I am so pleased we have a by-election coming soon: this is caused by the welcome resignation of Nadine Dorries.
I am so delighted that Nadine Dorries (also known as Mad Nad) has resigned and therefore triggered a by-election here in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency. She has been the subject of much criticism for being very distant from her constituency and generally failing in her duty. People have said she is sulking because the Prime Minister has blocked her seat in the Lords. Now I don’t know for sure what is true, there’s often two sides to these stories.
Many have said she has been a disgrace in her role and this seems to have had an unexpected bonus. We now have an astonishing number of candidates – 13 in total. In alphabetical surname order they are:
- Festus Akinbusoye – Conservative
- Sid Cordle – Christian Peoples Alliance
- Dave Holland – Reform UK
- Emma Holland-Lindsay – Liberal Democrats
- Ann Kelly – Monster Raving Loony Party
- Prince Ankit Love, Emperor of India – independent
- Gareth Mackey – independent
- Chris Rooney – Mainstream
- Cade Sibley – Green Party
- Alistair Strathern – Labour
- Alberto Thomas – Heritage Party
- Alan Victor – True and Fair Party
- Antonio Vitiello – English Democrats
Who will win?
Good question but difficult to answer. The Conservative candidate is the current Police Crime Commissioner and he seems to have a good reputation, despite being a member of Nadine Dorries’ party. He stands a good chance as there is traditionally a large groundswell of Tory supporters in the area. Some people will vote Conservative regardless of who the candidate is. If the Conservative candidate is elected, almost certainly the Conservative majority will be heavily reduced.
The Labour candidate is currently mounting a high profile campaign and, I think, doing a good job in being noticed. He held a ‘meet the candidate’ event in the village hall; unfortunately we couldn’t make this but I would very much like to have gone. Early on in his campaign I asked if he lived in the constituency, since he was also a Councillor at a London borough. He declined to answer my question until several weeks later when it was made clear he will live here for as long as he’s the MP. Nevertheless he is keen, kissing babies and generally doing all the right things.
The Liberal Democrat candidate is also trying hard with a good campaign in progress. She already lives in, or very near to the constituency and is a local Councillor. We have been canvassed twice by her team and they tell me encouraging things about her credentials. They also reckon traditional Tory voters who are cheesed off are more likely to vote Liberal than Labour, although I’m not convinced about that.
I would be amazed if any of the others come anywhere near success. Each one of the above have the right qualities of a good constituency MP. As for their politics, that’s another issue and down to one’s personal beliefs. As for their leadership qualities, please keep reading.
It is worth mentioning the True and Fair UK candidate, Alan Victor. I haven’t really clocked them before, although I have seen their founder Gina Miller as someone who is courageous and is saying the right things. Regrettably I haven’t had the opportunity to speak with the candidate as yet. Their manifesto has some good points, particularly on how we can expect to be well represented and governed. Their party needs to develop and mature; then they’re really in business. One point that I do remember was Gina Miller taking the UK Government to Court, twice in fact. The first case concerned Brexit and secondly it concerned Boris Johnson’s illegal prorogation of Parliament. Both were successful and exposed Johnson’s serious failings. Whether she is right to push her own party, or collaborate is perhaps open to debate.
So there we are. A range of 13 candidate, many of them with potential to serve as good constituency MPs. Some are, undoubtedly, going nowhere but do, at the very least, show that anyone can step forward without fear of being bumped off. That’s healthy democracy in action and something which needs careful preservation.
In fact we should never take our democracy for granted; the structures of MPs, Lords, all the committees, the armies of civil servants are all there as part of our [generally] effective government. It is so valuable. Our last MP, as said by so many, took her constituency for granted and has been more concerned with feathering her own nest (newspaper columns, tv shows etc) than working for her constituents. This cannot be repeated.
Perhaps we need, most of all, a few more voices in Parliament to speak up for good governance and integrity within politics? Voices that, somehow, can rise above party politics.
The calibre of politicians these days seem of a much lower standard than, say, thirty plus years ago and I mean that as a reflection of all parties. Of course there are exceptions but let me ask a question or two. Do we always have confidence in our politicians? How many real strategic thinkers are amongst the cabinet or shadow cabinet? How many have those personal qualities of real leadership, integrity, vision and charisma?
If I’m really honest, I think the answer is only a few. Perhaps, just perhaps, among the young politicians now throwing their hats in the ring, one or two rising stars might be emerging. Let’s hope so, we certainly need them.