Category Archives: General Election
So, Boris, what makes you relatable?
THIS IS IN REAL TIME – NO EDITING, NO FANCY FOOTWORK, NOT FAKE NEWS – AS IT HAPPENED!
“Anger over Devon and Cornwall crime commissioner ‘using public position’ to support political friends”
What a truly stupid person this woman is. Here is a photograph of her insisting on a selfie with the Chief Fire Officer at work trying to put out the serious fire at the Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter referred to in the article:
“Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw has blasted crime commissioner Alison Hernandez for using social media to endorse Conservative candidates in the election.
Ms Hernandez is accused of using her personal Twitter account to support Tory hopefuls across the county – including John Gray who is standing as a rival for Mr Bradshaw’s Exeter parliamentary seat.
Mr Bradshaw has denounced the crime commissioner for as acting as a ‘cheerleader’ for the Conservatives in breach of her role in public office.
Claire Wright, the independent Parliamentary candidate for East Devon, has also accused Ms Hernandez of abusing her position as crime commissioner to influence the election.
Both have said she should be reported to the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.
But Ms Hernandez says she is not worried by the criticism and will continue to lend her personal support to Conservatives at the election while separately working cross party for safer streets in her role as PCC.
The politicians’ fury is directed at a number of tweets by Ms Hernandez’s on her personal account since the General Election was called on November 9.
Mr Bradshaw said: “This is further disgraceful conduct by the Devon and Cornwall Crime Commissioner following on from her behaviour at the time of the Royal Clarence fire when she filmed or photographed herself completely inappropriately in front of this devastating event in Exeter.
Ms Hernandez should remember she holds an important public position and is not in charge of the police and she is not a political hack which is how she all too regularly appears.
What a truly stupid person Alison Hernandez is. Here is a photo of her insisting in taking a selfie with the Chief Fire Officer who was at the time was busy co-ordinating the Royal Clarence fire in Exeter.
“I suspect this behaviour will just serve to undermine the campaign of the Tory candidates she is being a cheerleader for.
“I will refer her behaviour to the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners as clearly it is in breach of guidance.”
According to the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners there is nothing that prevents those in the role from acting in a party political capacity as a private individual.
But the guidance states: “They should not use their public office as a PCC to support party political candidates, or seek to influence the outcome of the election in a party political way.” …
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/anger-over-devon-cornwall-crime-3543114
Cost benefit
In these trying times it may be helpful to ask: what will the benefit of this particular cost be? Who will it benefit? Who will lose out? Will it lead to long-term benefits – if so, for whom?
Improvement can rarely come at no cost and has to be paid for in some way.
Are you someone who thinks only of the benefit to oneself and one’s family or the wider community?
We had austerity imposed on us. Who benefitted, who didn’t? Did it work? Where did the saved money go?
Think carefully.
General Election 2019: Full list of candidates for East Devon
VOTE Faithful, Gent, Rylance, Wilson – get Tory Jupp:
Peter Faithfull (Independent)
Henry Gent (Green Party)
Simon Jupp (The Conservative Party candidate)
Eleanor Rylance (Liberal Democrats – To stop Brexit)
Dan Wilson (The Labour Party candidate)
Claire Wright (Independent)
Spot the fake news – again!
It has to be one or the other!
Vote for Boris Johnson because he eats chips …
“Boris Johnson thinks you are an idiot.
Nowhere is his absolute contempt for your intelligence more on display than in his latest election broadcast.
The Conservatives have released a video suggests you should vote for Boris Johnson because he drinks tea, eats chips and makes strange shapes with his eyes.
Boris Johnson thinks you are an idiot.
Nowhere is his absolute contempt for your intelligence more on display than in his latest election broadcast.
In the past, when politicians have posted these sort of videos I have fact checked them. Within the last six months I have done it with both UKIP and Brexit Party politicians.
And yet I can’t do that with this video. Is this because his comments were so watertight and researched not a single hole could not be picked in them? No.
The reason we can not fact check it is because his nearly five minutes video contained literally no facts, no verifiable figures and no substance.
You may think this is strange. After all, these videos are basically a job interview. You, the electorate, are the boss and he is the prospective employee. The job is the role of Prime Minister and within this interview process he is trying to convince you he has the necessary policies and ideas to make you safer, more prosperous and healthier.
At normal job interview you put forward evidence that you are equipped for a role. In Boris Johnson’s defence he doesn’t have much experience with this.
Sonia Purnell pointed out is her book Just Boris: Boris Johnson: The Irresistible Rise of a Political Celebrity, that Mr Johnson hasn’t had to have that many interviews.
In late 1987 he began work as a graduate trainee at The Times thanks to family connections (though he was dismissed after making up a quote).
He also got a job at The Telegraph from knowing editor Max Hastings, through his Oxford University Union presidency.
So how do you fill a five minute election video with no facts. In turns out you seize on a pile of cliches and make out like you’re just one of us.
It seems that Mr Johnson (I refuse to board the cliché coach and call him Boris or Bojo) believes that simply making you believe he is like you is enough for you to give him the keys to our NHS, armed forces and children’s futures.
1. Vote Boris: He loves chips
In less than five minutes Johnson managed to talk about: fish and chips, steak and oven chips, takeaways and marminte.
You can almost hear his top advisor Dominic Cummings’ thought process.
“Everyone has to eat food right?” he thinks as he goes through the data from dozens of focus groups (while simultaneously catching up on Russia Today).
“If people see that Boris likes food then they will find him relatable and want him in charge.”
The amount Johnson mentions the food he likes is frankly ridiculous.
Trust me, I also eat food…
It is like he Googled “what do normal people cook” and just said he liked it.
“Fish and chips or a Sunday roast?” he was asked.
He replied: “I think fish and chips on a cold night on a beach, you can’t beat it.”
You hear that? He likes chips, you like chips. He likes the beach, you like the beach. Is there a plan to stop pollution of our beaches? Who cares! Beach, beach, beach, beach, beach.
If you are suspicious of Johnson’s culinary skills look no further than his comment on his Brexit deal which is “oven ready” so you just “slam it in the microwave and it is there”…
2. Vote Boris: He likes old music
“What is your favourite band?” asked the resident brown nose filming the video.
“It is either The Clash or the Rolling Stones. Mainly I listen to the Rolling Stones nowadays so make of that what you will.”
Everyone likes the Rolling Stones and The Clash so therefore everyone will like Johnson right?
Most people have a soft spot for the bands that were big during their university years but not Johnson.
The may be because he is a rock purist. Or it maybe because the UK number one during his freshers week at Oxford were the “tank-topped bumboys” Culture Club with Karma Chameleon.
Don’t think that pretending to like a universally popular band is this is cliched and opportunistic? Just ask Gordon Brown (if he doesn’t have his noise cancelling headphones on listening to the Arctic Monkeys).
To be fair, this cliché may not have come from focus groups but instead from the Madonna song Music which reads:
“Music makes the people come together.
“Music makes the bourgeoisie and the rebel.”
3. Vote Boris: He likes tea
If the love of Marmite, chips and Mick Jagger doesn’t make you think Johnson is ready to lead our country then guess what – the guy makes his own tea!
In the video he is filmed making his own brew. Not only that but he is such a man of the people he used one of those boiling water taps that people have in their offices. No expensive Russell Hobbs kettle for him.
‘I like tea, vote for me’
Of course it is entirely feasible that he always makes his own tea though he did make one absolutely rookie error. An error so dire it is likely to create more mistrust than his rampant history of sexual infidelity. The man left the tea bag in to walk around the office?
Perhaps he is such an alpha male leader that no tea is strong enough for him – or maybe he just never makes the tea himself and thinks the bag just dissolves.
As anyone who has made tea in work knows, it is all about trying to get the tea bag from the cup to the bin without dripping on the floor and annoying the cleaner.
4. Vote Boris: He has a dog
“Woof woof!”
What is that sound? No not Johnson when he sees a “lovely piece of tottie” but the sound of his dog.
“How do you typically start your day,” says a voice off camera (whose title is presumably head of relatable question asking).
The Tory leader replied: “I tend to get pretty early and take the job job down for a walk and the dog does his business.”
In the great spectrum of what people love, at one end we have politicians and at the other we have dogs. Clearly there was a hope that this “cute by association” would help, though it could lead to a fall in people’s trust in pooches.
Perhaps this was an entirely innocent chat about his pet and in no way an attempt to use this cliché to gain votes. To be fair, he has only had a dog for about six weeks so it may have been considered noteworthy.
5. Vote Boris: He eats takeaways
We all know that feeling when we get home from a hard day at work and can’t be bothered to cook. We know we should save money and be healthy but just can’t do it. So instead we order take out with the delicious flavours laced with guilt.
Turns out this feeling is EXACTLY the same whether you have worked all day is a hospital or spent and afternoon slowly eroding democratic conventions.
When asked what the most surprising thing about being PM is you might expect it to be “the weight of responsibility” or “pressure of affecting people’s”. Not Johnson. What really surprised Boris “one of us” Johnson was his “incredulity” when he couldn’t “actually get a Thai curry delivered to Number 10” because of security.
One of us! One of us!
6. Vote Boris: He’s nice to the nice young Asian man in the office
‘Who looks less comfortable here? As he makes his way round the office you will notice that almost no one (except him) is under the age of 40.
That is presumably because they are dynamic, forward thinking and down with the kids.
Think a Boris Johnson government will be wracked by accusations of Islamohpobia and questions about him using words like “piccannies” and “watermelon smiles” in his columns? Not a bit of it.
As Johnson makes his way through a corridor a guy, who appears to be of Asian descent, walks down the corridor towards him (totally unprompted obviously).
Johnson greets him (not by name) with a jovial “How are you? Nice to see you.” He solidified this with a hearty backslap.
Now before you hound me on Twitter I am not suggesting that this bloke was undeserving of his starring role in the cliché fest. I am simply suggesting that in a video which was clearly choreographed from start to finish it is no accident that it was a BAME person Johnson decided to be “mates” with.
Or was it an accident, he just happened to stand up and walk past while the Prime Minister was filming a party political broadcast?
7. Vote Boris: He does that thing with his eyes…
‘Could I be more down with the kids?’
The body language, facial expressions and wild gestures used in this video have been honed over years of appearing on Have I Got News For You.
Some of these were clearly supposed to be Churchillian and resemble a football fan celebrating a goal on the terraces.
It didn’t quite work.
At the very end of the video he gave a fist pump which would have made a new born baby look strong.
After saying that we need to “unleash the potential of this whole country” he offers perhaps the most half hearted fist pump since he voted Theresa May’s deal in March…
Beyond the clichés this video says one thing: Vote for me – I am like you.
The thing is I know me. I know I am not qualified to run a country. What I want is someone with a decent sense of right and wrong who has a clear idea of how they are going to make my life better.”
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-conservative-election-broadcast-17249815
Claire Wright launches her manifesto to packed hall
The manifesto is here:
Click to access GEManifesto2019FINAL5.pdf
NOTE: this IS a packed hall – no doctored photo such as Boris Johnson uses!
Boris Johnson “obsessed with masturbation”
It’s said Boris Johnson us sex-obsessed. It seems so!
For those who are not in the know, “onanism” is used to describe either masturbation or withdrawal before ejaculation.
and if you are not convinced:
or this:
Read more here:
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/from-onanism-to-spaffing-boris-johnsons-obsession-with-masturbation-is-revolting-and-pathetic-996097
“Jo Swinson denies losing control over Lib Dem party*” * (she doesn’t have any control)
She can’t lose control – she’s never had it. Easy]t Devon has its credible Remain candidate – Claire Wright with 35% of the vote in 2017 – but Swinson has absolutely no control over the local East Devon Lib Dem candidate who has more reason to stand down than any other Lib Dem.
If she isn’t in control local groups – what is she in control? of? What is she Leader of?
Vote Lib Dem, Green or Labour and get (parachuted in, no local roots) Tory – again.
More on East Devon Tory “parachute” candidate
The paywall seems to have been removed from this story in the Daily Telegraph for some reason … Owl would have liked to be at the selection meeting where this candidate – until recently competing for a seat in Bristol – was chosen!
“As we near the deadline for candidate nominations ahead of next month’s general election, both major parties are embroiled in an evergreen row. This is not just about being forced to dump individuals who have a record of unsavoury remarks or (in Labour’s case) allegedly antisemitic views. Both Labour and Conservative headquarters are also being accused of stitching up selection races for favoured insiders.
On the Tory side, disgruntled members cite the selection of several former Downing Street aides for safe seats. These include Andrew Griffith in Arundel and South Downs, James Wild in West Norfolk, and Danny Kruger in Devizes – all despite the Prime Minister’s team having only been in office, with a non-existent majority, for a few months. Nor does the run of advisers stop there: we also find Claire Coutinho, who previously worked for Rishi Sunak, in East Surrey; Simon Jupp, who advises Dominic Raab, in East Devon; and Anthony Browne, who served as an aide to Boris Johnson during his time as Mayor of London, in South Cambridgeshire.
This last is already the subject of controversy, with Browne facing calls to stand down over allegedly racist arguments he advanced in the Spectator – not helpful in a seat where local polling shows the Conservatives may already have fallen behind the Liberal Democrats. Mims Davies, meanwhile, stands accused of launching a “chicken run” from her current seat of Eastleigh, where the Lib Dems are again expected to do well, to Mid Sussex, the safe seat vacated by Sir Nicholas Soames. This has reportedly angered other MPs defending marginal seats, who feel neglected by CCHQ.”
Source: Daily Telegraph
Sidmouth hustings – 6 December 2019 – details
General Election Hustings in Sidmouth: 6th December
All the candidates for the East Devon constituency for the upcoming general election have been invited to a hustings event in Sidmouth.
On Friday 6th December
at 7pm
At All Saints’ Church Hall,
All Saints’ Road,
Sidmouth, EX10 8ES
They will be on stage and will answer pre-submitted questions.
The event is open to all members of the public and will be hosted and chaired by the Vision Group for Sidmouth.
Please send in any questions to
See: https://visionforsidmouth.org/event/general-election-hustings-in-sidmouth/
Daily Telegraph: “For the Tories, choosing candidates is a trade-off between parachuting in favoured sons and alienating grassroots members”
This is not Mr Jupp on his parachute into East Devon – just his boss … on a sort-of parachute …
The Daily Telegraph article (which, unfortunately is behind a pay wall) goes on to give the example of an adviser being parachuted in of “Simon Jupp, who advises Dominic Raab, in East Devon”.
Andrew Moulding joins election insults battle
Just about the only candidate who HASN’T joined the slag-fest is Claire Wright!
“Tories and Independent trade insults over former radio candidate.
Housing? Employment? Refuse collection? Regeneration of seafront towns? Any one of them could be top of the charts when it comes to issues of critical importance to East Devon. But Tory and Independent council leaders in the constituency are instead having a spat over whether ageing rocker Iggy Pop would do a better job than Conservative candidate Simon Jupp.
The former radio presenter and journalist won the selection battle to wear the biggest blue rosette at the weekend and took immediately to door-knocking to drum up support. He’s defending an 8,000 majority bequeathed to him by outgoing MP Sir Hugo Swire. But that majority itself was down from 12,000 on the 2015 election, with independent Claire Wright snatching a sizeable share of the vote.
Now East Devon District Council leader Ben Ingham, an independent, has told a local newspaper he thinks Mr Pop – who had a top 10 hit in 1986 with ‘Real Wild Child’ – would have been a better candidate. “People would be able to relate to him more than a DJ from Plymouth,” he’s reported as saying. Mr Ingham also says he’d thought of running for parliament himself because he’s disappointed by the area’s MPs.
That’s got the leader of East Devon Conservatives, Andrew Moulding, into a lather. He’s penned a 500-word response metaphorically telling Mr Ingham to wind his neck in. Being “a DJ from Plymouth [is[ not in itself a crime,” he claims (although he may not have met some of the profession in that city). If Mr Ingham thinks he can do a better job, he’s still got time to stand, he suggests. And “To compare [Mr Jupp] with Iggy Pop shows how out of touch with reality disaffected Conservative Ben Ingham actually is, stuck in some 1970’s time warp, where Simon Jupp will be nobody’s ‘Stooge’ and has a clear ‘Lust for Life’ (apologies to Iggy), working hard for residents of East Devon on both local and national issues.”
East Devon and its predecessors have been Conservative for more than a century. It’s considered a two-way battle in next month’s election between Mr Jupp and Ms Wright. “
Farage confirms Brexit Party standing down for Tories in East Devon
ANOTHER Lib Dem stands down to avoid Tory victory (NOT in East Devon)
And, in spite of the last paragraph below, East Devon now appears to be one of only a few seats where the Lib Dem and the Greens want to hand the constituency a Tory ex-DJ parachuted in from Bristol!
“Lib Dem candidate stands aside to avoid ‘nightmare’ of Tory win.
The Liberal Democrat candidate in a marginal Labour seat has unilaterally decided to stand down, saying that while the two parties could not agree on a pact he wanted to avoid the “nightmare” of handing the constituency back to the Conservatives.
In an article for the Guardian, Tim Walker said that while he did not trust Jeremy Corbyn on Brexit, he wanted to give Rosie Duffield, the Labour candidate who took Canterbury from the Tories for the first time in 2017 by just 187 votes, the best chance of winning.
The announcement of his candidacy had dismayed some Lib Dems, who argued that while there is no formal deal between their party and Labour it would be better to stand aside to help Duffield, who is strongly pro-remain. In 2017 the then-Lib Dem candidate received more than 4,500 votes.
The deadline for nominations in the 12 December election closes on Thursday. It is not yet clear if the Lib Dems plan to stand another candidate in Walker’s place.
It comes as the Lib Dem candidate in Boris Johnson’s seat, Uxbridge and South Ruislip, announced she was standing aside. In a statement, Elizabeth Evenden-Kenyon said this was because of family illness, and that the party would have enough time to select a new hopeful.
However, if the Lib Dems do not, it could boost Labour’s admittedly outside chance of unseating Johnson. He had a majority of just over 5,000 in 2017, with the third-placed Lib Dems getting more than 1,800 votes.
Writing in the Guardian, Walker, a journalist who formerly worked for the Daily Telegraph, said it had become clear that if he stayed in place in Canterbury, there was “a danger I’d divide the remainers” and allow victory for the Tory candidate, Anna Firth: a vehement Brexit supporter who worked with the Vote Leave campaign.
“I don’t trust Corbyn on Brexit, but I share with many members of my party locally a visceral dread of the Commons being filled with people like Firth,” Walker wrote. “Trying to stop that happening is now more important than ever, given Nigel Farage’s unholy alliance with Johnson.”
He added: “I’ve therefore asked that my local party withdraws my nomination papers to stand for Canterbury. Politics does not always have to be grubby and small-minded; sometimes it’s possible to acknowledge there’s something at stake that’s more important than party politics and do something that seems right.”
It was not an easy decision, Walker wrote, “but the nightmare that kept me awake was standing awkwardly at the count beside a vanquished Duffield as the Tory Brexiter raised her hands in triumph. I wanted no part in that.”
He went on: “I now wish Rosie well and urge her to fight for our country, and, when she hopefully gets to resume her seat in the Commons, to continue to think for herself.”
The Lib Dems are part of a so-called remain alliance, which has seen them, Plaid Cymru and the Greens give each others’ candidates a free run in 60 seats around England and Wales.”
The Brexit (not a) Party!
“Nigel Farage’s decision to unilaterally stand down more than half the Brexit party’s candidates has prompted fury from some of the hopefuls, with one candidate saying he only learned the news when a passing driver asked him why he was still campaigning.
Darren Selkus, who was the candidate for Epping Forest, said Farage had “betrayed my incredible volunteers and thousands of constituents who will have no one to vote for” by pulling out of all 317 Conservative-held seats.
In a statement on his local party website, Selkus said that as soon as Farage made the announcement at a rally on Monday in Hartlepool, he and other ex-candidates were immediately locked out of their Brexit party emails and supporter databases.
While a majority of the former candidates who took to social media to express opinions seemed to back Farage’s argument that the move was necessary to protect Brexit, a small but vocal group complained about the move.
Julian Malins, a barrister who was due to stand in the Tory-held seat of Salisbury, tweeted: “I thought I had enlisted in Caesar’s army but it turned out to be the Grand Old Duke of York’s.”
Although it is a registered party, the Brexit party is structured as a company, with Farage and the party chair, Richard Tice, having near-total control. Those who have paid the party’s £25 joining fee become “registered supporters” rather than members, with no say over policy or other matters. …”
East Devon constituency hustings 28 November 2019
Further details when available.
East Devon leader Ingham “nearly stood for Parliament “
NOT in East Devon, but in Tiverton and Honiton. He has strong views on East Devon candidates:
“Independent councillor Ben Ingham told this title he seriously considered running for Parliament as a protest candidate – so dismayed is he at the performance of the area’s MPs.
He is a supporter of Ms Wright and said he would not have stood against her in East Devon, but he said he might have challenged MP Neil Parish in Tiverton and Honiton.
“That would be the obvious one or maybe Mid Devon…or even West Devon and Torridge where Geoffrey Cox is,” he said. “I think he needs to be questioned now and again, I think he’s a bit too full of himself for my liking.”
He said the aim of a campaign would have been ‘to give people the opportunity to show their disquiet at the political parties’.
All the main parties, he said, have ‘let down’ the people by failing to achieve a good Brexit deal in three years.
Ultimately, he said he decided to focus on his role as leader of East Devon District Council.
In the East Devon constituency, Conservative Sir Hugo Swire is not running again and Claire Wright, currently a county councillor, has come second in each of the last two elections.
Her opponents, announced so far, are Simon Jupp (Conservative), Henry Gent (Green), Daniel Wilson (Labour) and Eleanor Rylance (Lib Dem).
Cllr Ingham said he believes Cllr Wright is the favourite in the race.
He said: “As an Independent, I think it’s wonderful that we’ve got this chance to put an Independent in the House of Commons.”
The Woodbury and Lympstone councillor said he heard ‘last year’ MP Sir Hugo Swire planned to stand down, describing it as ‘disrespectful’ of the Conservatives to pick a candidate at such a late stage.
Of the selection of Simon Jupp, he said: “If they wanted someone charismatic, which is what I think they tried to do, they would have been better off with Iggy Pop in my opinion. People would be able to relate to him more than a DJ from Plymouth.“
https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/general-election-ben-ingham-considered-standing-1-6370864
“Farage’s Brexit move means a pact among progressives is now urgent”
“By standing aside for the Tories, he’s made a hard Brexit much more likely. Remainers have to work together …”
Lib Dem Eleanor Rylance’s simplistic solution? Don’t vote Tory, she says!
It’s BECAUSE people WILL vote Tory we need one Remain candidate in East Devon – duh!
East Devon Watch 