Cambridge Conservatives are holding an 'open primary' (caucus) to select a replacement prospective parliamentary candidate on Saturday 12 December. All registered voters in the city constituency are eligible to attend and vote but you need to sign up first.
The short list does not seem to have been published yet, so I do not know who will be in the race, but the place to be to find out the latest news seems to be Richard Normington's blog, where he is running a commentary on the process - one hopeful seems to have declared so far.
Thank you to everyone who applied to be our PPC - may the best candidate win!
UPDATE (Sunday): I have just found out that registration for the open primary closes at midnight on Wednesday. Sign up quickly!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
A Cracking Read
Richard Normington, formerly prospective parliamentary candidate, has continued his award-winning political blog over at blog.richardnormington.com.
Everything is covered, from the Cambridge School Classics Project to the Rump Parliament, and from horseracing to employer relations.
Richard's blog is the place to go for erudite and amusing commentary on politics in Cambridge from an experienced Conservative campaigner. I make sure I read it daily and I commend it to anyone interested in politics in Cambridge.
Everything is covered, from the Cambridge School Classics Project to the Rump Parliament, and from horseracing to employer relations.
Richard's blog is the place to go for erudite and amusing commentary on politics in Cambridge from an experienced Conservative campaigner. I make sure I read it daily and I commend it to anyone interested in politics in Cambridge.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Mill Road shut on Saturday
The Mill Road winter festival is taking place on Saturday 5th December, with the opening at Ditchburn place at 10.30am and will be going on until around 16.30 hours.
Just a quick word of warning however, the road from Tenison Road over to Sedgewick Street will be closed to all traffic from the times as above.
Access to Tenison Road and Sedgewick Street will remain available and the roads off Mill road will remain open but there will be no access by vehicles from the part of Mill road that is closed.
One development being launched during the Fair is a new scheme called Millycard, that will be available from outside Hilarys the Greengrocers. The website isn't up and running yet, but for a fee of £2, I'm told the card will entitle holders to all sorts of discounts and offers from participating local traders.
Your Conservative team will be watching with interest how this scheme develops, and hope it can provide support for the diverse range of independent traders on Mill Road.
Just a quick word of warning however, the road from Tenison Road over to Sedgewick Street will be closed to all traffic from the times as above.
Access to Tenison Road and Sedgewick Street will remain available and the roads off Mill road will remain open but there will be no access by vehicles from the part of Mill road that is closed.
One development being launched during the Fair is a new scheme called Millycard, that will be available from outside Hilarys the Greengrocers. The website isn't up and running yet, but for a fee of £2, I'm told the card will entitle holders to all sorts of discounts and offers from participating local traders.
Your Conservative team will be watching with interest how this scheme develops, and hope it can provide support for the diverse range of independent traders on Mill Road.
Latest Rosenstiel Rage Incident Hits CEN
The latest Rosenstiel Rage incident has hit the CEN.
Someone calling themselves Colin Rosenstiel has posted in the comments to this article:
"There was a time when your newspaper would support its readers who find themselves in conflict with unreasoning abuse of authority by minor public officials. Regrettably you have chosen to further a political attack"
If this a genuine comment from Cllr Rosenstiel then it is a total disgrace - completely unrepentant for his actions that resulted in delays to the journey of many people, and showing a complete lack of respect for the British Transport Police - whose judgement with regard to what might be reasonable in ensuring public safety on the railways I would trust rather more than Cllr Rosenstiel's.
I wonder if Cambridge Liberal Democrats will demonstrate equally poor judgement and carry on as ever supporting Cllr Rosenstiel.
Someone calling themselves Colin Rosenstiel has posted in the comments to this article:
"There was a time when your newspaper would support its readers who find themselves in conflict with unreasoning abuse of authority by minor public officials. Regrettably you have chosen to further a political attack"
If this a genuine comment from Cllr Rosenstiel then it is a total disgrace - completely unrepentant for his actions that resulted in delays to the journey of many people, and showing a complete lack of respect for the British Transport Police - whose judgement with regard to what might be reasonable in ensuring public safety on the railways I would trust rather more than Cllr Rosenstiel's.
I wonder if Cambridge Liberal Democrats will demonstrate equally poor judgement and carry on as ever supporting Cllr Rosenstiel.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Blog Exclusive: What's all this then
I've been sent the following picture, taken on a train I believe at Kings Cross earlier today. It appears to show a certain Cambridge City Councillor, and a police officer. I wonder if anyone can provide a narrative?
Coleridge Conservatives Blog goes from Strength to Strength
Coleridge Conservatives blog goes from strength to strength - in the three months to the end of Nov 2009, unique visitors increased 64% on the same period last year.
Over on the 'Coleridge Labour Update' blog, the latest update is, err, that there is no update. 3 Labour councillors in the ward, but not a single blog posting in the last three months. This speaks for itself as to who is working hardest for local residents in the ward.
Your Coleridge Conservative team - working and blogging all year round, not just at election time!
Over on the 'Coleridge Labour Update' blog, the latest update is, err, that there is no update. 3 Labour councillors in the ward, but not a single blog posting in the last three months. This speaks for itself as to who is working hardest for local residents in the ward.
Your Coleridge Conservative team - working and blogging all year round, not just at election time!
Cyclist vs Driver
Last nights local Inside Out program had a section on the long running debate between cyclists and car drivers in Cambridge - available here on iPlayer for about a week, from about 1 minute in.
It uses cameras to compare the view of a cyclist, in this case Jim Chisholm, liaison officer of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign, and a delivery driver. There is lots of footage of cycling around Cambridge, and there are a fair few clips of other cyclists and drivers that that leave you feeling scared for the participants (mostly for the cyclists).
Overall the report seemed fair on both sides, but if anything I would say it exaggerates the extent to which there are problems - it is a small percentage of cyclists and drivers that give each side a bad name, and the extent of problems can be overstated.
But that doesn't mean there aren't problems. I have the advantage of being both a cyclist and a driver - I drive around 4,000 miles a year, and probably cycle around 1,500 miles. This gives a good insight into both points of view in Cambridge.
Car drivers, in theory at least, need to be formally trained and their costs are significantly higher - this can lead some drivers to assume they have a greater right to use the roads in Cambridge than cyclists. They don't, and sometimes (e.g. following a cyclist who is taking a perfectly reasonable position in the middle of a road), they need to just relax. But sitting inside a comfortable vehicle, many drivers simply fail to appreciate the risks that they are exposing more vulnerable road users to - in how much room they give cyclists when following them or overtaking, how fast they travel or when manoeuvring at junctions. A mindset change from a small number of drivers would solve a lot of problems.
Cyclists on the other hand can just get on a bike and ride off - no training, no insurance, no tax (and quite right too!) - but they also run a much greater risk of being injured in any collision with a car. And in this context, there is clearly a problem with a significant minority of cyclists. There are simple steps that all cyclists could take to be safer - assuming that they must stop at red lights, always using bike lights at night, not cycling whilst on the phone or whilst drunk. But to significantly improve cyclist safety, I think it would take some less obvious solutions. I am frequently in a hurry as a cyclist, and end up taking manoeuvres that if not outright dangerous, with hindsight could be called aggressive - in the same way there is a concept of defensive driving, there are definitely times when my safety would benefit from 'defensive cycling'.
The debate between cyclists and drivers in Cambridge has been going on for decades, and doubtless will go on for decades more. But as someone who does both, I don't think the importance of cycling to Cambridge can be overstated - and both cyclists and car drivers should welcome ever greater take up of cycling. If every cyclist in Cambridge gave up cycling, the results would be disastrous - Cambridge would grind to a halt and cease to function as a City. I don't think cycling is going to be that crucial in saving the planet from climate change, but if every car driver was to take up cycling in Cambridge, if only for some journeys, the roads would be less congested, people would be fitter and healthier, and journeys would be faster and safer for everyone. Which is why I usually, if not always, err on the side of the cyclist in these debates.
It uses cameras to compare the view of a cyclist, in this case Jim Chisholm, liaison officer of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign, and a delivery driver. There is lots of footage of cycling around Cambridge, and there are a fair few clips of other cyclists and drivers that that leave you feeling scared for the participants (mostly for the cyclists).
Overall the report seemed fair on both sides, but if anything I would say it exaggerates the extent to which there are problems - it is a small percentage of cyclists and drivers that give each side a bad name, and the extent of problems can be overstated.
But that doesn't mean there aren't problems. I have the advantage of being both a cyclist and a driver - I drive around 4,000 miles a year, and probably cycle around 1,500 miles. This gives a good insight into both points of view in Cambridge.
Car drivers, in theory at least, need to be formally trained and their costs are significantly higher - this can lead some drivers to assume they have a greater right to use the roads in Cambridge than cyclists. They don't, and sometimes (e.g. following a cyclist who is taking a perfectly reasonable position in the middle of a road), they need to just relax. But sitting inside a comfortable vehicle, many drivers simply fail to appreciate the risks that they are exposing more vulnerable road users to - in how much room they give cyclists when following them or overtaking, how fast they travel or when manoeuvring at junctions. A mindset change from a small number of drivers would solve a lot of problems.
Cyclists on the other hand can just get on a bike and ride off - no training, no insurance, no tax (and quite right too!) - but they also run a much greater risk of being injured in any collision with a car. And in this context, there is clearly a problem with a significant minority of cyclists. There are simple steps that all cyclists could take to be safer - assuming that they must stop at red lights, always using bike lights at night, not cycling whilst on the phone or whilst drunk. But to significantly improve cyclist safety, I think it would take some less obvious solutions. I am frequently in a hurry as a cyclist, and end up taking manoeuvres that if not outright dangerous, with hindsight could be called aggressive - in the same way there is a concept of defensive driving, there are definitely times when my safety would benefit from 'defensive cycling'.
The debate between cyclists and drivers in Cambridge has been going on for decades, and doubtless will go on for decades more. But as someone who does both, I don't think the importance of cycling to Cambridge can be overstated - and both cyclists and car drivers should welcome ever greater take up of cycling. If every cyclist in Cambridge gave up cycling, the results would be disastrous - Cambridge would grind to a halt and cease to function as a City. I don't think cycling is going to be that crucial in saving the planet from climate change, but if every car driver was to take up cycling in Cambridge, if only for some journeys, the roads would be less congested, people would be fitter and healthier, and journeys would be faster and safer for everyone. Which is why I usually, if not always, err on the side of the cyclist in these debates.
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