You can listen to the result and her post election speech here:
She cut her teeth as the Waverley Borough Council member for Ewhurst and representing the Eastern Waverley village as an Independent and then as its first UKIP councillor where she soon gathered a small coterie of disaffected Tories around her.
Having been regularly pilloried by her colleagues at Waverley Towers – bit like the way Farnham Residents’ are currently treated, taking over the UKIP leadership will most likely be a doddle.
Despite the feisty Ewhurst lady’s success after fighting and almost winning the Eastleigh Parliamentary By-Election, her Waverley colleagues could not bring themselves to congratulate her, with adding a few insults. Undeterred she went on to become a South East Member of the European Parliament . where she has worked tirelessly standing up for herself and the British people. Her fluent use of French and German has served her and the British people well.
The 56 year old is, without doubt, the first Waverley borough councillor to reach high office. So perhaps folks…. though don’t hold your breath … at the next council meeting when Leader Julie Potts climbs onto the rostrum in the borough hall chamber, she will be gracious and remember Diane James, whose first public service was to the people of “Your Waverley,” and congratulate her on her success.
The Ewhurst villager and Waverley resident will now go on to serve, as Leader serve the 3.8 million UKIP voters across the United Kingdom.
But according to Wikipedia, this woman is not a ‘Ewhurst Girl’ at all:
“”Diane Martine James (born 20 November 1959) is the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and one of four UK Independence Party (UKIP) Members of the European Parliament for South East England.[1][2]
James was born in Bedford and was a councillor on Waverley Borough Council from 2007 to May 2015, when she lost the seat to the Conservatives.[3] She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014. Following the resignation of Nigel Farage, she was elected leader of UKIP in September 2016.””
and…now ‘Wikipedia’ I know sometimes gets things wrong. However, we need to check this? But again from Wikipedia:
“”Early life
James was born in Bedford and educated at Rochester Grammar School and Thames Valley University.[4][5]”””
Ah, but she lives in Ewhurst now, and served the village well for some years. So they certainly think of her as one of them! And many of them, despite the scurrilous personal attacks on her by her Conservative “friends, or possibly, “fiends”” still think of her as such. WW
Well that may well be the case –that you have taken her to heart —but forgive me, this is a bit of a distortion? stretching it, just a bit?
Look, I really appreciate your posts, and it’s great that you are passionate about your area which I know to be beautiful as I lived in Cranleigh from the age of 7 –
I read your accounts avidly and like, it makes me furious when the ‘powers that be’ Lord it over us, instead of ‘serve’ us – which they should see as an honour, not an opportunity to bolster their own career potential and fill their own pockets, and abuse the peasants…
Anyway, it was an immediate reaction, my response above. It is not that important in the vast scheme of things.
Keep up your good work. There are too many people in the UK, fast asleep, —watching their freedoms dissipate, people die through lack of care, and our country, destroyed.
You are probably right – but it is now Ewhurst’s claim to fame, other than the fact we believe Eric Clapton still lives there. Thank you for your kind comments about the Waverley Web and we are delighted you are an avid reader. Our biggest enemy in this borough is apathy. It appears to us sometimes that people are just sleepwalking, totally unaware their precious freedom and local democracy is disappearing. We only write this blog because we actually care. WW
Yes, I totally agree – this is the problem: apathy – that enables the worst type of politiican or councilor or those in public office to ride roughshod over the ordinary people’s rights. Something that is happening increasingly often.
People have to keep defending their freedom, or they will lose it. The trouble is, those who struggle to ensure democracy are often labelled ‘troublemakers’, and its bloody hard work – because so many can’t be bothered either to inform themselves or do anything to challenge things. It therefore falls to the few –who end up exhausting themselves– for the many to sit in comfort and enjoy their lives..
Yes, Cranleigh is an amazing area to live in —and must be protected -by those who care…
I have many times in recent years stayed in a B & B up Pitch Hill–the grounds of which back onto Eric Clapton’s house. I used to go and watch him play when I lived in Cranleigh – at the Village Hall.
WW agrees with everything you say, and we are doing our best to inform. However, are people listening? Do they care?