Matt Bradney reports from the front line on his byelection campaign where the battle with the Lib Dems is as tough as ever
A by election in Cambridge has been called and I have been selected as the candidate. I was a County Councillor in Cambridgeshire before, and was in fact the youngest ever Cabinet member for the County.
I was responsible for Housing Growth and Transport. I opposed congestion charging and promoted cycling. I am proud on what we achieved – particularly road safety improvements on the A1307 to Haverill.
When it coms to housing I agree that Cambridge and Cambridgeshire must grow, but it has to be local people making those decisions and letting the growth happen in a home grown fashion is imperative. I was delighted to see the back of the Regional Spatial Strategy and Regional Government. Any changes should be made and shaped by local people, not faceless Civil Servants.
Sadly I lost my seat in 2009 by a painful 34 votes… Most people, including me, were of the opinion I lost my seat due to my closeness (geographically and being the lead member) to the controversial Guided Bus project.
The election is on the 16th September, and I am absolutely up for taking this seat from the Lib Dems. Cambridge suffers very badly from not having a single Conservative County Councillor, and it is time we changed that.
At the least election in 2005 The Lib Dems only won with a majority of 248 (11%), which I think we can turn over. This division has not been a Conservative held seat since 1993, but due to all the excellent work done in the last couple of years and the success of moving into second place in the General, the Conservatives are really starting to make progress.
I have been out working with the team in the division, East Chesterton, and it has been really positive, mostly… I did have one guy call me a scum bag and try and grab my rosette… but the rest of it has been great. There is a real sense that the Lib Dem vote is struggling, which can only help.
East Chesterton has had a series of Lib Dem Councillors and their lack of doing anything other than trying to criticise the Tories is starting to wear a bit thin with the residents. It is time they had someone who might actually be able to deliver something.
Tim Haire, Deputy Chairman for Cambridge City Conservatives, says:
“This is an absolutely fantastic opportunity to build on the recent success in the General Election. We are starting to make a real comeback in Cambridge, and this would be a huge boost for all Conservatives in the area. The campaign is going very well but we need more help. The Lib Dems are out working hard because they know we can win this one, we definitely have them worried."
I really could do with some extra help on the campaign though. We have had a few out and have been offered help from Bedford and Luton, which is fantastic, but I could do with more. If canvassing is not your thing then I have got lots of leaflets to get out too. I will also need a lot of help on polling day -16th September; we are planning to run a good GOTV. If you can’t make it to Cambridge then I am planning to have a good tele canvass too… We also have a blog going for the area.
If you can help then please get in touch with Matt Bradney at mattbradney@gmail.com or 07739393137, or Tim Haire ( Deputy Chair Political) at tjh29@live.co.uk or 07588381439