Could UKIP run Tories close in Hertford and Stortford next may ?

Whilst I’ve been totally turned off by electoral politics and parties in general I do keep an eye on local politics and the moves and changes in our area. Even if a relatively minor area in terms of political significance our area of East Hertfordshire is one to watch I feel. Our current MP is Mark Prisk of the conservative party. Mark who took a while to getting elected failing twice in 92 and 97 eventually was elected in Hertford and Stortford. He was finally elected as the Conservative MP for the constituency of Hertford and Stortford in 2001. Since gaining his seat at Westminster, he has been marked for ministerial office in a future Tory government. He has been promoted from the backbenches to serve at various points as Shadow Financial Secretary, Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs, an opposition whip and Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise. He is author of several pamphlets on urban design. Currently Mark Prisk and the Tories hold the seat In East Herts with a big majority of 15,437. I would imagine Mark will regain his seat next year but could be run close if UKIP put up a good campaign on the ground. This is a tory stronghold with tories in power in all of the town councils and county councils even if nearby bigger towns of Stevenage and Harlow both have labour councils they both have marginal seats where labour will be looking to take back in 2015. Looking at wider trends across the country and how UKIP are gaining ground on both labour and Tories in the North and the south but not in London yet interestingly I may cover why in a future post. But UKIP who will be fighting a by election in Rochester and Strood on November 20th due to the defection of Conservative MP Mark Reckless to UKIP may see the UKIP really start uping their game on to a new level. Anyone who thought UKIP would just be a flash in the pan may need to think again. Whilst a lot of UKIP voters will be voting them as a protest vote to kick the other major parties a lot are disaffected tories who feel the tories have gone soft on certain issues such as immigration which is a big policy area for UKIP and often makes up the backbone of their politics which also ties into their Eurosceptism . Recent by elections have seen UKIP run labour and the Tories close and even gaining their first MP in the name of Douglas Carswell in Claction earlier this month returning him as a MP with a big majority of 12,404 . Could UKIP do the same in similar areas in the coming elections ? I do think so. Running labour close in a labour stronghold shocked many who felt UKIP were just a threat to the Tories recent months have shown this isn’t always the case. In the months other by-election, Labour held on to Heywood and Middleton but UKIP slashed its majority to 617. Mr. Farage told BBC Breakfast UKIP could hold the balance of power after next year's general election. A worrying thought if ever there was one. So could UKIP run the Tories close in Hertford and Stortford next year? I dont see why not. Mark Prisk is a well known Tory and well known in the area there is not much you can say against him personally apart from he is a Tory and goes along with their thinking and disregard for the poor. I have emailed him before and always had a reply even if I often disagree with his views. UKIP last time out in 2010 in East Herts gained 1,716 votes which was poor but have seen their vote share rocket in recent by elections in comparison to their showings last time around. The political ground has changed and UKIP are feeling the benefits so far as the country slips further to the right. Any thought that the left would do well out of a downturn in the economy and peoples lives has long since been proved wrong in fact it very much has benifited the right in the UK anyway. As for UKIP in East Herts they seem to be on the ball in terms of tracking down the Tories and aiming fire at the local Tories and their plans for development which is promised to increase our population considerably in the coming decades. I do think there is a base for UKIP to build on in East Herts there has been a history of Eurosceptic parties and thinking in the area we even had a party calling themselves the referendum party who claimed to have 50 thousand members back in 1996 who gained 2,105 votes which for a new party back in 97 isn’t too bad given the norm for newly formed smaller parties. UKIP can do well in East Herts and the threat is very real. Those who detest their form of politics must be aware of them and take them on in a big way. A piece from the Hertfordshire Mercury our local paper talks on UKIP selecting its candidate to take on Mark Prisk next year I quote below http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/UKIP-selects-Hertford-Stortford-parliamentary/story-23035085-detail/story.html " L A teacher who vows to fight for sustainable development and a better life for people on minimum wage has been selected as a candidate for UKIP in next year’s election. Adrian Baker, of Wareside, will fight for the Hertford and Stortford parliamentary seat next May. He said: “I know this is a strong Conservative area, and that we have a fight on our hands, but I welcome that challenge – especially in these exciting times where the old, failing, two-party sy stem is collapsing. “The simple truth is that both the Conservative and Labour parties have let the people of East Herts down. “People are seeing through Cameron's false promises on Europe, and are fed up with his inability to control immigration which is leading to mass development of the Green Belt, no more so than within East Herts where more than 15,000 new homes are proposed to be built.” He praised UKIP’s commitment for everybody on the minimum wage to be lifted out of paying income tax. On local issues he said: On local issues Adrian said, “We have had a massive building programme foisted on East Herts with over 15,000 new houses planned. “Nobody is listening to residents’ concerns or considering the effects on local infrastructure. “Incumbent MP, Mark Prisk, who has recently taken up a second job advising a development company, has been silent whilst bulldozers are poised to dig up our green fields around Hertford, Ware, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop’s Stortford, and our villages and towns are going to lose their rural feel as more and more building takes place. “I'll fight against unsustainable development in our area, but with net migration of 250,000 people into the UK last year alone, the pressure on our Green Belt will remain whilst the Tory government has an open-door border policy. “Until we take back control of our borders, the pressures on housing will never go away.” UKIP’s East Herts District Council Election campaign manager, Jim Boodrie, said: “With his dedication, and knowledge of the area, Adrian is the right candidate not only to lead our parliamentary election campaign, but also to spearhead the election of UKIP members to the East Herts District Council next May”

Drive Biffa out of Ware, for safe, green non profit waste management

Last Monday myself and another comrade decided to get up off our armchairs and go and check out the local ware town council public meeting held to discuss the latest Hertfordshire waste management plans.

We turned up not thinking many would turn up on a chilly Monday evening to a usually dull council meeting. How wrong was I? There was possibly 200 to 300 there with more queuing out of the door. If people think people don’t care about what happens anymore they are so wrong.


Biffa the company who plans to build an incinerator just outside of our town faces strong opposition. After attending the meetings and protests over the planned incinerator in Hatfield last year this one in Ware not so far away seems equally as angry.
The meeting started with one of the councillors Tory dominated by the way with a report back from Hertfordshire county council on their latest updates. As it stands Biffa has planning permission till 2017 but at present haven’t submitted plans to start building anything.

This did not stop the local residents voicing their frustration and anger at said councillors. There were lots of good points. One was from a local teacher at a school not far from where the incinerator is planned for telling the councillors that this plan will damage the area and harm our children and their health. It is not right for Ware and it’s not right for anywhere.

Lots of people got up to raise similar points in opposition to the plans with many of the comments being targeted at the councillors at the front who seemed keen to not stay for longer than they had to.

My comrade then got up to speak and made the excellent points referring back to the earlier comments on the increase of rodent activity in the area if this goes through saying that the biggest rodent that needs to be driven out of this town is Biffa. Going on to say that Biffa are only interested in making a profit from this, not waste management or the environment they only have one thing in mind and that is increasing their profits.

My comrade at the meeting also raised the excellent point that waste management used to be controlled and run all in house by the councils in the local area. This is no longer the case and is out sourced to a private firm not interested in the town or the people living there only getting the cheapest deal for the plot of land and the maximum amount of profit for dealing with the waste.

It is true we have a waste problem in Hertfordshire and across the country but burning it into the already polluted atmosphere for profit is not the answer. Greater emphasis on recycling and greener ideas is what needed not is purely going for the cheapest and most polluting option to get the matter done and off their hands.

My comrade also did a bit of ad hock democracy by asking all in the room to put up their hands if they are against Biffa and the incinerator the whole rooms hands went up all apart from the councillors at the front who felt a bit taken a back and were not prepared to have the meeting show such opposition like that. At that point they felt they were loosing control of the meeting so quickly hurried on to ask if there were any further serious points which angered people even more.

Many people in the meeting felt like the local councillors do not represent our views and have failed to stand up for us. Many hostile comments were thrown at them including how much are you getting in expenses for being here tonight.

One councillor I believe to be a Lib Dem found this too much to take and shouted back NOT A SINGLE PENNY! Clearly we’d touched a nerve.

But the failure of the councillors to firmly oppose this plan by Biffa claiming their hands are tied and its county who decide anyway is a big cop out in my eyes and shows a lack of fight and determination to represent the people who elected them.

I suggested as we were walking out that if a candidate proposing to oppose the whole thing in Ware and elsewhere saying no to all incinerators and burning of waste following that meeting they’d gain a big echo I reckon. Standing against these Tories who cant stand up for those who elected them would really put it up them I think.

Personally waste is a big issue but making money out of it and also with it possibly leading to environmental issues and health issues is not something I’d support and will be continuing to monitor this project and be opposing it all the way not just in Ware but anywhere as it is wrong full stop.