A net snapshot of Crewe & Nantwich

With the ICM poll for the Mail on Sunday showing the Tories ahead by a whisker, the net is currently a good guide to what's happening on the ground in Crewe & Nantwich. Here's a taste:

Crewe.tv, by Jules Hornbrook, local freelance writer who works in the Bentley factory: The Conservatives weren't as well received around the centre as, say, the Lib Dems or Labour before them, but they were happy to chat to anyone who challenged them. As for Timpson being a Toff, nonsense. He's not a bad bloke. He's been on the campaign trail since last summer and, despite what some think, he is a Cheshire (if not Crewe/Nantwich) man. Is he the right man to take things forward in our towns though?

Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council website: Conservatives took 59 out of the 81 seats on the new shadow Cheshire East council on 1st May. Click here for results for whole Cheshire East shadow unitary authority

Nic Burn, on the letters page of the Crewe & Nantwich Guardian: Who are we going to give £61,820 annual salary and in excess of £150,000 annual expenses to? If they work 40 hours a week it equals £101.83 per hour to employ them. What will they really do for us, or what have they really done to us? 10p' to 20p' doesn't sound much when you say it fast, or slowly for that matter, nor does it sound bad emptying the dirty bins fortnightly, after all, who has to suffer the sickening smell they give off in the summer, and who really cares, who's really bothered?

Lib Dem official website: The nomination of Mark Walklate as an independent candidate for the Crewe and Nantwich by-election has left local Tories campaign staff red faced and in turmoil. Mark Walklate stood as a Conservative candidate in the local elections several times, most recently in 2006 and again in 2007, but left the party after an internal falling out. His nomination papers for the by-election feature two prominent and well known local Conservative activists fuelling speculation of an internal split in their camp.

Keep the Tories out of Crewe blog: I’m a middle aged, working class man living in the West End of Crewe; formerly employed in Crewe Works prior to its destruction by Tory and Thatcherite policies. As someone who remembers vividly the disgraceful contempt with which the Tories treated northern working class communities during the 1970s and 1980s, I am saddened that many of my fellow Crewe residents are considering voting for this sham of a party. This blog will be updated daily, detailing the elitism of the Tories, the snobbery of the leadership, the weaknesses of its policies and the reality of the toff they’ve got standing for election in Crewe.

LabourHome appalled by Labour class-war campaign tactics: The class warfare stuff, although cheap, is bording just about acceptable; but one thing horrified me (on an election leaflet): "Do you oppose making foreign nationals carry and ID card?" Regardless of the fact that I oppose ID cards in anyway, shape or form (the mere idea is distinctly alien to Britain) - "making", "foreign nationals" is the language of the [far] right. What has our party come to? Do we not know who we sound like with such inflammatory, nationalist statement. Unless of course - the plan is to TRY and appeal to the BNP - in which case, i may leave the party now.

UK Polling Report seat profile: Historically Crewe and Nantwich was a marginal seat - Gwyneth Dunwoody held it by only a few hundred votes on its creation in 1983 and by slim majorities in 1987 and 1992. Only after boundary changes in 1997 did it become more secure. The Labour majority slipped in subsequent elections and it now represents the sort of seat that would be Conservative were they to win a decent sized Parliamentary majority.

Cllr Nigel Ash, Labour councillor in Wigan:  Nice to see Dennis Skinner again - he was holding court on the Nantwich Road chatting to passers by and anyone else who would listen. After the battering the Labour Party has taken recently it was reassuring to see so many people from different parts of the country giving up their Saturday morning to help the candidate in this important election.

Labour official campaign website: Local residents are asking the question - who is Edward Timpson? Apparently he has been a candidate for 12 months, but no one in the town has heard much from him. All we know about his is he waffles lots, wants to cut the funding going to our schools, has no idea how to tackle crime and lives in a big mansion house on the other side of Tarporley.

Conservative official campaign website, Timpson's blog: I had a final day off yesterday.  It was good to spend a bit of time with the family and re-charge the batteries in preparation for another busy week ahead.  After lunch I watched the football - the final day of the Premier league season. 

Comments

[Cllr Ken Tiwari (independent)]

Even if the Tories win this Crew&Nantwic,
you still have to wait for General election,
why media is breaking it's back to distort the
facts of politics, it's hard to understand? Ken

[Peterson]

What's this "Tory"Toffs" business? The fact that the Labour Oiks have stooped to this level to win votes proves that they have nothing to offer.Inverted snobbery is the worst form of snobbery. Please note that the Conservative candidate has no need to follow the Labour methods. By the way, I wonder how many Labour supporters will complain about the use of "Labour Oiks" instead of "Tory Toffs".

[Silent Hunter]

Interesting to note that the Keep The Tories Out of Crewe Blog is now resorting to censorship.

2 out of 3 comments have been removed, leaving only positive comments in favour of the Blog in place.

Freedom of Speech.....New Labour style!

And the irony of this will be lost on the 'middle aged, working class man' who runs it.......behaving just like you would expect any right wing fascist dictatorship.

Funny how he professes to be 'Left-Wing' then. LOL

Perhaps the Tories do deserve to win after all.

[Ian Burgess]

It's not odd that a left winger uses censorship - left wingers are just as 'tough-minded' (authoritarian) as fascists (as shown in research by Hans Eysenck years ago) - hence fascists of the left and right. Nu Labour with its political correctness has been Stalinist from the start.

[James Thurston]

I am rather surprised by the distorted reporting of the poll prediction for the Crewe and Nantwich by-election in what could be said to be a mainly Right Wing press.

The results of the poll, as reported in The Mail on Sunday as "Brown faces disaster in Crewe poll", should instead read "Cameron faces disaster in Crewe poll".

The reason for me saying this is that given the Government's disasterous local election results, and the dreadful national opinion poll rating combined with the crippling credit crunch, it would be humiliating if the Conservatives could only achieve a 10% swing (as suggested in the Mail opinion poll). And in a by-election!

[C Smith]

The Tory candidate is by all accounts a very decent man, and he comes from a family of cobblers - and you can't get more working class than cobblers - so what's the problem?

This Labour government is completely out of touch with people who actually work for a living. These they tax: the poorer the worker the more the tax him, whereas the lazy, the profligate and the irresponsible they throw money, our money, at.

[James Thurston]

C. Smith

I agree that the Conservative candidate in the by-election is a decent man. It is what his Party stands for that is most definately not decent.

One must not forget that the present Conservative stance on poverty and social responsibility, whilst being very welcome, is in fact highly suspect.

The Conservatives are a Party that stands for the priviliged maintaining their own priviliged position in society.

This can be seen by way of the fact that when in power they preside over high rates of unemployment, are indifferent to low pay, and also have a paradoxical committment to high (indirect) taxation.

Given this, I know which Party I will be supporting at the next General Election.

[Astonished]

Mrs Dunwoody (deceased) professed to have two overriding concerns - Transport and Education. Has anybody looked at the disgraceful record in the Crewe schools?

Cutting the funding going into schools (official campaign website), will perpetuate the rot. Hang your heads in shame Labour. Bring in some new blood.

[A Williams]

All this talk of "toffs" by the Labour supporters and yet it is their candidate that is benefiting from her priviliged position of being the daughter of the previous MP.

Is this the default selection criteria for Labour Candidates? Do they want hereditary MPs?

[Matt Jessop]

Even as a Labour voter, I think it's shameful that Labour are currently playing the 'class' card. We're supposed to be looking forward to the future, where where you came from and act like doesn't matter. We're supposed to be able to judge people on what their policies are, not who they are. The Tories, who suffered hugely from trying to play this card long ago, have moved past this, and Labour now just seem out of date.

[John Clark]

Seeing Labour are so fond of playing the class card, just where did Tony Blair & Gordon Brown go to school? They are not 'working class'.

[Silent Hunter]

Message to James Thurston:

James,

Please could you explain to me how the abolition of the 10p tax rate shows how 'caring' Labour are for the poorest members of our society?

Please could you also explain where £2.7 BILLION has come from?.....Given that it is 'unfunded'..........which is the very thing that Labour used to say they would "never do".

How do you think this money is going to be clawed back by this government? ie: whose going to have to pay for this Tax Bribe in a years time?

Here's a clue!

It won't be New Labours wealthy friends in the City................which leaves????

Yes! That's right...............................US!

The good old British Taxpayer......& probably the ones at the lower end of the tax bracket because...Hey!....Labour can just count on them voting Labour even if they field a monkey with a red rosette.

Cynical of them or what?

[Silent Hunter]

Well James?

Have you thought up any answers to my questions yet?

Having a spot of bother with the question of Labour Sleaze then?

[Silent Hunter]

Well James?

Have you thought up any answers to my questions yet?

Having a spot of bother with the question of Labour Sleaze then?

[Silent Hunter]

Oh Well!

It would appear that James has decided not to make an appearance..............rather like Gordon Brown, then! :O)

It is interesting to note that the Conservative site allows anyone to comment on it........

Contrast that to New Labours site.............
which opens with a picture of a Top Hat and Bow Tie...................(still pushing the 'Toffs' thing even though it's backfiring badly against them not only in C&N but in the country at large)....................unfortunately, there is no where for punters to leave any comment or ask any questions.

I think that illustrates wonderfully which party is prepared to listen and which ...............just isn't.

Any sign yet of Gordon in Crewe & Nantwich yet? ;O)

[Silent Hunter]

Oh Well!

It would appear that James has decided not to make an appearance..............rather like Gordon Brown, then! :O)

It is interesting to note that the Conservative site allows anyone to comment on it........

Contrast that to New Labours site.............
which opens with a picture of a Top Hat and Bow Tie...................(still pushing the 'Toffs' thing even though it's backfiring badly against them not only in C&N but in the country at large)....................unfortunately, there is no where for punters to leave any comment or ask any questions.

I think that illustrates wonderfully which party is prepared to listen and which ...............just isn't.

Any sign yet of Gordon in Crewe & Nantwich yet? ;O)