Thursday, 26 February 2015

KENSINGTON HAS A BATTLE ON ITS HANDS.....WITH CONSERVATIVE HQ!

INCOGNITO DAME
The veiled and refined old lady could have been any one of those elegant ladies who potter around  Kensington Gardens with their companions.
Little did the Conservative bigwigs know the Dame herself had infitrated their meeting. 
She brings you this report.....


.....An open selection for Kensington's next Member of Parliament will take place on the evening of Friday 13th March when a short list of three candidates will pitch for the job at a meeting of Kensington Tories. 
More than 500 of the Association's 1700 membership are expected to attend and vote.
So far so good. 
But, between now and then a Borgia type process to produce the short list of three candidates will take place.
The local Conservative Association is on the back foot with power concentrated in Conservative HQ. 
It has its "approved" Candidates List and hopefuls will be decided from this list. About 200 of the "listed" are expected to apply and Central Office (Grant Shapps and the Chairman of The List) will produce a short list of six. 
It is only at this stage the Kensington Association will have the first chance to take part in the process by choosing the final short list of three candidates. 
The Kensington Association has let it be known that it hopes to be given six candidates-all with a local connection. Estimates are that approximately forty people on the list fit this bill.

This is a bonkers process and has no relationship to the empty word "localism" so often on the lips of David Cameron. When will our political Leaders "get it" and start to understand voters are sick and tired of being used as cannon fodder to shelter favourites? 
Kensington wants its own home grown MP. 
Not someone from Surrey. Or even Fulham. 
We have had outside celebrities forced on us in the last thirty or years and enough is enough.

THE DAME'S NEW BF
The new Association Chairman, Cllr Mills, has a fight on her hands. 
She needs to take a high profile in the world of affairs and articulate the Kensington View: "A local MP for Kensington". 
Nothing more, nothing less. 
And the Association has its own internal muddle to sort out. Its 1700 members include Chelsea and Fulham, who have their own Member of Parliament. 
Greg Hands's lot should have nothing to do with the election of a Kensington MP. 
WANDERING DIGITS
And Kensington is currently crawling with Fulham types who are just not welcome. 
They are just not couth and lower the tone.

 Atypical was hideous, triple chinned Stephen Greenhalgh. Steve is the one whose fat little fingers didn't touch a ladies bottom-even if he apologised that they may have.....
They were all over the place at the Association AGM.
God knows what My Lord Cumudgeon thought of it all....

Locals who have declared are....

Jonathan Read
Victoria Borwick
Rock Feilding Mellen
Mary Weale
Daniel Moylan
Greg Smith.....not really local
Warwick Lightfoot
Quentin Marshall

plus sundry others from neigbouring constituencies

35 comments:

  1. Anonymous26 February 2015 at 21:51

    Rock Feilding Mellen and Jonathon Read!! What a joke. Won't even comment on HMRC Marshall....

    ReplyDelete
  2. K26 February 2015 at 22:19

    There are only a couple of people on this list who aren't delusional about their abilities or seriously compromised by his past indiscretions.
    Can't we make this an all-woman short list?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Observer26 February 2015 at 22:19

    Dame, we know it is late in the evening for you. But Greg Smith is not a local. He lives in the Fulham Road. And is a Hammersmith and Fulham Councillor. Nothing whatsoever to do with Kensington!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Dame's Night Duty Nurse26 February 2015 at 22:25

      The Dame is asleep having had her Ovaltine

      Delete
  4. Anonymous26 February 2015 at 22:28

    Good grief! Is that the best they can do? With Victoria Borwick the sole and very clear exception, they're a pathetic shower. Lightfoot screams at any resident with an opinion and Moylan is just a bully. Read and Mellen routinely offend everyone and Mary Weale is not remotely up to it. Never even heard of Marshall or Smith.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous26 February 2015 at 23:02

      Feilding Mellen???? Who on earth does he think he is? All that drilling must have gone to his head.

      Delete
  5. Fly On The Wall26 February 2015 at 23:57

    There is a new broom in the Association (Chairman Julie Mills) and her largely new Executive Committee that includes Sarah Pascall (Fundraising), Andrew Foster (Campaigning), Gareth Davies (Treasurer) and old hand Cllr David Lindsay (Kensington Office). It is this group who will choose the final short list of three candidates from the Central Office list of six. If Cllr Mills can build a team of these people in the next couple of weeks they should be more than capable of the final slimming down to three. Gareth Davies knows the ropes, having fought Doncaster Central in 2010, achieving a 9% swing to the Tories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Angry Tory27 February 2015 at 00:09

      The Central Office list of six candidates will be declared on Tuesday 10th. Kensington is out of the loop until this date - Central Office will be wielding its power without the "nuisance" of the local Association. This is a most appalling abuse of power - a democratic deficit. It is between now and then that Cllr Mills (the new Chairman of the Kensington Association) needs to use every ounce of her formidable skill and advocacy to marshal the press behind her and force a way into the selection process. It is our Borough, our future and our residents. The "list" should be Kensington's to choose from. We are not a feather bed for outsiders

      Delete
    2. Up Kensington27 February 2015 at 08:17

      Gareth Davies, the new Member of the Conservative Association Executive, is just the sort of person who should be applying for the MP vacancy. He lives in the Borough, has made a big contribution to serving Kensington residents (see his cv for election to the Executive), is on the Candidates List, and has fought Doncaster Central.

      Gareth, you have until Tuesday next week to put your hat in the ring.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous27 February 2015 at 00:10

    I was impressed by Andrew Foster's running of the Earls Court campaign. And Chelsea and Fulham members will play no part in the process. Just as they played no part in Malcolm's re selection in 2013 at the same meeting Greg was re selected with Kensington members playing no part.

    Victoria Borwick and Greg Smith seem the early favourites with Charlotte Vere who stood in 2010 against Caroline Lucas also a contender.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Owl27 February 2015 at 00:13

    Phew. Cllr Mills has her hands full

    ReplyDelete
  8. Retired Chief Executive27 February 2015 at 00:30

    In situations like this the Kensington Association may not be as weak as it first appears. The timing of Sir Malcolm's resignation, just before a General Election, is unprecedented. There are no precedents for performing such a complex and power charged selection process in such a short space of time. Cllr Mills and her token selection committee are new - no favours to be called in. They can use elbows. And the press are always on the look out for a fight.

    The first thing that Cllr Mills needs to be crystal clear about is what her Kensington residents want. A celebrity? A past glory? A local? After this, her priority is to get control of the short list selection. She urgently needs to decide whether her campaign will be a full frontal attack or an indirect approach using the considerable influence of certain Kensington residents in Central Office. It is a crucial decision.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous27 February 2015 at 00:41

    Read, Borwick, Mellen, Weale, Moylan, Lightfoot and Marshall are all serving Councillors or ex Councillors who have worked hard and diligently in the Borough. There are perhaps another forty names on the Central Office list who also live in Kensington, many of whom have never lifted a finger in the service of Kenisngton residents. Cllr Mills and her committee need to think very carefully about this and decide what weight should be given to newcomers and outsiders.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Admirer of the Dame27 February 2015 at 07:31

    00.41, I think someone spiked your drink - Read, Mellen, Moylan, Marshall 'worked hard and diligently'? If that's what you truly think, you should get what you deserve.

    THE DAME FOR MP!

    She has undoubtedly worked hard and diligently, has uncovered some terrible dark secrets and despatched their perpetrators.

    Come on Dame, this would surely be the pinnacle of your achievements, you'd walk it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jaundiced Tory27 February 2015 at 12:04

      I am sick and tired of hearing at election after election, the words from eager and ambitious hopefuls limbering up for a Selection Board "I am the Prime Minister's favoured candidate".

      There are times when I think that even the Dame might be preferable

      Delete
    2. Anonymous27 February 2015 at 13:27

      How dare you! If the Dame were not 97 she would be delighted to enter Parliament

      Delete
  11. Kensington Tory27 February 2015 at 08:11

    Cllr Mills and her team have the nuclear option. They can reject all of the list of six candidates prepared by Central Office. If this means going into a General Election without a Tory candidate, and a Lib Dem or Labour MP (or UKIP) is elected for four years, so what? What difference would it make to Kensington? Not much. We would still have a Conservative Council. And the certainty of a Tory MP with a 70% majority at the General Election after.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Retired Chief Executive27 February 2015 at 08:40

      A democratic selection could be very straightforward

      STEP 1. People on the Candidates List invited to put their names forward. (Central Office to do)

      STEP 2. All persons in the "Interested List" who are not on the Electoral Register for the Kensington Constituency put aside. (Kensington Association to do)

      STEP 3. A numerical score (1 to 10) awarded to surviving candidates for two criteria with a 50/50 weighting for each. The score for service to date (the first criterion) for Kensington residents. The score for respect for the candidate (the second criterion) by Kensington residents. The top three overall scores form the provisional short list for open selection on Friday 13th March. (Cllr Mills Selection Committee to do)

      STEP 4. Final review of short list of 3 and possibility of making exceptions with reference to the list of all who applied for the vacancy. (Cllr Mills Selection Committee and Central Office to do).

      STEP 5. Open Selection of final list of three candidates on Friday 13th March. All persons on the Electoral Register for the Kensington Constituency and also members of the Conservative Association entitled to vote. (Conservative Association to organise)

      Delete
  12. Angry Tory27 February 2015 at 08:49

    What a low class presence from the odious Greenhalgh at the Kensington Association AGM! The man was billed as a platform speaker, the meeting started at 7.00pm but he arrived late at 8.00pm and the Chairman (Earl Cadogan) had to tread water waiting for him. When the dreadful man climbed on to the platform (no bottoms to pinch, unfortunately) he did not even have the grace to salute the Chairman. And then rambled on about how great the Mayor is and how great Greenhalgh is.

    What a prat. Why on earth was he invited to the Kensington Association!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ian Henderson27 February 2015 at 10:27

    i think Victoria Borwick would make an excellent MP for K and C . Diligent , Hardworking and Approachable . Best of British Victoria.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous27 February 2015 at 12:51

      Cllr Palmer(for you so love to use your appendage!) the Dame has removed your comments about Cllr Borwick. It's rare for the Dame to delete comments- except when they become defamatory....yours were. Were I Cllr Borwick I would be asking the Dame for the IP address and then suing your ample backside.
      The reality is just you have this opinion of Cllr Borwick. Colleagues on all sides are bored with your petty vendetta. Go and find a hobby or set up another councillor training programme to replace the one that flopped.
      You are a grave embarrassment to your leader, Nick Paget-Brown- a man of integrity.

      Delete
    2. Shane Carter1 March 2015 at 17:27

      I agree Victoria Borwick would be an excellent MP for Kensington; a hardworking, straightforward, honest local politician- what you see is what you get.

      Councillors of all political parties in K&C would do well to emulate her qualities.

      Delete
  14. Wasp27 February 2015 at 12:01

    I am sure that the Candidate's Office could produce an "A List" of highly bred racehorses for Kensington to choose from. But not much use to Kensington if what we want is a top of the range sheep dog. Cllr Mills needs to get on her skates. What is the brief?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. North Kensington Resident27 February 2015 at 12:11

      The Telegraph today breaks the news that Jihad John who has been beheading hostages as part of the Isis terrorist campaign is an Islam extremist from Ladbroke Grove, Kensington. Ladbroke Grove and its mosque in Kensington is reported to be a hotbed of extremist activity. For the last thirty years the Kensington MPs from Central Office never went near the place. Did not even know where North Kensington is. What we need is an MP who will spend time there, build relationships, understand the issues, make a plan and mobilise resources. Race horses need not apply.

      Delete
  15. Fly On The Wall27 February 2015 at 12:58

    Its Official. There are 51 candidates on the Central Office Candidates List who live in Kensington

    ReplyDelete
  16. Tired Tory27 February 2015 at 13:06

    North Ken resident, you are misinformed. He lived in Queen's Park, attended schools in Westminster where he was a decent student, and was apparently radicalised while attending an East London mosque when a student.

    But let's not bother with the facts, spreading lies is much more exciting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. North Kensington Resident27 February 2015 at 13:56

      Thank you Tired Tory. I stand corrected. Its what I read in the Daily Telegraph today. And the Times today also reminds us of that big police operation in 2005 to arrest those two Moroccan terrorists in Delgano.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous27 February 2015 at 15:03

    Shaun Bailey would make a great Kensington candidate. Even more so for the fact that he was born in North Kensington - a TRUE LOCAL CANDIDATE! He could well increase the 8,600 majority (which is miserly if Kensington Conservative Association is honest with itself!). in the part of Kensington that we need to get on our side.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous27 February 2015 at 20:07

      He needs to learn to shut up and listen from time to time.....

      Delete
  18. Annie Redmile, writer, community activist27 February 2015 at 21:01


    Just how many more names are going to be added to the list of people who want to stand for our Kensington seat at the next election? Note the word 'our'. We don't want a lot of strangers - celebrity or otherwise - forced on us. We have the perfect candidate in Victoria Borwick. She is very hard working, warm and able and knows our borough backwards. Her experience as Deputy Mayor of London can only add to her suitability. I feel a petition coming on!'

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous28 February 2015 at 16:52

    Sadly, Julie does not want Victoria as our MP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kensington Tory1 March 2015 at 18:21

      "Julie" is Chairman (Cllr Mills) of the Kensington Association Selection Panel. She is a professional to her finger tips and would not let her preferences be known. Whether she is personally for or against Cllr Borwick is irrelevant. She and her panel will judge applicants on their merits. Exactly as it should be.

      This comment sounds like a Cllr Palmer attempt (again) to brief against Cllr Borwick. Pathetic.

      Delete
    2. Kensington Tory2 March 2015 at 21:47

      We don't like Fulham types. Or Hammersmith types. Thats why we live in Kensington.

      Delete
    3. Lord Kensington's nephew2 March 2015 at 23:28

      Yes, they all wear those ridiculous Hunters instead of Argyll wellingtons and are very noisy...quite ghastly

      Delete

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