20 March - I think they must be worried
The election is only 48 days away and
my leaflet collection is looking very thin; one
Conservative, one Reform UK and James Hunt. Nothing from my neck of the woods. However when I showed
up in Bromley this morning at some unGodly traffic beating hour, I spotted an
election leaflet in my friend’s waste bin.
(For the record, 24 minutes there and 63 minutes back.)
If it was not for the fact that I knew the name Ian Payne I would not have
known which party the leaflet was from. “Bunch of liars, I won’t vote for any of them”
said my friend dismissively. I asked why. “That Sunil Gupta comes around asking
how he can help and goes away making promises, and then you never hear from him again. Useless”.
So I took the leaflet home to study it carefully.
It consists of four A4 sides and the word Conservative appears only four
times. Once in the tiniest of fonts giving the legally required address. A Facebook link which includes the C word, a small heading
including the name of their Association and a single occurrence in the four pages of text.
It is almost as if they are ashamed to let on who they are. In Sidcup the Tories have delivered
a far more professional leaflet.
Reform UK however is listed 26 times, including the graphics, so if the
electorate didn’t know who they were, they will now.
They are slagged off of course. It is alleged that Reform UK claimed they would
cut Council Tax when in reality they have, on average, only raised it less than the Conservatives.
Bromley follows Bexley with the justifiable complaint that The Labour Government
has lied about the funding formula, and again, like Bexley, are trying to fix
pot holes. The borough has 547 miles of roads and will spend £5 million on them
in the coming financial year; I doubt it will make much of an impression. (Bexley 354 miles and £9 million.)
I think Bromley is in for an even rougher ride than Bexley.
The Reform Members on Bromley Council come in for some personal stick. They
allegedly have a poor attendance record at meetings. It might be true. There
are three of them, all defectors from the Tories.
Sour grapes and a a little bit frit? You may very well think so.
