Sunday 17 May 2015

The May 7th General & Local Election Results Colchester

 1) THE GENERAL ELECTION


                                                                                VOTES          SHARE%        +/- %


Conservative:                                  Will Quince               18,919            38.9                     +6.1
Liberal Democrat:                 Sir Bob Russell          13,344            27.5                   -20.8
Labour:                                    Jordan Newell             7,852            16.2                     +3.8
UKIP:                                        John Pitts                     5,870             12.1                    +9.2
Green Party:                            Mark Goacher             2,499               5.1                    +3.6
Christian People's Alliance:  Ken Scrimshaw              109                0.2                   +0.2

Conservative Majority = 5,575

Turnout: = 65.5%

The Green Party vote has increased by over three and a half times since 2010, when our candidate Peter Lynn gained 694 votes (1.5%). This is a significant increase for us and shows that the party is gathering momentum.
Clearly the most significant change was the drop of 20.8% in the Lib Dem vote. The most significant gainers from this were UKIP with their 9.2% increase, although the Conservatives were able to take the seat with a smaller increase (6.1%) because they were already in second position.

For the Green Party this result is encouraging but it shows that there is still much hard work to be done.


2) THE LOCAL ELECTIONS

The full list of results are: 

Berechurch: Labour (Dave Harris) 1,958, Conservative 858, UKIP 521, LD 406, Green 152
Birch and Winstree: Conservative (Andrew Ellis) 1,913, UKIP 569, LD 291, Lab 287, Green 145
Castle: Conservative (Darius Laws) 1667, LD 1172, Green 982, Labour 821
Christ Church: Conservative (Annesley Hardy) 964, LD 670, Labour 433, Green 319, UKIP 148
Copford and West Stanway: Conservative (Jackie Maclean) 673, UKIP 177, LD 115, Lab 155, Green 46
Fordham and Stour: Conservative (Nigel Chapman) 2,023, labour 396, Green 336, LD 327
Great Tey: Conservative (Peter Chillingworth) 979, LD 257, Labour 170, UKIP 162, Green 104
Highwoods: Independent (Philip Oxford) 1,592, Conservative 1,192, Labour 479, LD 466, UKIP 395, Green 187
Mile End: Conservative (Ben Locker) 2,101, LD 1,769, Labour 707, UKIP 533, Green 368
New Town: LD (Annie Feltham) 1,289, Conservative 832, Labour 772, Green 631, UKIP 493
Prettygate: Conservative (Will Quince) 2,269, LD 967, Labour 522, UKIP 489, Green 196
Shrub End: Conservative (Pauline Hazell) 1,571, LD 1157, UKIP 757, Labour 736
St Andrew’s: Labour (Tim Young) 1,462, Conservative 715, LD 447, Green 317
St Anne’s: LD (Barrie Cook) 1173, Conservative 976, UKIP 770, Labour 600, Green 241
Stanway: Conservative (Fiona Maclean) 1861, LD 1611, Labour 616, Green 261
Tiptree: Conservative (Margaret Crowe) 1,873, UKIP 1,313, Labour 535, LD 194, Green 129
West Bergholt and Eight Ash Green: Conservative (Marcus Harrington) 1,578, UKIP 370, Labour 306, LD 265, Green 204, Independent 151, Patriotic Socialist 12
West Mersea: Conservative (Patricia Moore) 2,154, UKIP 988, labour 402, Green 330, LD 278
Wivenhoe Cross: Lib Dem (Mark Cory) 668, Labour 328, Green 130, Conservative 271, UKIP 90

Wivenhoe Quay: Labour (Rosaling Scott) 1295, Conservative 1251, Green 325, LD 295

Hilighted are Castle ward, where Andrew Canessa came third with 982 votes ( approx 21%) and New Town ward where I came fourth (beating UKIP) with 631 votes (approx 16%).
These results are particularly encouraging and show that we have the potential to get Green Councillors elected in 2016 when every seat in Colchester will be up for grabs.




Monday 4 May 2015

Poll Result: The Hospital/NHS is Your Top Local Issue


Thanks to those who voted in the poll of top local issues on this blog. It is clear that the NHS/Hospital is the top concern of those voting. What I and the Green Party would aim to campaign to bring about is:

1) Investment in our hospital must increase at the same rate as local demand and population. Yes the hospital is currently trying to recruit more nurses and has gained some additional doctors in the last few years. However it is still overwhelmed because Colchester's population increased by 17,000 from 2001-2011 and is still increasing. Also the hospital is cutting non-front line staff which means more work for those left. We need increased funding to end the problem of the beds being available but patients not allowed to occupy them because of lack of staff.

2) The Green Party will increase overall national NHS funding by 12 billion per year. this will be paid for by a combination of a Wealth Tax, increasing the top rate of income tax to 60% and saving £30 billion lost in tax evasion / tax avoidance. Labour has not made it clear by how much they would increase NHS funding.

3) We would reverse the 2012 Health & Social Care Act. This removes from the Secretary of State For Health the duty to provide healthcare and gives it to new GP commissioning bodies. These have to give equal consideration to private providers and are encouraged to buy cheap services from the latter. This is a key stepping stone to privatisation and the driving down of quality.

The video below explains what it currently happening to our NHS. The Green Party would reverse this process.




Friday 1 May 2015

Green Party Action Day Saturday May 2nd : BE A STAKHANOVITE!

In 1935 Aleksei Stakhanov mined 102 tonnes of coal in one six hour shift, 14 times his weekly work quota. He became the hero of the second soviet five year plan.

How about becoming a Green Stakhanovite!


We have two boxes of undelivered Green Party New Town election leaflets and only FIVE DAYS to deliver them. 1000s of them and every one delivered increases our chances of making a real impact in Colchester. This is where you come in.

THE PLACE: 124 Morant Road


THE TIME: Saturday 2nd May 9am - when it gets dark.


Simply turn up and collect a round from the house. Maps and spatulas are provided. If we are all out delivering, go down the side passage to the left, push the green door to the yard and collect leaflet rounds from the recycling bin for bottles on the left. Make sure you sign the form when taking them.

BRING REFRESHMENTS/PACKED LUNCH. I CAN PROVIDE TEA, COFFEE, BEER, WINE AND BRANDY.