Theresa May calls General election

[ragwert]

The PM has announced her intention to call a General election on 8th June
saying it is the only way to guarantee certainty & security for the Country during our
exit from EU

[greenknight]

Oh here we go again!...well let's see how many of those members with political ambition resurrect themselves back to this site ...God help us.

 

Clever in one way but a huge gamble in so many others.

[ragwert]

Oh here we go again!...well let's see how many of those members with political ambition resurrect themselves back to this site ...God help us.

 

Clever in one way but a huge gamble in so many others.

Yep clever but I don't think its a gamble.Who's going to vote Labour?

Parliament will still be full of Tories & the SNP 

[greenknight]

Well that's true however there might be a fly in the ointment. UKIP are a spent force and there are many disgruntled Tories so could this possibly help push up the numbers once more for Lib Dems especially the pro Europe ticket. A gamble by the conservatives might find themselves losing seats rather than strengthening their position...

[greenknight]

So we will see locally an IOC candidate or an Independent pitch ...so the question is who?...I have an idea who might thanksgiving it a go.

[Colin James]

For all you lefty tree huggers who were moaning about Teresa Bae not being democratically elected and having no mandate to deliver Brexit, she is now giving the country the opportunity to decide whether she will be democratically elected, so you have what you wanted, so why are some still moaning? Is it because deep down you know that there is no credible opposition?

[Frank Smith]

I just read this and completely agree:

 

She is fed up of the constant Commons moaning and moves to block or delay Brexit behind the scenes. She's saying nows your time to do something about it, defeat her in the democratic GE or if you lose, shut up and let her get on with it. Would expect a clear Tory majority in June.

[Colin James]

They will all still moan, what next, it's not a fair election cause we weren't ready ? Top of the pile

[Denise Lloyd]

So we will see locally an IOC candidate or an Independent pitch ...so the question is who?...I have an idea who might thanksgiving it a go.

 

The one that seems most likely to give it a go is Jim Kenyon I can't see anybody else really up for it or up to it 

[Cambo]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out given that people who voted either leave or remain came from different voting backgrounds so for example someone who is traditionally a labour voter but may have vote leave…will they vote labour?

The same as if you may be a Tory voter who voted to remain will they still vote Tory?

[Cambo]

The one that seems most likely to give it a go is Jim Kenyon I can't see anybody else really up for it or up to it

Personally I can't see JK winning if he was to stand he would more than likely do well in getting plenty of votes in the city but it's the vote outside of Hereford he might struggle with? Also what is the mandate he will pitch in order to get the vote?

[greenknight]

Personally I can't see JK winning if he was to stand he would more than likely do well in getting plenty of votes in the city but it's the vote outside of Hereford he might struggle with? Also what is the mandate he will pitch in order to get the vote?

Well I would give Jim the nod but more as an Independent rather than IOC.

[megilleland]

Do Jesse and Bill know there is an election being called or are they still hibernating?

[twowheelsgood]

The one that seems most likely to give it a go is Jim Kenyon I can't see anybody else really up for it or up to it 

 

Please, no, no, no! 

[Alex]

Please, no, no, no! 

 

Jim will be getting my vote, so who do you suggest then?

[greenknight]

Please, no, no, no!

 

Well his appointment as Mayor did expose him a little to some of the cronies that we have in this county..but he has done an awful lot of good as councillor on my patch sometimes above and beyond his brief.

[Aylestone Voice]

The chance of an IOC candidate getting elected for South Herefordshire is less than zero and the same goes for Labour, UKIP and the flat earth society(Greens)

The only possibility of upsetting the Jessie bandwagon would be for the Lib Dems but I guess they will have Lucy Hurds standing again. She has lost on countless occasions so a repeat seems most likely

Anyway watching Jesse bumble his way through at the despatch box in the H o C is always good for a laugh.

You could repeat this scenario for North Herefordshire but with different names - so expect Wiggin to continue to make a fool of himself in the H o C.

[Steve Major]

Conservative for me and Corbyn is their biggest asset, so lets hope he stays Labour leader for the next few years even though I think he is a vile man.

[twowheelsgood]

Labour will lose catastrophically at which point Corbyn will go. Hard to see how they will ever recover, or if indeed they deserve to.

[twowheelsgood]

Jim will be getting my vote, so who do you suggest then?

 

For the first time in 40+ years I am wondering what is the point of voting. I did have hopes for Jesse at one time but his commitment to the County appears to have waned in his second term. IOC are in terminal decline - unable to get their act together for the last election, which they knew was coming, they blew it big time, leaving us with the ongoing mess of Tory majority rule. The idea of them nominating a prospective candidate would fall squarely into the raving loony party section.

[greenknight]

For the first time in 40+ years I am wondering what is the point of voting. I did have hopes for Jesse at one time but his commitment to the County appears to have waned in his second term. IOC are in terminal decline - unable to get their act together for the last election, which they knew was coming, they blew it big time, leaving us with the ongoing mess of Tory majority rule. The idea of them nominating a prospective candidate would fall squarely into the raving loony party section.

Sadly I agree TWG so I would be more inclined to vote for someone keen to support those issues that affect the county and not a political group. Mrs May wants a mandate to push through tough decisions and of course silence those that claim she is in charge by default. There is no viable alternative at this time and when in commerce and holding a monopoly then for those privileged few the good times role. A sad state of affairs for this great nation.

[megilleland]

Is it an election about Brexit or endorsing further conservative policies for the next term? This gives an insight into Jesse's thinking while an MP.

 

From the Public Whip website:

This chart shows the percentage agreement between this MP and each of the policies in the database, according to their voting record.

Agreement    Policy
  50%     Abortion, Embryology and Euthanasia- Against
100%     Academy Schools - for
  33%     Action to prevent domestic violence
  16%     Additional Rate of Income Tax - Increase
  72%     Against On-Shore Wind Turbines
  50%     Assisted Dying
100%     Asylum System - More strict
  99%     Balance the Budget Without Borrowing
    8%     Bankers' Bonus Tax
100%     Business and community control of schools: For
  80%     Cap or Reduce Civil Service Redundancy Payments
  67%     Closed Material Proceedure
  76%     Coalition Programme for Government - For
  75%     Cull Badgers
  50%     Deployment of UK armed forces in Afghanistan
  50%     Do more to help refugees including children
  70%     Employee Shareholder Status
100%     Encourage and incentivise saving
100%     End support for some 16-18 yr olds in education
    6%     Energy Prices - More Affordable
  50%     English Votes on English Laws etc.
  78%     Equal Number of Electors Per Constituency - for
  48%     European Union - For
  80%     Excess Bedroom Benefit Penalty for Social Tenants
100%     Extend Right to Buy to Housing Associations
  60%     Fixed Term Parliaments
  11%     For the UK to Remain a Member of the EU
    1%     Fully Elected House of Lords
  16%     Further Devolution to Scotland
  24%     Further devolution to Wales
    0%     Gambling - Against permissiveness
100%     GP Commissioning in the NHS
  85%     Higher taxes on alcoholic drinks
  60%     Higher taxes on banks
  78%     Homosexuality - Equal rights
  67%     HS2 - In Favour
  33%     Human Rights and Equality
  50%     In Favour of Mass Surveillance
  20%     Incentivise Low Carbon Electricity Generation
  50%     Incentivise membership of press regulator
  89%     Increase Air Passenger Duty
  90%     Increase the income tax - tax free allowance
  88%     Increase VAT
  17%     Inheritance Tax
    0%     Iraq Investigation - Necessary
    0%     Jobs Guarantee for Long Term Young Unemployed
    0%     Limit NHS Foundation Trust Private Patient Income
  88%     Localise Council Tax Support
  64%     Lower taxes on petrol & diesel for motor vehicles
  90%     Make High Earners Pay Market Rent for Council Home
  50%     Make it easier to trigger a new election for an MP
    0%     Mansion Tax
  78%     Mass Retention of Communications Data
  39%     Measures to reduce tax avoidance.
100%     Merge Police and Fire under Police & Crime Cmmr
  83%     Military Action against Daesh / ISIL
  32%     Minimum Wage
    0%     More funds for social care
    7%     More Generous Benefits for Ill and Disabled
  33%     More powers for local councils
  50%     No detention without charge or trial
    0%     No Polls Clash With MP Election System Referendum
100%     Nuclear power - For
100%     Pension auto-enrolment - For
100%     Phase out of Tenancies for Life
  92%     Police and Crime Commissioners
    0%     Prevent abuse of zero hours contracts
100%     Privatise Royal Mail
100%     Promote Occupational Pensions
  22%     Proportional Representation Voting System - For
  34%     Public Ownership of Railways
    0%     Rail Fares - Lower
  86%     Reduce capital gains tax
100%     Reduce central funding for local government
  90%     Reduce Spending on Welfare Benefits
  90%     Reduce the rate of Corporation Tax
  83%     Reducing the number of MPs - for
  81%     Referendum on Alternative Vote for MP Elections
  69%     Referendum on the UK's membership of the EU - For
  79%     Referendums for Directly Elected City Mayors
  60%     Register of Lobbyists
  63%     Regulation of Shale Gas Extraction
    1%     Remove Hereditary Peers from the House of Lords
100%     Replace Higher Education Grants with Loans
  25%     Require Pub Companies to Offer Rent Only Leases
  96%     Restrict 3rd party campaigners during elections
  90%     Restrict Scope of Legal Aid
  25%     Retain funds from council house sales locally
100%     Retention of Business Rates by Local Government
  12%     Right for EU Citizens in the UK to Stay
  42%     Right to strike
  81%     Same Sex Marriage - for
  96%     Schools - Greater Autonomy
100%     Sell England's Public Forests
  63%     Smoking ban - In favour
    9%     State control of bus services
  28%     Stop climate change
  33%     Stronger Military Covenant
  41%     Tax Incentives for Companies Investing in Assets
    0%     Teach children about drugs, sexuality and health
  50%     Terrorism laws - For
100%     Tougher on illegal immigration
  95%     Trade Union Regulation
100%     Trident replacement - In favour
100%     Tuition fees - Set Upper Limit at £9,000 per Year
100%     University Tuition Fees - For
  70%     Use of UK Military Forces Overseas
  20%     Voting age - Reduce to 16
    0%     Welfare benefits ought rise in line with prices

[megilleland]

And here is Bill Wiggin's thinking:

 

From the Public Whip website:

This chart shows the percentage agreement between this MP and each of the policies in the database, according to their voting record.

 

Agreement    Policy
  22%     Abortion, Embryology and Euthanasia- Against
100%     Academy Schools - for
  50%     Action to prevent domestic violence
    8%     Additional Rate of Income Tax - Increase
100%     Against On-Shore Wind Turbines
  50%     Assisted Dying
  82%     Asylum System - More strict
100%     Balance the Budget Without Borrowing
    0%     Ban fox hunting
  12%     Bankers' Bonus Tax
  76%     Business and community control of schools: For
100%     Cap or Reduce Civil Service Redundancy Payments
100%     Civil aviation pollution - For limiting
100%     Closed Material Proceedure
  84%     Coalition Programme for Government - For
    3%     Control Orders
  50%     Crossrail - In favour
  88%     Cull Badgers
100%     Deployment of UK armed forces in Afghanistan
  50%     Do more to help refugees inclding children
100%     Employee Shareholder Status
100%     Encourage and incentivise saving
100%     End support for some 16-18 yr olds in education
    6%     Energy Prices - More Affordable
100%     English Votes on English Laws etc.
  95%     Equal Number of Electors Per Constituency - for
  31%     European Union - For
  96%     Excess Bedroom Benefit Penalty for Social Tenants
100%     Extend Right to Buy to Housing Associations
  83%     Fixed Term Parliaments
  17%     For the UK to Remain a Member of the EU
  20%     Foundation hospitals - In favour
    0%     Fox hunting - Ban
  23%     Fully Elected House of Lords
    6%     Further Devolution to Scotland
    6%     Further devolution to Wales
  47%     Gambling - Against permissiveness
100%     GP Commissioning in the NHS
  87%     Higher taxes on alcoholic drinks
  60%     Higher taxes on banks
100%     Hold a UK referendum on Lisbon EU Treaty
  27%     Homosexuality - Equal rights
  42%     HS2 - In Favour
  18%     Human Rights and Equality
  12%     Identity cards - For introduction
100%     In Favour of Mass Surveillance
  40%     Incentivise Low Carbon Electricity Generation
  67%     Incentivise membership of press regulator
100%     Increase Air Passenger Duty
100%     Increase the income tax - tax free allowance
  92%     Increase VAT
  17%     Inheritance Tax
  99%     Iraq 2003 - For the invasion
  85%     Iraq Investigation - Necessary
    6%     Jobs Guarantee for Long Term Young Unemployed
    0%     Limit NHS Foundation Trust Private Patient Income
100%     Localise Council Tax Support
  58%     Lower taxes on petrol & diesel for motor vehicles
100%     Make High Earners Pay Market Rent for Council Home
  19%     Make it easier to trigger a new election for an MP
  25%     Mansion Tax
  66%     Mass Retention of Communications Data
  47%     Measures to reduce tax avoidance.
100%     Merge Police and Fire under Police & Crime Cmmr
100%     Military Action against Daesh / ISIL
    1%     Ministers Can Intervene in Coroners' Inquests
  16%     Minumum Wage
  50%     More funds for social care
    0%     More Generous Benefits for Ill and Disabled
  31%     More powers for local councils
  35%     No detention without charge or trial
    0%     No Polls Clash With MP Election System Referendum
  57%     Nuclear power - For
    1%     Parliamentary scrutiny - Reduce
  17%     Pension auto-enrolment - For
100%     Phase out of Tenancies for Life
100%     Police and Crime Commissioners
    0%     Post office - in favour of Government policy
100%     Post office closures - against
    0%     Prevent abuse of zero hours contracts
100%     Privatise Royal Mail
  65%     Promote Occupational Pensions
    6%     Proportional Representation Voting System - For
  54%     Protesting near Parliament - Unrestricted
  16%     Public Ownership of Railways
    0%     Rail Fares - Lower
  95%     Recreational drugs - Against legalization
  86%     Reduce capital gains tax
  92%     Reduce central funding for local government
  97%     Reduce Spending on Welfare Benefits
  96%     Reduce the rate of Corporation Tax
  85%     Reducing the number of MPs - for
100%     Referendum on Alternative Vote for MP Elections
  72%     Referendum on the UK's membership of the EU - For
100%     Referendums for Directly Elected City Mayors
  71%     Register of Lobbyists
  50%     Regulation of Shale Gas Extraction
  40%     Remove Hereditary Peers from the House of Lords
100%     Replace Higher Education Grants with Loans
  38%     Require Pub Companies to Offer Rent Only Leases
100%     Restrict 3rd party campaigners during elections
  90%     Restrict Scope of Legal Aid
    0%     Retain funds from council house sales locally
100%     Retention of Business Rates by Local Government
  12%     Right for EU Citizens in the UK to Stay
  36%     Right to strike
  39%     Same Sex Marriage - for
100%     Schools - Greater Autonomy
100%     Sell England's Public Forests
  16%     Smoking ban - In favour
    9%     State control of bus services
  35%     Stop climate change
    6%     Stronger Military Covenant
  56%     Tax Incentives for Companies Investing in Assets
    0%     Teach children about drugs, sexuality and health
    0%     Termination of pregnancy - against
  19%     Terrorism laws - For
100%     The UK should not ratify the Lisbon Treaty
100%     Tougher on illegal immigration
100%     Trade Union Regulation
  26%     Transexuality - Against legal recognition
  54%     Transparency of Parliament
100%     Trident replacement - In favour
100%     Tuition fees - Set Upper Limit at £9,000 per Year
  93%     University education fees - Should be free
  46%     University Tuition Fees - For
  97%     Use of UK Military Forces Overseas
    0%     Voting age - Reduce to 16
  17%     War - Parliamentary authority not necessary
    0%     Welfare benefits ought rise in line with prices

[ragwert]

About right....

[greenknight]

This is truly painful already. No credible opposition ...the worst in my lifetime. I have had my lovely note through the door from Jesse having just come home from Chelmsford where I have never seen so many high street sleeping bags though the numbers in Hereford are growing as is the begging. The roads are in terminal decline yet we are more bothered about speeding fines I just don't get it. Hereford High Street is starting to fill up with the consequences of national and local government, eventually the charities will run out of cash and then the realisation of how bad things are will become visible. Even on this site there is nothing like the range of contributors as seen a few years ago. We appear to be resigned to our fate...depressing.

[H.Wilson]

Well you could always put your trust in this lot 

 

http://youtu.be/rneBbKrVE7A

[greenknight]

I heard the Diane Abbott radio interview..this is one of the more senior shadow ministers in this outfit and of course she has "held" more than a close ear to the main man...shameful.

[Maggie May]

I intend to vote but I am waiting to see who has what policies before I make a decision. Remember that many thought the Brexit vote would be for remain, but it changed. I know that was on a simple majority, but if all our young people turn out and vote, and most of you posters choose not to, then things could change.

My vote will not be about Brexit or Europe but about the future for our country such as our National Health service, our roads, our economy, social care for young and old, and who I feel I can trust. I welcomed seeing prospective MPs at the River Carnival because it isn't about sound bites of a couple of people on the TV or Radio but who will best represent my views in Parliament. Yes it might sound as if I am naive, but that will be my approach. In view of the local situation and nationally I am certainly looking to vote for someone other than the Conservatives as I disagree with many of their policies and what they are doing to our country, and that it nothing to do with Brexit. At the moment I have been quite interested in what the Green Party is offering. Herefordshire has been very innovative on sustainable energy, and making the Country more resilient, which to my view is what will make our economy stronger and protect future generations against the worst effect of climate change.

[megilleland]

From Jesse Norman's website:

 

I’m not currently an MP, as Parliament has been dissolved until after the General Election on 8th June 2017.

While there are now no Members of Parliament until after the election of 8th June, my Parliamentary office can still be contacted at Suite 2, Penn House, Broad Street, Hereford HR4 9AP, by phone at 01432 276 422 or by email via jesse.norman.mp@parliament.uk.

 

So who is running the country?

 

Quote from New Statesman

Practically speaking, for the next six weeks the country is in the hands of a 25 strong club of advisers. Try naming one.

[megilleland]

From Herefordshire Council News - 11th May 2017

Herefordshire Council’s electoral services have published the ‘Statement of Persons Nominated’, which details the constituency candidates standing for the UK General Election on 8 June 2017.
 

North Herefordshire Constituency:

 

Ellie Chowns – The Green Party

Arthur St John Devine – Independent

Jeanie Falconer – Liberal Democrats   

Sasha Rose Alicia Norris – Independent
Roger William Page – Labour Party
Bill Wiggin – The Conservative Party

Hereford and South Herefordshire Constituency:

Anna Coda – Labour Party
Lucy Ann Hurds – Liberal Democrats
Jim Kenyon – Independent
Jesse Norman – The Conservative Party
Gwyn James Price – UK Independence Party (UKIP)

Diana Stella Toynbee – The Green Party

The deadline to register to vote in the General Election is 22 May 2017. Postal and proxy votes can be requested online until 23 May 2017.

Further information about the General Election can be found on the Herefordshire Council website.

Visit www.herefordshire.gov.uk/voting to register to vote in just a few minutes.