Higher profile policing. Proper regeneration. Final salary-linked state pension. Abolition of tuition fees.
I don’t think anyone can argue too much with these ideals published on Doreen Holt’s latest election leaflet in Blackpool South. We know Gordon Marsden’s a shoe-in, but will these tough-talking policies be enough to upset Ron Bell’s apple cart?
Her flyer opens with a picture of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg celebrating a victory outside a provincial looking building. Alongside him are some bullet points.
The first says that the Liberal Democrats run Liverpool, Sheffield and Bristol. You’d have to examine their local issues to tell whether this is a good thing or not, but it shows that the party has the firepower to break the wills of traditional mainstream voting groups and swing them in their favour.
The second point surprised me. It says that the Liberal Democrats won more votes than Labour in the last election. According to Wikipedia this isn’t the case: Labour won 9,562,122 and the Liberal Democrats won 5,981,874, so I can only presume this means local elections or European elections. A bit misleading.
It then says they are stronger now than they have ever been since 1929. So were they stronger in 1929 than now?
The final bullet says that the Liberal Democrats can deliver real change. Obviously, change is the buzzword of the moment and is being used in excess by politicians. I don’t deny that the Liberal Democrats have some slightly different policies and I was pleased to see Nick Clegg say on television the other night that he has not scrapped the tuition fees promise altogether (Labour and the Conservatives wish to remove the cap on tuition fees, allowing the best universities to charge whatever they like).
As I mentioned, Doreen calls for punishments that fit the crime, and higher profile policing. Ron Bell took a different slant on this, he failed to criticise the police except to say there was too much red tape associated with them. I agree with that, but I also agree with Mrs Holt that the police could be doing a lot more to reassure the public with a real visible deterrence of crime.
It’s good to see someone that agrees with me that Blackpool needs to lose its run-down image and indeed accepting that it has this image in the first place. As any addict will tell you, the first step towards recovery is to admit you’ve got a problem.
Better schools are also called for. I sometimes wonder whether Labour have done anything at all with this mountain of extra money they have spent, because all of the same social issues that they were supposed to be the salvation of are still just as prominent today as they were in 1997. It’s difficult to say whether the Liberal Democrats would be able to improve schools because they don’t have a track record. The Conservative policy on this is good, but it’s a shame Tory desk jockeys felt the need to take a good education model from Sweden and dismember it into a crippled, deficient, socially exclusive version.
Based on propaganda alone, Doreen Holt is certainly very electable compared with the competition. Based on sleaze she crushes Ron Bell who despite claims to the contrary still has blood on his hands because of the Kensington saga.
Because of the sleaze associated with Ron, it’s clear that he is going to need to pull off some incredible publicity stunts to have any kind of respectable voter turnout. After all, it was only because postal votes were accepted before the Kensington story leaked that his colleague Jean Kenrick secured an extremely slim victory in Stanley; a relatively die hard Conservative ward.
It’s been said in the past that there’s no point in voting for the Liberal Democrats because they won’t get in. I still have some sympathy with that, but if everyone believed that, MPs would never change. It takes those honest believers to back candidates like Doreen Holt so that a basic foothold of votes can be held. Then as support creeps up the candidate becomes more and more viable until they are the second placed party and are definite contenders for taking the seat.
Are the Liberal Democrats the second placed party now? Difficult to say, but Bell’s political suicide will have opened the playing field up a bit to other parties and Doreen Holt must capitalise on this if her party hope to achieve a big gain this time round. Ron Bell has lost such support that I will not be voting for him, and I’ve never voted for any other party than Conservative. His actions and those of his party colleagues still make my blood boil, but I am glad that the Conservatives’ ties with Kensington were exposed. What the party has in loyal support – indicated by the flood of Ron Bell posters around Blackpool South – it lacks in integrity. If I don’t vote for Ron Bell it means I vote for Doreen Holt as the third placed candidate.
Ron’s team have leafletted me twice and I have yet to see any other political leaflets through the letter box. I have obviously seen Doreen Holt’s leaflet that Jon Bamborough kindly sent me and have had a sneak preview of the Integrity UK one which I will be talking about soon. Labour seems fairly anonymous in the area. I have not seen any Labour posters nor have I seen any leaflets.
This apparent apathy from the main parties seems to point directly to a convincing victory for Gordon Marsden.
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Excellent piece Phil. I have no problems with the Lib Dems and wish them well. If any Lib Dem supporters are reading this, I’m still waiting on Doreen to come back to me about an interview if you can give her a nudge for me that will be great.
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Superb article Phil, as always.
Doreen is the only choice as Ron Bell has destroyed any credibility he had by showing that he is NOT fit for public office in any capacity; he cant be trusted to make objective jusgements.He must allowed be allowed to win.Ron Bell is a total disgace period and if he did win, its a slap in the face for integrity in public affairs.
Its time to catapault, the Lib dem Dorren Holt,
Not into the sea,but into Blackpool south as an MP.
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Jesus, my spelling is poor as well as repeating words,should wear my glasses.
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Too much wanking mate, lol
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You got me there!
Its seeing Harriet Harman, lol,shes done it again, raised my testosterone levels!
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Great article Phil, I agree those policies all sound excellent especially the abolition of unfair hypocritical tuition fees forced upon us by selfish MPs who all enjoyed a FREE education. Doreen Holt sounds like a worthy vote, I would certainly vote for her over Marsden or that idiot Hamish. I just wish the gullible Labour sheep would think about who they vote for and take the Labour-rose tinted specs off and realise Liebour has done nothing but shit on Blackpool for 13 years and we have an MP who cares so deeply about Blackpool, he thinks he is too good for Blackpool and lives in Brighton instead. Ron Bell is not perfect but do we really want Marsden back in. I care about Blackpool deeply which is why I want rid of that smarmy slimy arrogant twat and I will do everything I can to get rid of him. This is our best opportunity to rid the Fylde Coast of Labour once and for all. If you care about Blackpool vote for anyone but Marsden or Hamish. MARSDEN OUT 2010 LABOUR OUT 2010 KEEP HAMISH OUT 2010!!!!
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Ahh but you’ve fallen into the trap of believing Ron Bell to be the second placed candidate.
You saw the damage that Kensingtongate did to the Stanley ward vote. 55% of the Conservative vote disappeared, and who knows what it would have been if postal votes had not gone in in advance of the Kensington scandal breaking!
But these votes were not votes that shifted to other parties. The Conservatives just didn’t vote.
Of course, that could be the one and only protest at Kensingtongate, who knows. But I can’t be the only one that feels a negative sentiment towards Mr Bell and feel that he’s exposed himself as being a sucker for brown envelopes before he’s even elected!
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not for a second saying I believe Doreen Holt to be a mind-blowingly stunning candidate either. But she has integrity.
If she is the second placed candidate, she needs us to vote for her rather than Bell in order to at least attack Marsden’s position.
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Right on Phil,I have said this before the only candidate that has a chance of beating Marsden and has integrity is Doreen Holt.
Forget Bell end, hes a bent knob looking to get ‘erected’,sorry elected lol
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And to go a little further I should add that I am a staunch Conservative. I have always voted for them, and I want David Cameron to be the PM following the General Election.
I sort of like Vince Cable but he is not the Messiah, he’s an opportunist that got one thing right. He’s like the weather forecaster that predicts a good summer and ends up being right, but could equally have been wrong.
Nick Clegg is a wet lettuce that lacks charisma, but he’s the best leader they have had for ages. He does take Brown on sometimes in the Commons which I do like.
But I am not happy about putting a cross next to a man that I already know says one thing and does another. I grant you this is par for the course for MPs, but the tone has been set by Ron unfortunately and it will not be possible for him to recover from it.
I don’t live on the Moss, but it could be on the Moon and I’d still feel the same. The Conservatives locally have succumbed to pressures from their business friends at the expense of the local taxpayer.
Their pre-meditated voting, their in-fighting and frivolous spending has severely damaged the democratic reputation of the council. It’s very sad, but I for one will never vote Conservative locally again (nationally I would, provided at that time I agreed with their policies and liked the candidate).
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12 months ago my opinion was that we should not spend a penny on Blackpool South because it was going to be a straight fight between Labour and Tory.
What a difference a year makes. The Blackpool South Conservatives have more factions than the NUS conference (another National conference Blackpool has lost!).
12 months ago I would never have guessed that the Lib Dem election team would have more activists than the Tory one.
As a hardened political campaigner, I wanted to emphasise some of the Kensington shenanigans and highlight the Standards Board of England reports on Cllr. Ron Bell. However, Doreen Holt would have none of it and said she would not be a part of a campaign that used personal attacks, no matter how deserved they are.
However, to my surprise (and relief) our polling is showing that people are very much aware of recent events and many many more than I expected seem set to offer the Lib Dems a chance. They are fed up of being used and abused, they are sick of having to vote against someone rather than making a positive choice.
I firmly believe that if everyone who wanted to vote Lib Dem actually did, then we would be the largest party on May 6th.
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Excellent comment Jonbamboro, I don’t like having to vote negatively but I hate Marsden so much I am left with no option because Labour sheep will vote for him without a thought even after 13 years of Labour driving the country into the ground. I believe Cllr Holt is a very worthy candidate but I just want to get Marsden out.
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I agree there I would happily vote for Cllr Holt if she was 2nd placed candidate. I also agree about the by-election it was not because people switched to Liebour and because would-be Labour voters had already voted by post as that arrogant John Jones claimed, it was because Conservative voters stayed at home out of anger. Like I keep saying my vote will be tactical, anyone to get Marsden out. I can safely assume that would be Ron Bell or Doreen Holt, Hamish isn’t even a serious candidate and unfortunately Dr Tun is relatively unknown compared to Bell and Holt but I would love it if he turned out to be a surprise 2nd candidate.
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so what your prognosis overall? Hung parliament?
For me its a very slight majorityCon win with UKIP MPS and one BNP MP.
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I can agree with your prediction Harold, I reckon either a narrow Conservative win or a Hung Parliament. I don’t mind UKIP getting seats as long as they don’t get Chorley or Blackpool South. But to me while the national result is important the most important result to me is my home constituency, I desperately want to see Marsden kicked out.
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I think a hung parliament is fairly likely. All three mainstream parties are performing fairly poorly and all saying the same thing. Where the Conservatives gain in one place, the other two gain in others, meaning overall the Conservative margin remains the same.
It’ll take an immense swing to boot Marsden out, and who knows, perhaps a Liberal Democrat MP is the change we need, for nothing will change with Gordon Marsden. I’d actually prefer if it he claimed more expenses and lived here for a start.
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Good point Phil, we deserve better than Marsden. The only thing I fear with a Hung Parliament is a left-wing coalition between Labour and Lib Dems, for me it couldn’t get any worse. I think living in your constituency should be a pre-requisite to be an MP. Its like a story that made me laugh where in Liverpoool, in a very working class constituency Labour parachuted in some 24-year old posh girl from a leafy London suburb and an Oxbridge degree and she has no plans to live in Liverpool and made a total fool of herself when at a PR event she tried to ‘connect’ with the people and proved she knows nothing about Liverpool. But the saddest thing is Labour supporters will still vote for her no matter what, eventhough she strikes me as a career politician in the making.
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I would be happy to see both labour and con get a hiding and the share get distributed to the lib dems and fringe parties,out of the 3 mainstream parties I would want the lib dems to win.
They have no track record of cocks ups etc and Vince is a credible chancellor.
When was last time there was a liberal goverment?
surely there has to be an alternative to labour and tory?
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I think Vince Cable is a good guy, I am not a huge fan of Clegg but I would back him over Brown. I too would like to see fringe parties play a bigger part but with first past the post they will almost always be shut out in the cold. I have gone right off UKIP with their recent shenanigans, dump Hamish and Hogan and I might reconsider.
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Paul Nutcase (Nutall) had me in stiches, I was laughing that much.The Con policy on immigration is the best out of the 3, I wished the lib dems did the same.
Being frank, I dont want any more muslims in this country,their ideology is a threat to our freedoms.I want to see a halt on all mosques being built, we need a Conservative Liberalism, the desire to preserve freedom from PC (Labour) and Islam; both threaten freedom.I agree with the UKIPs/BNP’s view of Islam, I speak from personal experience.
I saw these problems coming 20 years ago at college, muslims had a sepratist/radical outlook then, look where we are now.I make no apology but I am very anti Islam,its evil.
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Very good article thankyou. Doreen is pretty old school but certainly ‘with it’ for her years. I am pleased she has supported my campaign for a posthumous pardon for my late father Mr Darrell Pierre. Doreen herself many years ago was a young tram conductress and knows the score about Blackpool Transport and ofcourse the many issues the town is facing. She also fondly remembers my dad as a true gentlemen, perhaps the infamous Zim Flyer will enjoy talking to Doreen when he finally gets to meet her. Will he or any of those associated to BTS dare to ask Doreen her personal and professional opinion of the 1980 head-on tram crash cover up? Those involved and shrowded in corruption such as Sir Tony Depledge OBE should have faced riqorous cross examination in a Crown Court but they all stayed away and employed the finest legal team in the North West but they still lost the case. An apology is well over due don’t you think Zim? Good luck to Doreen and the Liberal Democrats. Doreen Holt is about common sense and equality for all. http://www.pardon4darrell-pierre.com
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Hi Stephen, your cheap digs do you or your campaign no favours at all.
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Hi Zim, what favours have you done? what support to the campaign have you shown? a man of your integrity knows perfectly well that my late father was treated appallingly. My statements and facts are credible and the campaign is supported by a wide range of fair minded people. “Cheap digs” is exactly what you have shown along with an evasive attitude.
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Stephen one day I’m sure me and you will meet and I’m sure we will get on, until that day I wish your campaign well as it’s your Dad and I applaud anyone sticking up for their Dad.
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Zim I appreciate this matter is both complex and sensitive, however may I personally thank you for your last comment.
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My viewpoint on the LibDems is that they are too socialist for my tastes but that because they have always been a minority party in my living memory (albeit it definitely the third largest) it has not attracted power mad idiots and as such has generally got a bunch of pretty fair-minded, pretty sensible hardworking people who truly believe in what they are doing. It would be very hard not to like most of them which is why they would be so many people’s second choice whatever their politics.
I agree Vince Cable is a lovely man yet not the Messiah. How many of us didn’t see the property crash was going to come given the upward rise in property prices well above salaries? It was just that MPs with at least two homes each for most of them (some considerably more) who didn’t pay capital gains tax on the increase in value saw the price rises as a nice little earner for them and didn’t care it was unsustainable. They expected people to change to renting for life – but the rents weren’t affordable either. I think most of them covered their eyes and ears rather than Vince being particularly clever.
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I found out last night that Doreen Holt used to be a fully paid up member of the Conservative party! Yikes!
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noone is perfect, lol
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Nothing wrong with that, one big reason I cannot bring myself to vote Lib Dem is because they are too left-wing for me. But having just watched the debate (finally!!!) I was very impressed with Mr Clegg’s performance, Mr Cameron wasn’t bad and Brown’s performance was just well-rehearsed same old same old pledges and empty promises. I also though his behaviour was quite juvenile at some points when he kept talking over other leaders when challenged about Labour’s failures. So I may give them a thought but like I say some of their policies are a wee bit left-wing/socialist for my liking.
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Not only was she a fully paid up member of the Conservatives, she was also a Tory Councillor for many years.
The reason she left the Tory Party was because she refused to be told how to vote, especially on issues such as knocking down Derby Baths!
Blackpool Liberal Democrats do not Whip their members. (well not in the political sense hehe!)
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are you raading this TB? if I were you i would vote Doreen Holt, shes your ideal candidate for Blackpool south.
Isnt bent like Ron Bell
has a chance of ousting marsden
thinks for herself.
is pro Blackpool
I wish I had her in my area.
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I am definitely considering her, she is definitely a worthy candidate for all those reasons you rightly point out Harold. That’s what we need an MP who actually lives in the area (unlike Marsden) I say area because Dr Tun lives in St Annes but that’s fair enough and his practice is in Blackpool, but also St Annes is next door Brighton is 250 miles away, big difference. Someone who is pro-Blackpool, someone with a mind of their own, someone who will fight for Blackpool and most of all get Liebour out. I agree with your points Jonbamboro and Harold, I will definitely consider her.
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Bring it on!
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I just found your blog while googling for more info on Blackpool South candidates. Very informative. This is my first general election as a Blackpool resident, I usually vote Liberal Democrat and what I’ve learned about Doreen Holt from reading your post and the subsequent comments has further convinced me to vote Lib Dem this time around.
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Did you see my Doreen Holt leaflet on the C4 Despatches programme!!! Fame at last lol!
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