well if thats the case she shouldn't be a councilor imo
I voted for Geoff, he was the only person who could be arsed to canvass my home. I am bloody sick of people parking their cars all day on Oxford Street while they trot into town to work, Geoff seems to share these concerns. It would have been good to see somebody who truly cares about the town getting in. I realise Wendy Kolbe is a decent sort, but I simply couldn't bring myself to vote Labour this time around with Brown as the leader (That was me by the way giving him a good slating in Preston Market on David Dimblebys BBC election programme Friday afternoon).
Is there anymore information you can give on this subject. It answers a lot of my questions but there is still more info I need. I will drop you an email if I can find it. Never mind I will just use the contact form. Hopefully you can help me further.
- Robson
My email address is gd at tygh.co.uk (done to avoid spam)
I'll be interested in your questions
Post a Comment