There are old Tories and bold Tories – but few old bold Tories standing in the Waverley elections.
Part 2. Waverley Election – Part 2.
The largest contingent of wannabe borough councillors will be standing in Farnham.
Cllr Carole Cockburn has been a Waverley Borough Councillor forever – and intends to continue until she drops off the perch she has crowed from ever since the Rainbow Administration dared to take control. With the backing of the Farnham Herald, of which she is such a regular contributor, (it needs to give her a column of her own to rant from. Oops! It already has!) Will Farnham Residents grab her seat this time around? That is the question.
Two familiar faces, George Wilson (Greens) and Michaela Martin (Farnham Residents), seek the other available seat. The new boy on the block for Farnham Residents is Christopher Murray, and the new Conservative girl is Aly Fitch. Who presumably doesn’t want residents to know where she lives in the borough.
The Conservatives were ousted in the 2019 election, but Clare Ovens and Anthony Watson want to give the Farnham Residents a run for their money this time. Labour’s John Gaskell is also competing there for the two seats.
Councillors Jerry Hyman and Kika Myrylees go head to head with Conservative Arthur Forest and William Page. They, too, are coy about anyone knowing where they live or work in Waverley – as does Labour’s Rebecca Birchwood.
All newbies for the two seats in Heath End except Farnham Residents Michaela Wicks.
Lib Dem Cllr Mark Merryweather, who guided the council’s finances through one of the most challenging periods in Waverley’s history – COVID – and the cost of living crisis, seeks reelection as does Farnham Residents Cllr Andy MacLeod, who picked up Farnham’s poisoned chalice of Blightwells thrown down by the Tories in his direction. His attempts to talk up the £57m East St redevelopment scheme have been nothing short of miraculous. He says he has tried to make the best of a bad job.
Perhaps Jeremy Hunt’s Constituency Agent Sean Donovan-Smith will oust one of them and Sarah Austin – the other?
No doubt Sean DV is looking for new employment now his former boss Chancellor Jeremy has buzzed off to pastures new in the Godalming/Bramley/Cranleigh/Ash constituency. Chancellor Jeremy saw the writing on the Farnham Castle walls about his fading hope to retain his seat there.
More to follow – tomorrow.
“With the backing of the Farnham Herald”… guys, please, I used to like this blog! We have given columns to Farnham Residents councillors with far greater regularity than any other party over the past year, simply because they have asked. We don’t close the door on any of our elected representatives. But seeing as you only seem to deliver these pithy remarks when we take columns from non-FR councillors, I think this says more about your prejudices than ours. It’s really not helpful to undermine the credibility of the only truly local (paid-for) media just a few weeks before an election, and is frankly pretty insulting. Or perhaps like the party politicians FR was supposed to replace, Waverley Web just can’t see past the rosette?
We have always had the utmost respect for the Farnham Herald – and have praised its coverage many times over the years. However, it seems to us, and many others, that Tory Cllr Carole Cockburn manages to gain more column inches than all the rest of Farnham and Waverley’s politicians put together. Much of the coverage is the same old, same old rant – repeated in Farnham and in Haslemere Herald. Surely it is time to give her a rest. The lady doth protest too much!
“Tory Cllr Carole Cockburn manages to gain more column inches than all the rest of Farnham and Waverley’s politicians put together” – that is exactly the kind of claim I mean. It’s just nonsense. I’ve just spent 20 minutes I can ill-afford looking back through recent months’ papers, and every week we have carried a column from Cllr Cockburn, there has also been columns from Farnham Residents, Lib Dem, Labour, Green candidates that same week – often multiple. In fact, in most weeks, we had a column or a lead article focussed on Farnham Residents, with no mention of Cllr Cockburn (or her party) whatsoever, so perhaps our unintentional bias is towards the Residents group? So as your claims seem to be completely unfounded, what does Waverley Web (and its authors) stand to gain by undermining the Herald’s impartiality on the eve of an election I wonder? This blog used to expertly sling mud at all parties fairly evenly. That has very clearly not been the case in recent years… A shame, as I really love what Waverley Web does, and it has been an excellent addition to the local political scene. Just ditch all the partisan crap, for the sake of your readers and ours, please.