Local Politics

[DaveR]

I think a lot of Tory MPs will be very worried come next May. UKIP will almost certainly hit their vote hard. Could it even be possible that UKIP could take Aberconwy?

I don't think many people will want to vote for Mr Bebb after his antics this year; I know I certainly won't be.

[born2run]

 UKIP have zero chance of taking Aberconwy, I would also say the vast majority of voters don't even know who Bebb is. Whoever wins out of Labour and the Tories will be decided upon the actions and media focus of their leaders before the election.

Is Bebb even going to stand again?

[Greyhound]

I tend to agree with born2run. I don't think UKIP will take Aberconwy (they are projected to win no more than 5 seats nationally tops). I think that it's easy for us (locally engaged, writing on local matters) to overstate how little effect things like this incident with Bebb and Oscar influence voters. The man/woman on the street simply doesn't vote like that, they vote on national issues and often don't even know the name of local candidates.

By the time of the next election, all this Bebb business will have been getting on for a year ago and most voters tend to have very short memories unless something directly affects them. And those people who were directly affected by Oscar would be more likely those who would thank Mr. Bebb and were glad to see the back of him, than those who were positively affected by him being a force for good. The solicitor obviously being the major exception.   

[Fester]

I think a lot of Tory MPs will be very worried come next May. UKIP will almost certainly hit their vote hard. Could it even be possible that UKIP could take Aberconwy?

I don't think many people will want to vote for Mr Bebb after his antics this year; I know I certainly won't be.

No, UKIP won't win many (if any) seats in Wales.... but by splitting the 'right of centre' vote, they will ensure that Labour win the vast majority.  Which is probably an even worse scenario.

[Greyhound]

Funnily enough, it's Wales where all the opinion polls show Conservative support holding up the best. They're only 1-2% down on 2010 in almost all Welsh opinion polls. UKIP seem to have gained most of their support from former LibDem or non-voters in Wales.

[Mr Tunnock]

UKIP may well not win a seat but will have the adverse effect of drawing votes away from Mr Bebb should the local solicitor stand as their candidate.
Seeing as some else mentioned the name Oscar it is worth noting that a few had complained about him over the years to Mr Bebb and he didn't do a thing to help until it came to him being outed as an MP who had received thousands of pounds from Israeli supporters, once this was public Oscar had no chance!
It is also worth noting that Bebb made and subsequently withdrew some serious allegations from the safety of Parliamentary privilege and never had the confidence in the story to repeat the same outside of parliament, resulting in the local conservative association now being at each others throats, he may well have won himself a few votes but by the same token he has lost as many if not more.
The all too familiar grubby world of politics that dirties many a previously good person's hands and mind.
 

[DaveR]

I've never understood why anyone would want to get involved in politics, never appealed to me!

[Mr Tunnock]

Agree with you  DaveR .

[Ian]

I've never understood why anyone would want to get involved in politics

I think the quick and simple answer is because that's where the power to change things lies. Most folk don't get involved, and prefer only to criticise, but I suspect one reason why politics is in the parlous state it's currently experiencing is because of the lack of involvement.

We tend to imagine that 'Government' is some sort of entity which exists in isolation from ordinary folk and whose main role is the removal of people's hard-earned cash through taxation. I've never really comprehended how national and international macro-economics functioned and was almost relieved when I discovered that I wasn't alone in 2008, when the world's economies played dominoes, but in democratic countries we do have the ultimate option. If we think that our government is taking too much taxation from us - the people - then we can become far more involved in politics than most currently are. It's precisely because most of us (and I include myself) don't want to donate large portions of our time to become active members of a political party and its subsequent selection processes that 'Government' can seem to be a remote, almost autonomous body.

Decent government depends on decent people getting involved for the long term. It needs good people who can ignore the pusillanimous, adolescent vitriol of the DFM and stand up for what they believe is right. Sadly, we're currently seeing the rise of the 'career politician', of which Messrs Osborne and Milliband are but two examples. We need more Mr Smiths going to London, rather than the current crop of finely honed, smooth talkers we now have.  But that's only going to happen if more 'ordinary' folk get involved.

[norman08]

I see that prat Bebb voted to keep the bedroom tax ,it's ok for them to claim on two houses and fiddle the expenses .

[Yorkie]

I see that prat Bebb voted to keep the bedroom tax ,it's ok for them to claim on two houses and fiddle the expenses .

Are you sure he is a prat, claims on two houses, and that he fiddles his expenses?   Thought that sort of comment was more in Oscar's domain!

 Z**

[born2run]

I can confirm he is indeed a prat, the other two I don't know about  L0L

[Yorkie]

I can confirm he is indeed a prat, the other two I don't know about  L0L

Well, i suppose that old adage holds true, "It takes one to know one!"   

prat  (prăt)
n.
1. Slang The buttocks.
2. Chiefly British Slang A person who is incompetent and stupid.
[Origin unknown.]

 ZXZ

[born2run]

I can confirm he is indeed a prat, the other two I don't know about  L0L

Well, i suppose that old adage holds true, "It takes one to know one!"   

prat  (prăt)
n.
1. Slang The buttocks.
2. Chiefly British Slang A person who is incompetent and stupid.
[Origin unknown.]

 ZXZ

Are you calling me a prat!! I demand this be brought up in Parliment :rage:

[Yorkie]

So we can do the legal bit at the same time, I'll have a word, or a thousand, with David Jones MP.  But, of course, he may have to make a retraction at a later date.   WWW  WWW  WWW