Tomorrow is local election day. We have a really good set of hard-working candidates who I know have spent a lot of time knocking on as many doors as possible to meet local people to hear about their priorities.
They have been focusing on investing in our local area, improving services with no front line cuts, continuing to support local organisations and charities, and supporting local town centres and businesses.
In difficult times especially, the value of a well run local Council cannot be over stated and that is what I think matters most to all of us - certainly to me.
I know that your local Conservatives will continue to fight for the best value for every single penny of your Council Tax. Broxbourne Conservatives have managed to keep Council tax frozen for five years including the current year 2012/2013 at only £2.18 a week. This is the lowest in Hertfordshire by a staggering 50% and the lowest in England including parish precepts.
This is despite Broxbourne Council's central government grant being reduced significantly because of the last Labour Government’s 13 years of wasteful spending, massive deficits and unaffordable borrowing. It is very reassuring that Broxbourne Council has absolutely no debt whatsoever. If only Labour had done the same then the Government would not be spending £120 million a day on interest payments. That’s not even to repay the debt. Imagine what we could be doing with all that money!
I wish all of our candidates the very best of luck for tomorrow. Please do make sure that you go out and vote.
Paolo
Great news from yesterday... the people of Theobalds and Waltham Cross decided to return our fantastic Conservative candidate, Dee Hart, as their County Councillor. The results were Conservatives 1,389, Labour 837, UKIP 159, and Lid Dem 76. Our share of the vote increased to 56.4% from 41.9% when our dear friend Terry won in 2009. I'm sure that Terry will be looking down on us from above and be very happy.
Thank you to everyone who voted for Dee, I'm sure Dee will be a great Councillor and will stand up for the whole of Theobalds and Waltahm Cross - the hard work starts now for her.
Particular thanks go to Dee for being such a dedicated candidate, going out and meeting so many residents virtually every day of the campaign; Rob Gordon, the Leader of Hertfordshire County Council for running the campaign in such an efficient and organised manner; and to everyone else who helped out over the whole campaign (especially the many Herts County Council Conservative colleagues who came from right across the County to help).
We also had the pleasure of the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Sayeeda Warsi, coming to help out with the campaign yesterday. Many thanks to Baroness Warsi for taking the time to come and meet people in Waltham Cross, she got a very warm reception from everyone who admired her straight talking and personable nature.
Paolo
I am sure you are aware that we now only have two days left until the Waltham Cross By-election. We have an excellent, hard-working candidate in Dee Hart. Dee has been out, along with many Broxbourne Conservative supporters, virtually every day of the campaign meeting as many local residents as possible. Please find attached the two leaflets Dee and our teams have delivered.
Dee really cares passionately about continuing Terry's legacy and looking after the people of Theobalds and Waltham Cross. Dee's campaign has centered around; Tackling crime and anti-social behaviour; Continuing to help local residents in difficult financial times; Offering top quality education and skills; Getting the best value for local residents' taxes; Listening to concerns and speaking up for local residents; Giving local residents more say in what the Council does.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Dee over the campaign and we wish her all the best for election day!
Paolo
Promoted by Ken Ayling on behalf of Dee Hart both at 76 High Street, Hoddesdon, Herts EN11 8ET
A very short message to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Please find attached our Christmas Newsletter which will hopefully be the first of many regular newsletters.
Paolo
Chairman - Broxbourne Conservatives
Here is our response to the draft recommendations on the new electoral arrangements for Broxbourne Borough Council by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Let's hope that they listen!
Congratulations to Tony Siracusa who has been elected as the newest Councillor for Cheshunt Central. He worked really hard in the campaign and will be an excellent Councillor for Cheshunt Central.
I would like to thank everybody who was involved in the campaign for their hard work. Particular thanks go to Tony for being such a dedicated candidate, Richard and Judi Clemerson (and the whole of Cheshunt branch) who ran an extremely well organised campaign, Ken Ayling for his excellent support as election agent, and Sue Harding who as always provided excellent support from the office.
Paolo
The march to Save Cheshunt Urgent Care Centre on Saturday was a huge success, we think there were over 1,000 people at the march. Many thanks to all of you who attended and especially to the police and stewards who made the event run so smoothly.
Here are a few links with pictures and videos kindly taken, as always, by County Councillor Dave Hewitt and Vice-President of Broxbourne Conservatives Brian Perry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH70PDl2OGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KAMyxb2Ocw
Thanks again to all of you who came along to the march and let us all hope that the PCT now re-thinks its decision.
Paolo
Today is an historic day with a fundamentally important vote on the future of voting for MPs.
I shall keep this short and sweet as all of the arguments have been played out lots of times by now. Please please remember this change will be for life not just for the next election so it is a really important decision. For me, the over-riding objection I have to AV is that one person's vote can be counted multiple times whereas someone else's is only counted once. Why someone's third preference should carry the same weight as my first one I just cannot get my head round. Let us stick with our tried and tested system and tradition of one person one vote.
We have certainly played our part in Broxbourne, pounding the streets and covering Broxbourne in NO to AV literature (even on Sunday accidentally doing the same road three times - apologies if that was you!). Let's hope that the British public comes out and votes "No" - don't rely on your neighbour to vote "No" for you! My biggest fear is that "Yes" will somehow sneak past the winning line because not enough people come out and vote. Do not let that happen, make sure you vote "No" to AV today.
Now is the perfect time to get involved with Broxbourne Conservatives.
Over the coming months we will be:
• Campaigning to keep open the Cheshunt Urgent Care Centre which, unbelievably, is being downgraded because it has been too successful.
• Fighting for a NO vote in the upcoming AV referendum where Nick Clegg wants to change the way you vote forever. Under the Alternative Vote system, only Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats would be the winners - we would all lose out as power is taken away from voters and given to politicians to make deals behind voters’ backs.
• Campaigning for as many Conservatives as possible to be elected in the local elections on 5th May.
If you want to get involved (be it by delivering leaflets, acting as tellers at polling stations on 5th May, helping out with canvassing or by making a donation to either the NOtoAV or local election campaigns) then please do not hesitate to contact me directly on 078134 79297 or paolocaruso.broxbourne@gmail.com.
I have been involved with Broxbourne Conservatives for the last ten years (since I was 16) and have found it thoroughly rewarding. I have been involved in campaigns to keep Chase Farm Hospital open, firstly to give us an Urgent Care Centre in Cheshunt and now to keep it open. I have been a Borough Councillor for Wormley Turnford for the last four years where I have fought for openness and transparency and for value for money by keeping Council Tax as low as possible whilst maintaining a high quality level of local services.
No matter what your priorities are, whether you are Labour, Liberal or Conservative and no matter how old or young you are I urge you to get involved in your local communities and local politics. I have had the opportunity to meet, have dinner and campaign with the likes of Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Gove, and Liam Fox. Most importantly of all, I have had the opportunity to change things for the better in Broxbourne - the reason why most of us get involved in the first place.
Throughout my time with Broxbourne Conservatives, I have found my opinions valued, my voice listened to and my contributions appreciated. For that I would like to thank all of my fellow members of Broxbourne Conservatives.
The moral of the story is that you can get involved and you can make a difference so please do.
Last Friday, I was very kindly voted in as Chairman at the Association's AGM. I am very grateful for the support I received.
I would like to thank everyone who attended. We had the highest turnout for many a year and it was an enjoyable evening with excellent speeches from Lord Parkinson, our MP Charles Walker and of course the outgoing Chairman David Lewis.
On a personal level, I would like to thank David for his tireless work as Chairman for the last four years. No doubt he shall be missed by all for his excellent leadership. I am glad that he is staying on as Treasurer and will continue to contribute.
As you may well have noticed by now, this is a new blog and my very first venture into anything of this sort. I thought it would be good to occasionally put my thoughts onto paper so that everyone is aware of what is going on in BPCA (Broxbourne Parliamentary Conservative Association). I'm not sure how often this will be but hopefully it will prove to be worthwhile.
Please do get into contact with me, paolocaruso.broxbourne@gmail.com or 078134 79297.
Paolo
