Mandie's brilliant result in St Radigunds

Many congratulations to Conservative candidate Mandie Sehmbi who came within 25 votes of capturing the St Radigunds ward council seat in a by election.

Labour just clung on to the seat in an area traditionally solid for them. Mandie was, until recently, the organiser of Dover's Carnival.

Full credit to the Lib Dems who, though they may struggle to find anyone prepared to stand as their Parliamentary candidate, did work very hard to gain a greater share of the vote. It was understandable that they should feel a little bitter at getting just 12% of the vote after giving it such a good go.

The full results were:

Viv Revell (Labour) 244

Mandie Sehmbi (Conservative) 219

Lib Dems 93

Dover Alliance 86

Independent 72

Independent 32

On the campaign trail in St Radigunds

By elections are great fun. A chance to meet people on the doorstep and talk about issues of concern. The biggest issue raised with me by voters in this traditionally strongly Labour supporting area is the shocking treatment of Buckland Hospital.

To say people are disgusted would be an understatement. They tell me how the sitting Labour MP made it a big issue that he'd save the hospital back in 1997. Yet now its closing, to be replaced by a polyclinic. People are upset and tell me they just don't feel he's really fought very hard for Dover. They say he's more interested in following the party whip than speaking up for our interest.

There's a lesson here I won't forget. You have to fight for hopes and aspirations of the people you represent.

Mandie Sehmbi for St Radigunds!

Well known local campaigner Mandie Sehmbi is the Conservative candidate for the St Radigund’s by election. I have long been struck by how passionate Mandie is about Dover. She tells me she is incredibly angry about Labour palming off Dover with a polyclinic - she wants to be Dover have a proper hospital. Until recently, Mandie organised the Dover carnival. The most recent one being a total success.

Mandie is also angry that Labour Ministers have allowed port jobs to be privatised. She says it's an insult to Dover. Mandie thinks the lack of investment in Dover is an insult. That we deserve our fair share and we aren't getting it.

Some people say no-one in politics believes in anything anymore . . . to them I say Mandie is your answer!

Go Whites!

Dover Athletic's performance against AFC Wimbledon was brilliant! The game ended nil all and will be replayed on Tuesday.

Wimbledon is way higher in the league than the Whites. Yet Dover had the upper hand throughout the game. What a performance! And all before a capacity crowd too. It all goes to show how the club is going from strength to strength. Congratulations to the team.

In the photo I'm with club director and leading local businessman Roger Knight

Time for change at Dover Town Council

For years, Dover Town Council has been a virtual one party state. Labour have been in power there so long, the hunger for new ideas and innovation is weaker than Dover deserves. It's time for a change.

This year, the Council Tax has gone up by 29.6%, with further increases planned for next year. And a lot of the money is wasted. £1000s are being spent on leaflets which are never delivered. £11,500 was wasted on producing fridge magnets.

Not so long ago, I proposed that Dover twin with the town of Fuzhou in China. I worked hard to deliver the opportunity . . . yet it was rejected out of hand. That's a shame as twinning with a great city and province of some 7 million people from the fastest growth country on the planet could have brought jobs, money and investment to our community.

To me this highlights all that's wrong with the council - insular, backward and inward looking. In these difficult times, all of us in public service need to work harder than ever to deliver the hopes, aspirations and dreams of the people we work for. There is just not enough money in Dover and our community deserves its fair share.

There will shortly be a council by election in the traditional Labour heartland of St Radigunds. The record of the council will come under scrutiny. The Conservatives will stand as it's time the people of Dover had a real choice.

No port privatisation!

I attended Dover's Port Consultative Committee the other day. There I said that the Port of Dover is a national asset and should remain so. The need for National Security and Border Security are overwhelming that the Port should remain an asset of the nation.

So I totally oppose the privatisation of the Port for these reasons. I am deeply unhappy about the recent changes at the Port which amount to privatisation. I am deeply concerned that the Ministry of Transport were not only consulted about the changes, but appear to have approved them.

The Ports Minister, who turned up the other day, and the current Member of Parliament should clarify exactly what the Ministry's role in this was a matter of urgency. They also need to level with the community whether they will permit further privatisation or "outsourcing" of Port jobs.

I am worried about Government's future plans for the Port. The Western Docks development will require a lot of money. Possibly more money than the Port has available on its own. It may require a joint venture partner. If that happens, it is essential that the Dover Harbour Board retain management control of the joint venture. It would not be right for the Port to be under the control of European or Middle Eastern interests - again on grounds of National and Border Security.

These are my thoughts and I would be genuinely interested to hear what people think about the way ahead. The Port is Dover's largest employer by far and critical to our economy. It's therefore vital that we all work together to get the best result.

Building a Britain everyone can be part of

The gap between rich and poor has been increasing. For me changing this and building a Britain that everyone can be part of is a key reason I got involved in public life.

Gordon Brown’s Government has taken people for granted and let them down. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to live on a low income when the cost of living is rising. That’s why he raised taxes for the least well-off when he cut them for the wealthier. His boasts about crime show how out of touch he is. Anti-social behaviour and alcohol fuelled crime are real problems for our area - and violent crime is a real worry. Just go out in Dover town centre on a Saturday evening . . .

David Cameron's Conservatives want to help the least well-off. That’s why we are putting forward ideas to heal our broken society and proposals to help needy pensioners. Locally, the Conservatives are spearheading the regeneration of Dover and Deal. The road upgrades we are proposing will also help to create more jobs. A few months ago, I began talks to build up links with the massive Chinese city of Fuzhou to get more investment locally - yet Dover Labour voted that down so they have gone elsewhere. What a waste and a terrible missed opportunity!

Nationally and locally Labour are just not helping us. We deserve better.

Crime fighters!

Conservative-controlled Dover District Council has had great success in fighting crime in partnership with Kent Police. The Council’s Anti-social Behaviour Unit is working to crackdown on crime. A key priority is to provide more things for our young people to do. More things for younger people to do is a priority to help cut crime.

But they can't do it all on their own. They need the support of Central Government. So David Cameron and the Conservatives have launched a long-term Crime Action Plan. The key measures are:

• Make families stronger - keeping families together so children have a stable upbringing


• Support teachers to teach children the need for respect and bringing more good schools into deprived communities - for example, the Astor Federation has turned the failing St Radigunds School into the successful White Cliffs Primary


• Help young people to come off welfare and into work - Work brings responsibility, dignity, money and respect - making people less likely to commit crime


• A National Citizens Service - where all 16-year-olds can go on a six-week programme to develop the confidence and skills to contribute to society


• Tough enforcement and prison sentences for young people caught carrying illegal knives, whilst also working to rehabilitate young offenders.

Tackling the North South divide

Many will be horrified about PX's report on the Northern cities. I certainly am - the top line strikes me as defeatist and depressing. Yet I think they may have done the country a favour in (re) sparking a debate about the North South divide.

This divide is frankly one of the worst features of our country. I've often heard it said that the North has the quality of life, the South the quantity of life. In other words, the South has great wealth, but less time, community and increasingly less beauty as it subsides gently in a sea of concrete and congestion. The North has less material wealth, yet there seems a greater sense of community, more time for people and some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful countryside our nation has to offer.

Somehow it seems that every new home in the South (built in lovely places like Whitfield and Sholden) pulls the rug further from under the North and makes the South a worse place to live. The PX report seems to say we should accept this is the way it's going to be.

I've long wondered - how can we rebalance to unite the country so that all have the best of both worlds? Can we build a truly united nation? This is not about tarting up places with regeneration. This is about a great national effort to strengthen the Northern (private sector) economy - a whole skills revolution, the establishment of a renewed labour pool in the North, incentivisation for new businesses to establish in the North rather than the South. Just reading this, you can see how hard it would be to do. I feel deeply that a house divided against itself cannot stand and that we need to act to tackle the North South divide.

What change do the Conservatives offer locally?

People often say to me "what would you do different from the current lot?"

To my mind, very little has been achieved in the last ten years for our community. It’s not good enough. Let’s look at the key issues:

• A new Dover hospital - Labour have ruined Buckland. The Conservatives have helped to gather signatures for the hospital petition. We have been fighting alongside local health
  campaigners for a new proper hospital with beds and 24/7 GP-led emergency services.


• Crime and anti-social behaviour are worrying problems for our area. Violent crime has doubled in the UK in ten years. Nearly 2,000 people are victims for violent crime locally every year. We need more police on the beat preventing crime, with zero-tolerance and more facilities for our young people.


• Rising living costs are hitting family budgets, with prices rising for food and the cost of motoring. Gordon Brown has been increasing taxes on the lowest paid, fuel duty has gone through the roof - and now they are raising the price of car tax discs too. Local wages have fallen over £1,000 in the last five years, meaning an even bigger squeeze here. People who work hard to earn their keep should be rewarded, not punished.


• Post Office Closures have hit local people hard - particularly the elderly and those without transport. Gordon Brown’s closure of six local Post Offices leaves large areas without proper Post Office cover. More Post Offices are expected to be axed by Gordon Brown in due course.


• Local Transport has seen terrible underinvestment. The A2 upgrade was axed by John Prescott. Gordon Brown has done nothing about making the A258 safer. We need to get lorries out of Dover and regeneration in.

I would like to hear about your ideas to further improve our community. It's time we got our fair share. Why shouldn't we enjoy the same level of success seen elsewhere in Kent?