Some of my work for Penzance or why I'd be an effective Cornwall Councilor

This blog intends to illustrate some of my work for Penzance and to show the kind of issues I have supported and argued against, over the last few years. In this time of great political turmoil and with Brexit looming large on the horizon, it is more important than ever to have representatives that will stand up for issues, knows how to campaign effectively and gets things done. There are 2 sections below; 1 being an effective councillor and 2 standing up for local issues, these are the reasons why I think I am a very credible Cornwall Council candidate and why with a greater platform I could be more effective in making things happen. This is only a glimpse of my work for Penzance East, please read some of  my older posts for more and as always any questions or comments find me on twitter @cernyw or drop me an email robscornishblog@gmail.com.

Being an effective councillor:

I was elected onto Penzance Town Council back in 2013, when I also stood for Cornwall Council for Penzance East. I was elected as Vice Chair of the General Purposes Committee at my first meeting and held that post for 2 years,  I was then elected Chair of the same committee. In this time I managed meetings, held agenda setting meetings with officers and chased up items. A big part of that committee was Christmas Lights and I was pleased to be one of the councillors pushing for the town council to provide lights for Causewayhead, the Causewayhead traders had previously funded their own lights. I also chaired meetings to organise the festival that went with the switch on and working with the Chamber of Commerce, Causewayhead Traders Association, Chapel Street Traders Association and Penzance BID. It was also through this committee that the town council condemned plans to close Penzance Police Station front desk and wrote to the Police and Crime Commissioner asking them to reconsider.

I have supported devolution at every turn on the town council, although I've been reluctant to do so when there was an undue burden on the rate payers of this town, lobbying instead for a better deal from Cornwall Council, some of this is covered in my last blog here. I supported the devolution of Jubilee Pool and welcomed the chance to regenerate the great seafront of Penzance. I joined with town councillors in opposing the closure of the post office in town and the closure of Poltair Hospital. I've been the sole councilor to keep arguing against the use of glyphosates in weed spraying, unfortunately unsuccessfully... so far.

Superfast Broadband, I've always seen the benefits of faster and more reliable internet and welcomed the introduction of fibre- optic broadband. However as Cornwall Council and BT were proclaiming the success of the scheme a number of businesses in the town centre approached me about the lack of progress for properties directly connected to the exchange, months past the scheduled completion date. Superfast had been rolled out outside the town centre but not within it. I quickly took up the challenge of this and spoke to a great number of businesses in this ward and found out that it was a great problem for many of them. BT at the time were trying to figure out how to connect the town center and were looking into frankly compromised solutions such as satellite, which would not deliver the same quality and speed as fibre. Thanks to the pressure of local businesses, the Cornishman and the town council, superfast broadband is now here in the town centre.

One of my proudest achievements on the town council (so far) was to bring the idea to councillors that the authority become a Living Wage employer. With the unanimous support of councillors we did so in 2013 and I hope, set an example to other employers that fair pay is not only just and right but it also helps to get the most out of employees. It was very pleasing to see Cornwall Council follow suit especially as a lot of their workers, particularly in health and social care were paid well below the Living Wage.



Standing up for local issues:

I got into politics as I was frustrated with the state of politics and matters like: the lack of affordable housing, centralisation, Cornwall's under-performing economy and the abject lack of (actually) affordable housing. These problems and the realisation that politics could work better for the people of Cornwall still drives me today. Back then it made me become an activist and I quickly realised that social media and blogging was a very useful way of reaching large audiences and agitating for change and lobbying the people in charge.

It was through blogging that I first appeared in the media. Well before I was elected I was featured on the BBC Inside Out programme, talking about the gaps in the various affordable housing schemes, introduced by the coalition and although the equity schemes were very good eligible properties were so few and far between and there were none in Penzance at all. Affordable housing is a key thing that needs to change and although there have been a few increases in affordable housing availability in Penzance East recently, much much more action is needed.

Wavehub and it's potential was always one of the projects that I always admired, there is obviously great opportunity for more renewable power in Cornwall and looking to the sea to generate power again is obvious. But I felt a great sense of frustration that the coalition government quickly centralised its management but did not want to seem to do anything with it and sat on their hands. So I wrote to the minister then in charge of it Vince Cable enquiring as to what the hold up was with the aim of giving them a kick up the jacksy. The local media picked up on the story and was featured widely, including myself on the tv, this did prompt some action from the government and eventually Wavehub was devolved back to Cornwall and is now up and running trailing renewable devices and we are now back on the front foot with green energy and innovation.

Cornwall Council's privatisation plans, back when the Tories and Independents were in charge, they dreamed up a Shared Services scheme with BT. I argued and argued against this and promoted the petition that was massively successful. However a slimmed down scheme was introduced, the joint Cornwall- BT scheme however was destined for failure after legal action by CC it was stopped and services, rightly brought back in house.

I think I would be a good Cornwall Councillor. I care about this area, I am passionate about change. I know how to be an effective councillor and work with various groups, businesses, residents and other councilors. I know how to get issues that other parties don't want to talk about onto the agenda and I know how to get a big platform through the media and otherwise. Please consider voting for me on May the Fourth and give me a a better chance and a bigger voice to lobby for change, thanks for reading.

Below is a post from the Mebyon Kernow facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MebyonKernow/, check it out for more of the policy pledges that MK is fighting this election on.

Why I'm standing for election, some thoughts about the Town Council and Cornwall Council

This is a blog about why I'm standing for Cornwall Council for Mebyon Kernow- The Party for Cornwall for my home area the Penzance East division. I just wanted to outline a few reasons why I think I'd be a great Cornwall Councillor and I think I could do a lot of good for this town. In this blog mostly focused on the relationship between Cornwall Council and the Town Council, check back for more posts soon. Unfortunately I haven't been able to fight this election in the way in which I'd hoped, my wife's father was very ill for the last few months and sadly passed away on Easter Sunday. My thoughts and attention have obviously been with my wife and my family at this trying time. I mention it, not because I want some form of sympathy, I just wanted to be clear that I've not been as active as I'd like to have been and planned to have been this year.

Firstly, I had anticipated fighting 2 simultaneous elections on May the Fourth both to Cornwall Council and for re-election to Penzance Town Council. Luckily for me, there will be no vote in Penzance East for the Town Council so I'm de facto re-elected, which I'm obviously delighted with. However I think it's a great shame that there wasn't more interest in the election for the Town Council, there needs to be elections in every ward. I think it's rather telling that there are 6 candidates for Cornwall Council for Penzance East from all of the parties (Joseph Bennie Conservative, Jonathan How Green, Tim Dwelly Labour, Richard Goedegebuur Liberal Democrat, Mebyon Kernow and Paul Nicholson UKIP) but there were only 4 standing for the town (Future for Penzance, Green, Labour and MK). This is partly due to the fact that only the Green candidate and myself are standing for both and we are the only 2 Cornwall Council candidates that actually live in Penzance East. Interestingly last time there was a Green candidate (elected) 2 Lib Dems (1 elected 1 not), a Labour candidate (elected) a Tory (not elected) and a Future for Penzance candidate (not elected). Both Tories and Lib Dems don't have a candidate for the town council for Penzance East this time. 

Penzance Town Council is growing in importance, the budget increases year on year the amount of services we provide is massively increasing (weed spraying, CCTV, public toilets etc). As austerity continues and as Cornwall Council's main approach to this is devolution, it is up to the town council to either stand by and watch CC drop these services or catch them. Inevitably the importance of Cornwall Council to Penzance will diminish and it's easy to see that the town council will scoop up most of what Penwith District Council used to do. This is to be welcomed, even if it means slowly un-ravelling the great centralising mistake of unitary in 2009 by the Lib Dems. Devolving services to the lowest possible level is the best approach in my opinion but the town needs more people engaged in the town council and although a lot of great work has been done in the last 4 years PZTC needs to continue to improve. We need to be at a a stage where the town council is just as important as Cornwall Council come election times and to the political parties. 

It's my belief that Penzance East needs a Cornwall Councillor that is also a town councillor to provide more local input and to work better together for the good of this town. On a practical level, it would really encouraging to see the next Cornwall Councillor (and this goes for all of Penzance) engaged in the devolution process between the 2 authorities rather than standing idly by. The failed devolution bid for the Jubilee Pool is a prime example of this and how much work needs to be done to get the 2 councils around the same table on equal terms. This is just one example the story of devolution for this town again and again, PZTC has been eager to take over facilities that are in good order and with some form of funding to cushion the blow to Penzance ratepayers but this seldom happens. 

Cornwall Council's parking plan for the town is another great example. Penzance is a town centre that needs cheaper parking and there are problems (caused in some way by expensive parking in CC car parks) with residents parking. Anyone that lives in this town will tell you that these are the 2 problems and they need fixing. CC plans didn't go anywhere, as nobody was really happy with them, nobody felt they addressed the issues and they were widely seen by people as an attempt for Cornwall Council to make yet more money from people parking in Penzance. Unsurprisingly PZTC voted to oppose these plans. Now we're back to square one and still problems with residents parking. It is clear that local input was wholly lacking throughout this whole process. What we need is to send someone up to Truro that will fight our corner and explain to the great and good at CC what this town wants and convince them that talking to the town council and working with us, will produce better results and actually fix problems. 

In the next 4 years the devolution agenda will continue and we need a strong voice for Penzance at Cornwall Council to get this town a good deal. The 2 councils need to work together better on devolution of services and for decision making in this town. If elected as Cornwall Councillor for this area I would work hard to build bridges between the 2 authorities and not shy away from the difficult work that this would entail. It is for the benefit of Penzance that our voice is heard at Cornwall Council through press releases and public statements but also and importantly in meeting rooms, negotiations and the business of administering and managing the public services of this town.  

Some thoughts on the recent Cornwall Council by elections

Over the last few weeks there were 2 by elections in the space of 2 weeks the first in Illogan and the second in Mabe, Perranarworthal and St Gluvias. I've had some time to think about the campaigns and the results and now find time to write about them. For what it's worth my thoughts on them. I'll talk about each by election separately and then the meaning for the various parties involved as I see it.(I have copied and pasted result tables direct from http://www.cornishelections.org.uk/ with many thanks to @KristoferKeane.)

Illogan:

Illogan was an interesting contest as a by election and there was always a lot at stake for all of the parties and their candidates. In the contest in the Cornwall Council election in May 2013 the Tories had topped the poll, with Mebyon Kernow second and UKIP not far behind in third with a 31% turn out.

2013 Result

Party	Candidate	Votes	Vote %
Conservative	Terry Wilkins	331	28.8%
Mebyon Kernow	Stephen Richardson	290	25.2%
UKIP	Don Armstrong	259	22.5%
Lib Dems	David Ekinsmyth	157	13.7%
Labour	Linda Moore	113	9.8%

The by election result was as follows with a 32.4% turn out:

Party	Candidate	Votes	Vote %	Change
Lib Dems	David Ekinsmyth	277	23.8%	+10.1%
Mebyon Kernow	Stephen Richardson	217	18.6%	-6.6%
Conservative	Adam Desmonde	215	18.5%	-10.3%
UKIP	Clive Polkingthorne	156	13.4%	-9.1%
Labour	Trevor Chalker	129	11.1%	+1.3%
Liberal	Paul Holmes	121	10.4%	+10.4%
Green	Jacqueline Merrick	50	4.3%	+4.3%

I think it's far to say no one was expecting that result, but was it really a surprise? In some senses no, the dive in popularity of the Lib Dems may have been a factor in 2013 but this problem was circumvented by a number of factors. The Lib Dems had a strong base in Illogan winning in a by election there in 2002 narrowly squeezing out the Liberal Party who subsequently took the seat from the Lib Dems in 2005 again by a close margin. Not forgetting the earlier election that saw the Liberal Party's Paul Holmes win (against the Lib Dems) by such a close margin a judge ordered a recount. So although Terry Wilkin's would win for the Tories in 2009 and 2013, it was far from a no go area for the Lib Dems. 

Also has to be considered is the candidate David Eskinsmyth is a very strong candidate. He has a track record in the area, the candidate and their history in the area and popularity etc can never be underestimated. One of my pet hates with an over reliance on opinion polls is they tend to focus on parties and ignore personalities, many people would rather vote for a candidate they like than for a party. 

The campaigning in Illogan was immense, particularly for MK, the Lib Dems, Labour and UKIP. I was only there once half way through the campaign and on polling day. But in that time I saw 10 Cornwall Councillors from the far corners of Cornwall and 3 PPCs for Camborne and Redruth, who knows how many more through the rest of the election period. I don't think the parties had much more to give in this contest and by far the Lib Dems threw the most at it. 

Mebyon Kernow- the Party for Cornwall had a strong candidate in Stephen Richardson, who had a stunning result from a standing start last year to come second. The addition of the Green party, the Liberal Party and a much stronger Labour and Lib Dem campaign than last year, was always going to muddy the waters. I still feel disappointing that Stephen did not win. He ran a good campaign and managed to bring in people to help him, I don't think he could have done much more and stood up well to the impressive might of the Westminster parties campaigning machines. Obviously there was some votes lost to other parties but by no means a collapse in support. There are lessons for the party from this by election. 

Mabe Perranarworthal and St Gluvias:

Again this was an interesting contest with a rise in parties contesting from 2013. Unlike Illogan which took time from the incumbent resigning until the election, the process here was much more rapid. In a peculiar twist John Ault the Lib Dem candidate was the only candidate to stand in both 2013 and 2014 with a 40% turn out. 

Party	Candidate	Votes	Vote %
UKIP	Michael Keogh	413	28.6%
Conservative	Chris Ridgers	410	28.4%
Lib Dems	John Ault	331	22.9%
Independent	Christopher Jackson	160	11.1%
Labour	Betty Ross	129	8.9%

By election result with a 28.6% turn out:

Party	Candidate	Votes	Vote %	Change
Conservative	Peter Williams	406	32.6%	+4.2%
Lib Dems	John Ault	405	32.5%	+9.6%
UKIP	Pete Tisdale	271	21.7%	-6.9%
Labour	Linda Hitchcox	107	8.6%	-0.3%
Mebyon Kernow	Karen Sumser-Lupson	58	4.7%	+4.7%

Again the result was a bit of a surprise and I think UKIP will have been a bit shocked. This was their first by election ever for Cornwall Council and they have already lost one of their first Cornwall Councillors. For the Tories to win was not especially surprising. They held the seat before and were shocked when the previous cabinet member Chris Ridgers lost last year. In terms of previous results, it's hard to really draw any great comparisons historically as the division was very different. 

Peter Williams is certainly a strong candidate, a former tin miner and a factor in their victory. Much like the Illogan by election, this was a hard fought contest, with the place flooded with leaflets, canvassers and teams of doorknockers. We might ponder how the strength of John Ault, who's cv includes lecturer in politics at Tremough, chair of the Electoral Reform Society and being a former Cornwall County Councillor effected the results. 

For Mebyon Kernow is was an interesting election, certainly the focus was more on Illogan than here. Unfortunately there wasn't as strong a campaign here, but a lot was done on a couple of weeks notice. Also we did not stand here before so MK was coming from a standing start. For Karen it was her first time standing and although she works in the division, she does not live there which is never an ideal situation for a candidate. Considering all of these factors Karen did very well and although it is never good to come last in an election 4.7% from 0% is a good result

What this all means for politics:

In terms of what the result meant for the other parties. These elections are crucial most of the Mabe, Perranarworthal and St Gluvias and all of Illogan are in the Camborne, Redruth and Hayle constituency. This is widely tipped to be a close run affair next May and every single party thinks they can do well here. In part both of these by elections were a dry run of the campaigning over the coming months. 

To collate the results from both by elections:

2013 elections      2014 by elections

Mebyon Kernow                                            290                             275

Lib Dems                                                       488                             682

Conservatives                                                 741                             621

UKIP                                                             672                             427

Labour                                                           242                             236

Green                                                                 0                               50

(Please note this is more for reference than an absolute marker. Turn out rose 1.4% in Illogan and fell 11.4% in the Mabe, Perranarworthal and St Gluvias poll.) 

I think obviously the Lib Dems felt the happiest about the results. They would certainly like to see it as a sign things are turning around after the low ebb of 2013 where they did very badly indeed resulting in only 1 Cornwall Councillor elected for them. They would hope that it bodes well for Julia Goldsworthy for next year. It certainly isn't a bad result for them, but it is unrealistic that they could put that kind of time and work in everywhere for next year's poll. But perhaps the same can be said of all parties. Also how much was this a victory for David Eskinsmyth and John Ault and how much for the Lib Dems? 

Conservatives will be happy with Mabe Perranarworthal and St Gluvias and should thank every single Tory voter because if 2 of them had stayed at home or voted for someone else they would've lost. To win it back from UKIP is an obvious psychological victory in their tit for tat battles and they no doubt hope voters are coming back to them. I think they will be less than impressed with the Illogan result to go from first to third isn't good and I imagine coming behind Mebyon Kernow hurt their pride. In terms of next May every vote will count, beating UKIP twice in a week is a plus but I'd imagine George Eustice is starting to feel nervy. 

For UKIP these elections were a backward step. Targeting 2 wins was no doubt a target and ought to have been achievable, holding on to existing voters and picking up a handful more theoretically could have done it. Down 9.1% and 6.9% in a week is a bitter pill to swallow. Is this due to the lack of blanket coverage in the media of UKIP recently? or has this fad passed? In terms of May there was a long way to go for them to win in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle before these results but now...

Labour hmm like most parties a mixed result +1.3% in 1 election and - 0.3% in the other. Combined with the fact 1 result was a fifth and the other a fourth, it's hardly outstanding. But then in 2013 they were last in both results and did not repeat that again, so not totally bad. Pretty much the same comment as for UKIP they might fancy there chances and will try to paint next years general election as there's to win but there's not much evidence here for that assumption. I think they'll be fairly disappointed with these results.

The Green party, not a great deal to say, came from nowhere in Illogan and got 50 votes with 4.3% of the vote. I don't think there was a great deal of campaigning by them either. Hard to know what to make of it for them.

Mebyon Kernow absolutely brilliant result will mean Loveday Jenkin will easily win in 2015 ( ; 

Seriously though hard to say really as I am obviously biased and I do think we can get a good result in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle next year. With a strong candidate, a strong campaign in an area we've done well in the past, we can nearly match the might of the bigger parties. Without that it's much more difficult. There is still a lot of work that needs doing, getting our voice heard and building our profile and support base to make a bigger impact in the next general election. That said, we do have a strong candidate and lots of parts of the constituency, we have got our voice heard and do have a solid base already.

Conclusion

There's lessons for all of the parties in these by elections. Are we any closer to predicting next year's result? I don't think so, after all both areas together amount to a tiny proportion. Add to that the time between now and the election and the uncertainty grows. If we were to ignore these facts and look at the by election results alone it would look like Mebyon Kernow, Labour and the Greens were outsiders and that the age old Tory/ Lib Dem dominance would continue. I think it's safe to say that the Tories and Lib Dems are better than anyone else at running election campaigns and when they can focus on a single area they can achieve a great deal. An article on Lib Dem Voice claims that John Ault's campaign included 10 leaflets and every door knocked 3 times. I doubt this kind of focused activity can be replicated when elections are being fought across the UK and activists won't be able to be bussed in from far and wide. To quote the ancient Greek Heraclitus "You could not step twice into the same river." The same sentiment is true of elections, like rivers everything changes, by elections are unique events and everything is up for grabs next year. 

Thanks for all the votes and support

However I do today I've really enjoyed getting out and talking to people and getting to know this area better. I've enjoyed the lovely chats and cups of tea and I'm impressed the amount of people that gave me the time of day.

Whatever the result today whether I'm elected to both Cornwall Council and Penzance Town Council or it's a not as good as I hoped and I'm on neither, I'm happy with my campaign, I certainly couldn't have worked harder or gave more. No doubt I've learnt a lot about canvassing and about myself.

Whatever happens today (counts between 12:00 and 15:00) I'm already looking forward to being back on the doorstep in 4 years time and meeting you all again. Thanks if you voted for me, thanks if you chatted with me and thanks if you read my leaflets, blogs and twitter etc.

A special thanks to the huge and surprising amount of people that have wished me luck. All those that have supported me online, shared my blog and you tube video I'm eternall grateful. Of course thanks and apologies to my family and friends whose lives have been dominated over the last few weeks and months by this.

Live updates on the Cornwall Council website here

Once again it's been a pleasure and thank you, see you again round folks. Stay tuned on this blog, this isn't an election gimmick this is a year round thing.

A video appeal to voters to vote for me Rob Simmons

Please watch it and vote for me Rob Simmons in Penzance East.