Tories don't know where Norwich North and Norwich South boundaries are

Lib Dem canvassers in Thorpe (Norwich North) were surprised to be handed a Tory leaflet (with a mystery bar graph) that had been delivered to the house by the Tories a few days earlier. What was the problem with it ? It is a leaflet for Norwich South, not Norwich North. Now we know that a small number of houses in Norwich North transfer to Norwich South at the next general election, but it doesn't half confuse matters to give them leaflets telling them they are in Norwich South when all their election leaflets (and polling cards) say Norwich North.


The graph really is the biggest work of fiction of the lot. The Tory graph shows a totally made up set of results and explains that this is "How you voted in Thorpe Hamlet".
The actual result was.Let's not take any lectures on bar graphs from the Tories !

What have the smaller parties got to say in Norwich North ?

I will from tomorrow be posting a 150-200 word statement from the minor parties and independents standing in the Norwich North by-election.

The Libertarians have promised to send something, NOTA have already e-mailed me and one of the independents says he will send something later.

Whilst I am in no way supporting or endorsing these other parties, as part of the democratic process I think it only fair to give them a little more coverage in what is a very crowded field. So if you want to know what the minor parties (essentially not those with money to burn) have to say, keep an eye on this blog.

Who's afraid to discuss the issues in Norwich North ?

The EDP reports on the Tory candidate's unwillingness to take part on live debates and hints that the BBC East debate which the Tories signed up for and which has been plugged by the BBC for the last fortnight may have to be pulled because Tory candidate Chloe Smith is being "wrapped in cotton wool" and kept from debating issues.

This is interesting because the Tories do seem to think that debates are a good idea, most of the time.

When Blair refused to debate with Michael Howard at the last General Election he accused Blair of "Running Scared".

Tory Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague has said about debates before

"I believe in other democracies there should be televised debates at election time."

And David Cameron was reported in the press to say "The Tory leader proposed the debates as part of a series of measures to improve the tarnished image of politics, including finding a consensus on reform for MPs' allowances and expenses."

So, for once, I agree with these senior Tories. Debate is important. So why is the Tory candidate in Norwich afraid to debate the issues and "improve the tarnished image of politics" ?

Rod Liddle's Wet Dream

Rod Liddle visits Norwich North, spending the day with lots of Green activists and swallows all their spin that they are going to win.

Oh what a fool Mr Liddle will look on Friday.

What an incredible waste of the Tories time

This afternoon I was building my son's new bed up and whilst taking a breather, observed a car pull up right at the end of my road. Out of the car came a bald man, wearing glasses, who I would guess was about retirement age. He got out of the passengers side, pointed to my house, then strolled up with one leaflet, pushed it through my door, returned to the car where the driver was waiting (engine running) and then drove off.

I looked downstairs to find one Tory leaflet (a dreadfully wordy partially handwritten, partially printed style leaflet) was sitting on my doorstep.

Now I have offered to print leaflets to this blog if they are sent in digital form. But instead of doing this much more environmentally friendly thing, it appears that the Tories are leafleting my house only, even using up the time of two people and driving here in order to make me believe that more leaflets are going out than there really are.

How does this fit with the Tories "eco" credentials ? Does it tell us that the Tories are not getting all their leaflets out as easily as they hoped ?

Third Lib Dem Leaflet in three days - Spot the blogger

A third Lib Dem leaflet in as many days. Spot the blogger.

UKIP playing the race card in Norwich North ?

You always start to wonder if a campaign is coming off the rails when the race card is played by a party.

With UKIP also illegally flyposting on handrails on public footpaths in Taverham, one has to wonder if the fact the UKIP are now putting out a leaflet that is more akin to something the BNP would put out, whether their support is really not as good as they hoped.

NOTE - Leaflet had to be partially reconstructed on my computer due to the shine on the image. The wording has not been changed.

New Tory Leaflet Images sent to me

These images are a little blurred but they are of a Tory leaflet, unseen by me, but kindly emailed to me by a Lib Dem deliverer. These leaflets are going out largely in Norwich city wards in Norwich.

Another day, another Lib Dem leaflet (plus others)

I think, if my counting is correct, that this is the 11th Lib Dem leaflet I have received. The score, Lib Dem 11 (2 Freepost) , Tory 10 (2 Freepost) , Lab 4 (2 Freepost), UKIP 3 (2 Freepost) , Holden 1 (Freepost), Murray 1 (Freepost), Libertarian 1 (Freepost) , NOTA 1 (Freepost) , Green 1 (Freepost), BNP 1 (Freepost).

Note: One of the labour leaflets was given to me by a work colleague. There is no evidence yet of the "local" Labour leaflet being delivered in a Taverham or Drayton version.

I have also been sent a copy of the Crome Ward version of Labour's leaflet (the Mile Cross version was published by me last week). It speaks volume that Labour are still delivering this leaflet nearly two weeks after the Mile Cross version went out.

Put out the flags, phone up your friends, hold a street party, raise your glass to the Green campaign !

Less than one week until the by-election in Norwich North and we have only just received our first leaflet from the Green Party. In a seat where Green bloggers were suggesting the Green Party was set to make a stunning breakthrough, local people have been astonished by the invisibility of the Green Party who have very much taken the view that campaigning in about 30% of the constituency whilst ignoring the other 70% was somehow going to enable a breakthrough.

So yesterday (I only found it today in the pile of junk mail we receive on a daily basis) we received our first Green Party leaflet, a Freepost (therefore not delivered by the Greens themselves).

So here it is for your delictation. For me it's a little too wordy with too many "look at me" photos which don't support the articles they are with.

Anecdotal evidence from Norwich North which may be important or may be not

All evidence of general voting patterns based on speaking to a small number of people really do not hold water, so what I am about to state should be taken with a decent pinch of salt.

Speaking to a group of work colleagues today, I commented that my face is making an appearance on one of the leaflets coming through their doors at the moment. Being someone who keeps politics out of the workplace as much as possible, they enquired "Which party ?" When I explained it was the Lib Dems I was met with a very positive reaction from them with many responding that they will be voting Lib Dem on Thursday for the first time.

Similarly, I have been told that the dissatisfaction within Norwich North Labour ranks has reached critical levels with some Labour people local to Norwich refusing to have anything to do with the campaign at all.

Is there a market for the Libertarian Party

One of the many new parties challenging in the Norwich North by-election are the Libertarian Party, and they have been in Norwich North pushing their message on the doorsteps of the constituency for the last few days, spending much time in Taverham and Drayton today. The question from my point of view is whether there is actually a market for their message.

The Libertarian Party are all about freedoms, and I can't argue with that. However they differ from the liberal view on freedoms in that they believe in a very much reduced role for government. Now that sounds like an enticing prospect, but their views go much further than simply reducing spending by 5% and axing some QUANGOs and government offices. They believe in deeper spending cuts and effectively reducing the role of the welfare state back to something unrecognisable to all of us.

The question is though whether in these hard times, with more and more unemployed and according to recent surveys, upwards of 40% of people worried about whether they will keep their jobs, people are less open to the Libertarian Party's ideas or whether the mountain of debt this country now had might focus minds more on the fact that harsh spending cuts might be forced on us anyway and, perhaps the Libertarian Party might claim to be the only ones honest enough to make clear that deep cuts are necessary.

Certainly the share the Libertarians get will be small, but I think it will be interesting to see whether their radical ideas do have a market.

Note : I have asked the Libertarian Party if they wish to post a short article to this blog explaining what they want to offer the people of Norwich North. They have indicated that they may do this if they have time. So if I have misrepresented them in any way, they have the opportunity to put me right.

Ten years for planning mass murder ?

Am I the only person who thinks that giving someone just ten years for planning mass murder through an act of terrorism is an extremely soft sentence ?

Lib Dem Freepost Letter and Leaflet

This is the Freepost letter and leaflet I received this week.

New Tory Leaflet

I said I'd post the new Tory leaflet I received as part of the bumper Freepost pack of leaflets a couple of days ago, so here it is.

I have not copied the fold out inside (which spreads to an A3 size) as it is too big and shiny to get a decent picture of.

Freepost Leaflet heaven !

Here are the latest leaflets I received in Norwich North. They are from the Libertarian Party, NOTA, Peter Baggs (Independent), the Conservative and April Pond (Lib Dem).

The Tory leaflet is actually A3 (when folded out) so I copied it as best I could not including the fold out middle. I also have another Lib Dem A3 leaflet but it wont fit in my scanner.

So the leaflet score is, Tory 10, Lib Dem 10, Labour 4, UKIP 3, Murray 1, Holden 1, Baggs 1, Libertarian 1, NOTA 1. And I have still not received anything from the BNP or the Greens, not even a Freepost.

P.S. I will post the Tory an Lib Dem leaflets here tomorrow. I have not copied the Murray leaflet. Firstly, he seems to slag my blog off on a daily basis on his blog (remember though, he is the "honest man"), and secondly, its too big (shiny A3) and is elsewhere on the internet.

Eco Town Con

The quiet Norfolk village of Rackheath is to be turned in to a town (or eco-town as the government insist on calling it). It wouldn't be so bad if the town was actually going to be an eco town. However, the standard of eco friendliness required for building the houses is a lower standard than those standards expect of all new homes by 2016, and by 2016 none of the new houses will be built. So in effect the government has dumped 4000 new homes on prime farmland which will not be built to a higher standard than any other house in Norfolk or the UK.

Labour like to talk up the environmental credentials, but in reality it all a con. Roll on the General Election.

No2ID Norwich North Hustings

I thought it only right to publicise the hustings debate event 'What A Flipping Liberty!' being run bu the No2ID group in Norwich tomorrow evening, particularly given the dreadful attendance and subsequent cancellation of the previous meetings held this week.

Venue: The Forum, Curve Room, Millennium Plain, Norwich
Date: Friday 17th July 2009
Time: 7.00pm for 7.30pm start until 9.30pm
Entry: Free (donations welcome)

I can't make it (last day of the school year and I am attending the staff do), but would urge anyone who wants to find out more about the candidates to attend.

Radio Five Live - Iain Dale and Myself

I was on Radio Five Live a couple of days ago talking with Iain Dale and host Anita Anand about the Norwich North by-election.

I am grateful to www.by-elections.co.uk for putting the clip on their website.

You can listen to it HERE.

NOTA (none of the above) on the campaign trail in Norwich North

I had an interesting little chat this afternoon with the rather pleasant duo from NOTA (None Of The Above) who were out leafleting in Norwich North today.

NOTA are something of a rarity in today's political system. They are a small group of people who are prepared to spend a lot of their money in order to publicise and gain support for a principle. That principle is that people ought to vote, rather than not turn out, and that they should be given the option to put vote for "None Of The Above".

I am, of course, a Lib Dem voter, but I have to applaud their courage and their willingness to go out on to the streets and spend their cash in support of a principle. I would urge people to vote on the issues and remember that somebody has to be elected in 8 days time and that choosing a hardworking candidate who really does have the credentials to stand up for their area will serve Norwich North well. I believe April Pond is the person to do this. But if there are people who feel that they don't want to vote for any party at all, they could, perhaps, do worse than to consider the message that NOTA are publicising.