onlineFOCUS – News and Stuff For Rochford District since 2003

It was a dramatic night at the count – but a slightly frustrating one for the Lib Dems.

Rayleigh North – Malcolm Maddocks held the seat for the Tories, but Chris Black cut the Conservative majority down to 295. We had strong support in Downhall, but didn’t do so well in the rest of Rayleigh North. With another 10 helpers to get more leaflets out we could have won.

Malcolm Maddocks Conservative 1332
Chris Black Liberal Democrat 1037
Janet Lilian Davies UK Independence Party 830
John Hayter English Democrats 660
David Dennis Bodimeade Labour 258

Result 4 years ago: Conservative majority of 336 over Lib Dems

Rayleigh South - a shock win for UKIP’s Keith Gibbs. Was it a mistake for the Tories to pick a candidate from Chelmsford? Pam Waldie came third, as the Lib Dems did last time.

John Christopher Flack Conservative 1194
Keith Anthony Gibbs UK Independence Party 1379
Pam Waldie Liberal Democrat 563
Cameron Scott Labour 331

Result 4 years ago: Conservative majority of 1318 over English Democrats

Rochford West - a convincing victory for the Green’s Michael Hoy, who won the seat from the Tories by 336:

Michael Hoy Green Party 1615
Keith Henry Hudson Conservative 1279
Cherry Young UK Independence Party 878
Rachael Alice Broomfield Labour 344
Ian Gale Liberal Democrat 74

Result 4 years ago: Conservative majority of 1072 over Lib Dems

Rochford South _ Colin Seagers holds the seat for the Conservatives, but only by 80 ahead of Labour

Colin George Seagers Conservative 1085
Jerry Gibson Labour 1005
Peter James Van De Vyver UK Independence Party 804
Angela Marguerite Robinson Liberal Democrat 89

Result 4 years ago: Conservative majority of 1449 over BNP

Rochford North – Tery Cutmore holds the seat for the Conservatives, ahead of UKIP by 224

Terry Cutmore Conservative 1470
Gerry Bolton UK Independence Party 1236
Allan Robert Davies Labour 446
Deborah Taylor Liberal Democrat 296

Result 4 years ago: Conservative majority of 1785 over BNP

In the District Council elections, the Tories held both Hawkwell North and Whitehouse , but not by much. UKIP came extremely close in Whitehouse, only losing by 7.

Hawkwell North
Lesley Ann Butcher Conservative Party 372
Keith Anthony Gibbs UK Independence Party 311
Arthur Williams Independent 173
John Henry Jefferies Labour 133

Whitehouse
Robin Richard Dray Conservative 408
Linda Diane Kendall UK Independence Party 401
David Dennis Bodimeade Labour 137
Result 4 years ago: Conservative majority of

All in all, the Lib Dems left the count tired but in good spirits. We are very grateful to everyone who voted for us and particularly to those people who help deliver our leaflets. With more helpers we can do better and do more for our area – if you would like to help please let us know!

May 3rd, 2013 | Category: Elections | Comments (4)

The Polling Stations close at 10 tonight.

The count will begin soon after that , and we should have results in the early hours.

We’ll publish the results on here when we get home … so have a look when you wake up tomorrow morning.

May 2nd, 2013 | Category: Elections | Leave a comment

If you’ve never voted before, and wonder about what you actually do at the polling station, here’s an animated guide from the Electoral Commission.

May 1st, 2013 | Category: Elections | Leave a comment

Lib Dem Priorities for Essex

County Council Elections – 2 May 2013

Four years of Tory scandal and financial mismanagement

Over the last four years Conservative run Essex County Council has been hit by a series of financial and other scandals

The former Leader, Lord Hanningfield, was forced to resign over his House of Lords expenses for which he was imprisoned
Lord Hanningfield’s ECC expenses were exposed which showed £287,000 had been spent over the five years 2005-10, the previous five years records having been destroyed.

Further revelations showed his office staff claimed £70,000 over three years and ECC paid his £4,600 bar bill at the House of Lords
The Conservatives, with Labour support, refused a Liberal Democrat call for an Inquiry to establish who authorised those payments and why
The use of ‘P’ cards (payment cards) by officers was exposed which revealed £1.7m had been spent on luxury hotels, trips abroad and shopping sprees
Five cases of personal identity data were leaked or mislaid

The revelation that ECC had £14.5m of art treasures hidden away from public view
Developer contributions (Section 106 monies) were lost through inaction

Now is the time to sweep away the secrecy and open up the County Council to public scrutiny

The Liberal Democrats will make that change by:

Council meetings to be web cast
Allowing the public to speak and ask questions at Council meetings
No more decisions made behind closed doors

During the last four years the standard of basic services has fallen. The Liberal Democrats will change that by restoring services and improving others by:

Repairing roads properly, not just patching up
Improving poorly performing schools
Ending the shortage of school places
No more cuts to Library opening hours
Re-opening the Martins Farm, St Osyth Recycling Centre
No more Recycling Centre closures
Ensuring the under 5′s nursery provision is fully taken up
Providing swimming concessions for the under 16′s
Improving youth provision
Providing concessionary fares passes for those on Job Seekers Allowance and undertaking Apprenticeships
No more increases in car parking charges in ECC Country Parks
Protecting concessionary fares for pensioners
Stopping the street light switch off for review
Introduce ’20 is plenty’ – 20mph speed limit near schools and in residential areas

The Liberal Democrats will ensure value for money by:

Cutting waste and bureaucracy at County Hall
Using cash sitting in the Council’s Banks
Cutting business trips and conferences
Reducing the number of Cabinet members and Deputies receiving allowances
Cutting the publicity budget
Slashing the use of expensive consultants
No more gimmicky projects like Banking in Essex which wasted £400,000
Making sure Developers contributions (Section 106 monies) are spent in time and not returned

April 30th, 2013 | Category: Elections, Essex & East, Liberal Democrats | Leave a comment

Pam Waldie – the LOCAL Candidate who can beat the Chelmsford Tory

Dear Fellow Resident,

My name is Pam Waldie and I have lived in Rayleigh for the past 9 years. I have been helping our local Liberal Democrats deliver their newsletters and now I am stepping forward and standing for election to the County Council for Rayleigh South.

I am particularly interested in health issues and care for the elderly. Also, with two children serving in the police service I understand crime and policing issues. I am certainly not a career politician but I have the local knowledge to help residents.

In the last year or so the appearance of Rayleigh has suffered – too many potholes and too much graffiti. The very least I expect from the County Council is that they remove graffiti from their own bus shelters, but it didn’t happen until local Lib Dems chased this up. I also want to see the police catching the people who make the grafitti !

Potholes aren’t just a cosmetic issue – they damage cars and are a danger for cyclists. Our part of Essex simply hasn’t been treated fairly by the County Council – we have been getting much less money for road maintenance than other areas of the county.

I’ve already mentioned that I’m local; I am  amazed to find out that the Conservative candidate lives miles away near Chelmsford. He doesn’t tell people that in his first leaflet. Rayleigh deserves better. Rayleigh voters are being taken for granted.

We need someone to put forward the local view, and not just follow a party line. Please give me your support on May 2nd, and if you would like to help my campaign, please phone or email me.

Best Regards
Pam Waldie

46 Deepdene Avenue Rayleigh. Phone: 01268 780003
Email: jamelapj@googlemail.com Website: www.onlinefocus.org

April 22nd, 2013 | Category: Elections, Liberal Democrats, Rayleigh | Leave a comment

It’s probably been a looooong time since a leader of one of the political parties came to our district. David Steel stopped off for a photo at Rayleigh Weir in 1983, but we can’t recall any others since then.
However according to Cllr Michael Hoy, the leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett, will be coming to Hullbridge and Hockley tomorrow.

Clearly the election there is hotting up…..

We’d like to officially deny the rumour that David Cameron was going to come, but was afraid of getting marooned in Watery Lane!

Watery Lane

April 21st, 2013 | Category: Elections, Green Party, Hockley, Hullbridge, National Politics | Comments (12)

Essex Liberal Democrats
Our Priorities for the 2013 Elections

Four years of Tory scandal and financial mismanagement

Over the last four years Conservative run Essex County Council has been hit by a series of financial and other scandals
•
The former Leader, Lord Hanningfield, was forced to resign over his House of Lords expenses for which he was imprisoned
•
Lord Hanningfield’s ECC expenses were exposed which showed £287,000 had been spent over the five years 2005-10, the previous five years records having been destroyed
•
Further revelations showed his office staff claimed £70,000 over three years and ECC paid his £4,600 bar bill at the House of Lords
•
The Conservatives, with Labour support, refused a Liberal Democrat call for an Inquiry to establish who authorised those payments and why
•
The use of ‘P’ cards (payment cards) by officers was exposed which revealed £1.7m had been spent on luxury hotels, trips abroad and shopping sprees
•
Five cases of personal identity data were leaked or mislaid
•
The revelation that ECC had £14.5m of art treasures hidden away from public view
•
Developer contributions (Section 106 monies) were lost through inaction

Now is the time to sweep away the secrecy and open up the County Council to public scrutiny

The Liberal Democrats will make that change by:
•
Council meetings to be web cast
•
Allowing the public to speak and ask questions at Council meetings
•
No more decisions made behind closed doors

April 13th, 2013 | Category: Elections, Essex & East, Liberal Democrats, Local Democracy | Comments (6)

Green party councillor Michael Hoy writes here about the County Council contest in Hockley West.

April 11th, 2013 | Category: Elections, Green Party, Hockley, Hullbridge | Leave a comment

We’re not really begging! But it’s a good video. And if you’d like to ‘put your loving hand out, ‘ take 150 election leaflets , and deliver them for us, we’d be very grateful.

Because seriously, to win county council elections we need to deliver a lot of leaflets.

If you would like to help us, especially this weekend, please email Chris at cllrchrisblack@gmail.com or Pam at jamelapj@googlemail.com !

April 9th, 2013 | Category: Elections, YouTube and Video | Leave a comment

We are a bit amused by the Conservative leaflet for Rayleigh South, which shows a picture of their candidate with the caption “John is a Familiar Figure”. Because he lives in Chelmsford , so he is hardly a familiar figure here. Totally misleading.

And actually, it’s a bit arrogant as well.
Even people who have lived here for 50 years wouldn’t be so boastful as to claim to be a ‘Familiar figure”!
Who writes their election leaflets?

April 9th, 2013 | Category: Conservatives, Elections | Leave a comment

This weekend:
Babies introduced to: 1
Cats spoken to :4
Friendly dogs spoken to: 4
New helpers :2

April 8th, 2013 | Category: Elections | Leave a comment