kernow

Tell us the answer then, you've obviously got it up your sleeve!

stathan

Who cares?


It's worth the ladies defection just to see you cut to the quick on finding out! Don't hurt too much it will only make you bitter in the long run!

Britannist

Councillor Marion Mason sounds like just the sort of person that the Conservative (Tory) Party cannot afford to lose.

No doubt the local weekly newspapers in the Stevenage area will report on the decision of Councillor Mason to join UKIP over the next seven days.

Stevenage is (as most people reading this will know) a marginal Labour-held seat. It is not good news for the Cameron-Conservatives that an experienced Conservative councillor who has worked in the NHS and who has been a Conservative group leader has defected to UKIP in a key Tory target seat like Stevenage.

And it is (I am pleased to say ) not good news for other parties (i.e. Labour and the europhile Liberal Dims) who like to hope that if anyone quits the Cameron-Conservatives they will join them) that Councillor Mason chose UKIP and not them.

Britannist

I know for a fact that there are lots of people in Stevenage (and in nearby Welwyn-Hatfield) who do not like the EU one bit.

Britannist

They'll say that Councillor Mason's defection from the Cameron-Conservatives to UKIP is not significant. But had it been a reverse situation - someone leaving the Cameron-Conservatives to join the parties they support - they would claim it is a most important event. They would be writing about it for weeks and months.

When is the last time anyone defected from UKIP to the Cameron-Conservatives? Never is the answer. It has never happened.

Britannist

I know the great town of Stevenage.

The number of Conservatives on Stevenage Council (unlike at nearby Welwyn-Hatfield) has been low for many years. But one should not assume that just because there are sometimes only two or three Conservatives on Stevenage Council that it does not have a strong Conservative Party and lots of support in the constituency.

The Conservatives have had both in Stevenage even when they had hardly any seats on Stevenage Council.

In 1983 the Conservative presence on Stevenage Council was small - most of the councillors were Labour. But that did not stop the Conservatives from winning Stevenage at the 1983 General Election - and holding it at the 1987 General Election (despite having, at times, only one or two councillors on Stevenage Council).

The Cameron-Conservatives were very pleased a few weeks ago when a Liberal 'Democrat' councillor defected to them in Liverpool (or was it Manchester). Anyway, whichever it was, the defection gave them the first seat on the relevant City Council. If the Cameron-Conservatives are pleased at having a single council seat on a big City Council like Liverpool or Manchester they must be disappointed at losing one of their few ward seats in the Conservative target constituency of Stevenage. It sends out 'the wrong signal' to voters (from the point of view of the Cameron-Conservatives) even if Conservative support at Stevenage is higher than many think.

Alex McKee

So, like others have said, when do the top-brass meet and greet her and give her flowers and chocs and send her a decent cheque to start/reinvigorate a branch down there and make sure we grow from this fantastic seed?

BASILDON BOY

No - she will be left to her own devices - no help - no branch - no activists. Did UKIP stand any candidates during the last local elections - no. Is there an active branch in the area - who knows. UKIP did stand a candidate during the General Election in 2005 for the first time ever.

But what have they done or achieved locally since?

Britannist

The more money UKIP has the more it can do to raise its profile at local, national and EU level.

At this time, UKIP is - like other small parties - not exactly rich.

Alex McKee

You don't make money by hoarding it - you invest it wisely. A new and thriving branch would bring more membership receipts.