Angela Richardson the Guildford MP who turns her back on most of her constituents.
Is Guildford MP Angela Richardson inferring that both Waverley & Guildford Borough Councils will do nothing to help Afghan refugees?
At this incredibly difficult time for Afghanistan, this country and the world, is she using the present crisis as a political football to be kicked around her constituency? Please note the last sentence of her letters.
If so – shame on her.
And, shame on her Government as many of us believe it has lost complete control of the situation. As Afghanistan crashed and burned our MP’s were on holiday, and have failed miserably to anticipate the disaster that has unfolded. Our MP was posting pictures of herself in the surf and what she was watching on the telly.
Here at the Waverley Web, we are in no doubt that both our borough councils and others around the country will do what they always do – rise to the challenge. But will they receive Government funding?
Hi Angela – I obviously received your letter too as Leader of Waverley BC, and you will of course receive a reply.
Considering the inaction..actually, inaction is wrong – the negative actions of your government on this matter (having prevented many trying to resettle in recent months) – this letter from you is either massively hypocritical or just outright political.
Waverley will be writing to you and the Home Secretary explaining where we can help but we will be asking YOU to explain what you will be doing to help us help these people that you have so utterly failed every step of the way.
Hi Paul, I wrote to Jeremy Hunt several weeks ago about the forecast for Afghanistan, which happened rapidly over the last week and at times requested hastening the ARAP scheme. To date, I have received no response, which may be due to holiday, but suspect he and the team hadn’t made mind up back then. I am interested in his view as a former Foreign Sec, but surprised by the lengthy time and still no response. I spent some time with the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association ACAA in West London last year, with Rory Stewart, and recommend contacting them if faced with refugees from the region. They are an excellent org.
Oh, these are the same people that have refused to give help to Afghans over the years, saying it’s safe for them and that they should be sent back. An acquaintance of mine was battling with this very government- albeit, under Theresa May or whoever the hell came before her, it’s such a joke these days how many leaders one party can go through in one term – arguing that the Taliban was waiting for him and that he’d be killed if he went home. They didn’t care. They sent him back. The Taliban was waiting and beheaded him immediately. THEY DO NOT CARE, they only do what wins them political points.
Surrey MPs in a bid to protect their backsides have told Housing Secretary the county’s housing figures are too high.
Guildford Borough’s MPs (left to right): Michael Gove (Surrey Heath), Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley), Jonathan Lord (Woking) and Angela Richardson (Guildford).
Surrey’s MPs met recently with the Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick and say they have made it “abundantly clear” that the housing figures for Surrey should be reduced. They claim there is…
“a grave danger that bad decisions will be made on the basis of bad data.”
However, it is widely known that Surrey MP’s are acutely aware that their strong Tory base is shrinking. This was emphasised by the county council election resuts in May. This combined with previous borough council elections when former Tory-controlled councils lost control. The change of allegiance of disenchanted voters has been marked in Waverley and neighbouring boroughs. The proposed changes in the Government’s White paper, which reduces the strength of the local voice still further, whilst forcing yet more housing (little of which is actually “affordable”) into Green Belt and the countryside is proving increasingly unpopular.
With shrinking majorities and with the Liberal Democrats snapping at their heels Waverley MP’s SW Surrey, Jeremy Hunt and Guildford & Villages, Angela Richardson, are worried, very worried.
Publicly, Guildford and villages MP Angela Richardson says she doesn’t believe the Conservatives will lose their grip of the ‘safe seats’ in Surrey. Despite the shock by-election win for the Lib Dems in Buckinghamshire, where she canvassed last month. However, privately she knows her future political fortunes rely on her constituents willingness to accept wholesale development on her patch. There is widespread unease about the number of appeals stacking up on her patch.
The Conservatives’ planning policy reform proposals were cited as a key reason for the result in Chesham and Amersham on June 18 and with development constantly top of the agenda here too, some insist a similar upheaval could be seen the next time Surrey residents vote.
Lib Dem former PMC for Guildford & Villages – who is still Tweeting! Mrs Richardson stopped Tweeting in sympathy for Donald Trump when banned. She has now joined again, saying social media is important during elections.
In Guildford, Lib Dem candidate Zoe Franklin was more than 17,000 votes behind former Conservative MP Anne Milton six years ago. But this margin was slashed to a mere 3,337 two years later when Mrs Richardson triumphed, a trend replicated across various Surrey constituencies.
Mrs Richardson believes the defeat in the traditionally Conservative Buckinghamshire seat will make her party’s top officials listen more closely to the views of MPs on the ground within the home counties. Privately, she is known to have said she is concerned that if housing quotas earmarked for her constituency are realised, she will be in very big trouble. She says, neither infrastructure nor services ar keeping up with the present growth – let alone a further increase. Post pandemic traffic congestion is rising as more people return to work.
However, Mrs Richardson said:
“I am not worried. The by-election result means the party will be listening even more intently to what people like me are saying in places like this, and there is plenty of opportunity for me to make the case to ministers.
“However, the one thing I would do is push back hard against the Lib Dems as in councils across the UK they run, numbers of new houses often exceed the figure required to be built.“They need to be careful not to say one thing to the electorate and do another. They need to be consistent. Everyone accepts we need housing that is affordable in places that are growing.
“If Guildford is dynamic, thriving and has the inward investment, it will create jobs and opportunities and we need to ensure we have houses for those people coming.”
Development is a contentious topic in Cranleigh which falls under Mrs Richardson’s wing. Many residents fume that they are unfairly taking the lion’s share of housing compared to Godalming, Farnham and Haslemere. But Cranleigh and the eastern villages have been earmarked by Surrey County Council as a growth area. They recently kicked out Tory Andrew Povey and replaced him with Lib Dem Liz Townsend. Pictured here yesterday with Waverley’s Leader Paul Follows visiting Cranleigh.
However, the New-Zealand born politician who lives in Ewhurst is adamant that as a former Cranleigh parish councillor, she speaks up for their best interests at every opportunity.
She added: “It is simply because they are in the countryside beyond the green belt and haven’t had the protection so, within the Waverley Local Plan, the village was made to absorb housing that was not able to go into large areas of Waverley.
“Cranleigh has taken a big number of development sites but we are not seeing the infrastructure come along with it. That frustrates my constituents the most.
“Dunsfold is in my patch and was meant to be coming through but now it has been delayed, the concern is Waverley will not have the housing numbers to meet the targets set on them by the government.
“Then, the council will be penalised and have to find an additional 20 per cent. The worry is they will come and have a look for space in Cranleigh again, as the other sites are green belt protected.”
So what can be done to protect Cranleigh now? Mrs Richardson insists Waverley should be looking at its own brownfield assets for building such as car parks and offices, especially to replenish social housing stock.
Two of Angela Richardson’s fellow Waverley MP Jeremy Hunt opposed development on the largest brownfield site in the borough of Waverley at Dunsfold. Together with MP Anne Milton they had it called into the Secretary of State – delaying the development for years. It is now up for sale.
Here she is doing her volte face in the House of Commons supporting the opening of the Cranleigh To Guildford line!
Guildford MP Angela Richardson delivers her Maiden speech in the House of Commons this week:
The Maiden Speech is a conventional and traditional speech that describes the constituency with some anecdotes, perhaps describes the MPs challenges and hopes for the future.
Waverley Web was therefore flabbergasted to see Our Angela pitching the notion of opening the Cranleigh – Guildord trainline, particularly when she said in an interview shortly before the election that she would NOT support it. Re-opening the line was something that might have been possible in 2006, but now seems very pie in the sky. Successive scoping reports from Surrey County Council and National Rail have all said the costs would never be recouped from the passengers of Cranleigh Village, and without a magic Dunsfold money tree, the idea was just a heritage steam enthusiasts wet dream. Even Dunsfold’s Flying Scotsman gave up the hope.
It was a constant fear of her predecessor Anne Milton, of whom she spoke so highly, during her speech, that to open up the railway would open the floodgates to further massive housing development in the eastern villages. However, the Hon Angela claims homelessness is one of her priorities, so the further expansion of housing in the villages she serves could thus be satisfied?
We know that Angela is also yet to meet with Waverley Borough Council chiefs, and presumably even consult with them about this crackpot scheme.
No doubt we will soon hear the Honourable Angela castigating people for using dubious tax dodges, and helping to bring in legislation to reduce tax evasion practices?
It’s official. Angela Richardson, Guildford & villages new MP supports development in the Green Belt and doesn’t support re-opening the Horsham to Guildford Railway line.
Is Guildford, Cranleigh and villages new MP Angela unperturbed about the increase in traffic from Horsham / Cranleigh, and into the Bramley bottleneck, as motorists make their way nose to tail through Shalford into Guildford?
Or, does she believe a railway station would see another explosion of housing development in the eastern villages which will worsen traffic queues?
Now she has put up a People Poll on one of the the Cranleigh Community Boards asking villagers? Do they or don’t they support Surrey County Council’s plans to re-locate two schools. It wants to move the Middle School from Parsonage Road, and the Infants School and a Nursery in Church Lane into a new building on a new site adjacent to Glebelands School also in Parsonage Road. The former school sites would then be redeveloped with 91 new homes: Planning decision here: Waverley planners refuse 91 new homes and send the county council back to the drawing board.
As a former parish councillor – she joined her colleagues in their opposition to the scheme. The parish council has objected – among a host of reasons it is claiming that the development will cause road dangers for children and the public, with a concentration of far too much residential and educational redevelopment in one place in central Cranleigh.
The schools applications will be considered on February 27 and will be recommended for approval, and, no doubt, with the support of Cranleigh SCC councillor Andrew Povey, will be approved?
The homes application which was refused, as it takes away valuable parking baywill have to be resubmitted to Waverley Planners for its approval.
So far, most Cranleigh residents are 66% against – 34% support.
Shortly before the general election Ewhurst resident, Ms Richardson, claimed that the Conservative campaign that the threat of former Conservative Anne Milton, standing as an Independent, splitting the Tory vote. was “not a problem,” and her prediction proved to be correct.
It may not be easy for a Cranleigh parish councillor with little experience of grassroots local government let alone, the hothouse of Waverley Towers, to make an impact at Westminster. However, ten out of ten for concentrating on local issues. WW will be interested to see whether her Tory-controlled county council colleagues will take a damn bit of notice of what she, or the locals think?
Having swung in on Boris’s coat-tails by calling for Brexit, she mopped up 26,317 votes to experienced politician Lib Dem Zoe Franklin’s 22,980. Anne Rouse – Labour bagged 4,515, and Anne Milton – Tory MP for Guildford for 15 years – 4,356. John Morris Peace Party 483. In the 2017 General Election Anne Milton polled 30,295 votes and Zoe Franklin 13,255. So there was a huge leap of faith for the Lib Dems.
Mrs Richardson said voters were fed up with Brexit and wanted it done and the greater certainty would be good for business. While admitting there might be a short-term economic downturn, the longer-term future for the UK out of the EU, was “bright.”
She certainly proved it wasn’t ORANGE!
Although she lives in Ewhurst, near Cranleigh, she does not support reopening the Guildford, Cranleigh to Horsham line to reduce road congestion. She also supports the controversial Local Plan for Guildford and the strategic green belt sites it includes.
So do her views include the Green Belt in parts of the Waverley Borough?
It was fairly obvious to all – that Anne Milton is definitely not a Boris Babe. And, it is also fairly obvious to all that “the chosen one” Angela Richardson is.
Anne Milton The former MP for Guildford, Cranleigh and eastern villages, who is now standing as an Independent was almost swallowed up by the Speakers’ chair in her efforts to avoid making even eye contact with Boris Johnson – during one of the last session of Parliament.
Yes, here at the Waverley Web we watched the parliamentary broadcast as Burly Boris on his way back from the voting lobby almost elbowed her out of the way, and she was forced to sit down, perhaps lie down, we know not. All we know is that for 5 mins she completely disappeared from view, and then appeared with a face like a slapped arse!
Her outburst over recent days underlines her true feelings for the man who may have ended her 15-year career in politics. Unless of course, the people she has tirelessly served decide that her dedication as a constituency MP, and experience of holding top ministerial jobs, and her professional achievements within the health service, can put her back in parliament. We ask, why aren’t there more Independent voices in Parliament – working for US and not “THEM”unfettered by party whips?
Certainly, there is no contest between Anne Milton and “the chosen one” Tory PPP Angela Richardson. A Cranleigh parish councillor, who failed to be elected to Waverley Borough Council and with less experience of local Government than the village delivery man. A woman who even those canvassing for her in Guildford and the villages say they would have much preferred to be shlepping around the streets for a woman they trust – Anne Milton.
A poll of 100 people undertaken by the Guildford Dragon revealed the state of play.
