Get Labour out of Blackpool South

Gordon Marsden has been the MP for Blackpool South since 1997 following the huge disillusioned swing to New Labour. Previously, the constituency was a safe Tory seat with corporate lawyer Nick Hawkins winning in 1992 and before him Sir Peter Blaker successfully renewing his occupation of the seat at every election from 1964 until his retirement.

Much as I don’t like Labour, I have nothing personal against Gordon Marsden. He’s done nothing to smear or blight our town, and he’s a politically astute and very intelligent bloke who has responded to me every time I have contacted him.

However, I believe Gordon Marsden must be voted out on Thursday.

Some PPCs are obsessing with the fact that they are local. I don’t think it particularly matters. What does matter is whether MPs get involved in the community and get a grip on the problems with a view to proposing and lobbying for solutions. I don’t believe Gordon Marsden has done this.

Whilst Parliament sits, Gordon Marsden spends his time in Brighton – about as far away from Blackpool he could possibly get. Because of this it is very hard for the man to mix amongst the local community and become someone to whom people can go with ideas or questions. It is also impossible for him to experience local life.

Under the tenure of Gordon Marsden, Blackpool South has undergone significant decline. It would be unfair and quite ludicrous to lay all of the blame firmly at Marsden’s door: the recently ousted Labour council must shoulder their share, as should the Labour government itself and to a lesser extent the current Conservative council. But take a look around the constituency.

Remember the claims made nationally by Labour; “education, education, education” and “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”? Blackpool South has sunk into decline on both of these issues. Some of the schools (Palatine and Highfield in the main) are rated amongst the worst in Britain, particularly for truancy where they hold “priority” status. Wards such as Bloomfield are amongst the top 5% for overall crime in Lancashire.

Palatine Community Sports College – which neighbours Palatine Leisure Centre – is reportedly one of the worst schools in the UK. In 2008, almost a fifth of all pupils were persistently absent (had an attendance record of less than 80%) and only about 40% of pupils scrape A-C in their GCSEs. It may be therefore fair to say that at least 60% come out for a life of drugs, crime, and benefits, and therefore Palatine can be labelled as a chav factory.

- Philtheone – MyPlace space booked

Gordon has done little to get involved in these issues.

I accept that micromanagement of the local infrastructure does not fall under the mandate of being a Member of Parliament, but Gordon Marsden should have been battering down the door of David “12%” Lund when he heard about those figures showing how awful the schools are, and demanding to know why the extra money his Government was providing was not producing results. However, given the Marton Primary school debacle involving both parties and alleged collusion, one cannot be too surprised to see Gordon turn the other cheek and let Lund get on with it.

Gordon also failed the constituency in promising money for a new college of great importance – and then due to mind bogglingly poor financial management his Labour government took it away. Was he out there lambasting them? No, of course he wasn’t.

He should have been calling for the head of Richard Debicki for his shameful neglect of our streets by his police force, or at the very least suggesting that he expects a certain level of policing to go on in his constituency.

Take a look at the condition of the roads. Some roads – such as Highfield Road – are like a minefield, with many metres of pot holes neglected for over 6 months despite having been reported many times. Seeing people swerving to avoid craters in the road surface is commonplace. Is Gordon Marsden at fault? Not directly, but I’ve not seen him speaking about it and demanding action from the council. Maybe he isn’t even aware since he never drives or walks around the constituency.

Under Gordon’s tenure, the land at Marton Moss was declassified, opening it up to developers to build on it. This was an incredibly unpopular decision, bringing about the rise of campaign group Save Our Moss. Now, don’t get me wrong, some of these Save Our Moss people are hypocrites that took six-figure payments from Kensington Developments in exchange for their land, however the underlying issue is that one of the few “green” areas in Blackpool has now had it’s execution papers signed and its fate will be sealed by Denley Barrow’s bulldozers.

Yes, Gordon Marsden’s Labour government orchestrated this whole disaster: profit-hungry Kensington’s neglect for appropriate infrastructure construction and the lack of will by both Labour and Conservative councils to issue Section 106 provisions means that as soon as they start getting people into the houses, local infrastructure will be decimated. Oh yes, Labour has failed to invest here too.

Gordon Marsden’s latest stunt is to try and claim some credit for the public acquisition of the Tower and the Winter Gardens. Marsden and Jovanka Humble have supported this, yes, but haven’t campaigned for it, scored any funding for it and it wasn’t their idea.

Over on Blackpool Aloud, hotelier Donna Cheltenham also criticised Gordon Marsden for failing to back her campaign against absentee landlords that allow their buildings to fall into states of disrepair.

So to summarise, Marsden has failed the constituency with his absenteeism, education standards have plummeted, crime has rocketed and ongoing concerns are being ignored whilst he tried to claim credit for things that have nothing to do with him. Will the other candidates be any better, or is it unrealistic to expect an MP to have a powerful influence of local affairs?