The school enjoys a lively debate with Jeremy Hunt and Paul Follows
Charterhouse was delighted to welcome South West Surrey’s incumbent MP, Jeremy Hunt(Conservative) and Paul Follows (Liberal Democrats) for the School’s first hustings event.
Both candidates took time out of their busy campaign schedules to attend the hustings and present their policies to our pupils. Sadly, the Labour candidate for South West Surrey was unable to attend, but we look forward to welcoming him for future events. The event was well-attended by pupils and teachers alike who commented that it had been a highlight of their year so far.
Deputy Head Boy and A Level Politics pupil, Oba Agboola welcomed the candidates to the school to enormous cheers from the crowd. The event was chaired by A-Level Politics pupils, Gabriel Brown and Anthony Gosnell, and Year 10 pupil, Shiv Pillai. They all did a fantastic job, asking the candidates questions which had been submitted in advance by pupils and staff and then leading audience questions in response. What an incredible accomplishment!
Hard-hitting questions put to the candidates ranged from the UK’s approach to Brexit and whether trust in UK politics was irreparably eroded in light of recent events. Both candidates answered the questions in an informative, professional and dynamic way, and the audience left with many issues to reflect upon.
Charterhouse wishes the candidates the best of luck as they continue their election campaigns.
Sometimes we here at the Waverley Web think everyone elsewhere in the country believes Surrey residents all live in multi-million-pound properties, play bridge and drink gin & tonics by the bucketful – some do – but many don’t.
Former MP Nick Palmer recently secured the seat for Binscombe in Godalming, along with one of his colleagues. He tells us below why, and how, he achieved his aim.
He says Labour in Surrey! Nothing strange about that…
Since I was elected as Waverley Labour councillor for Binscombe with George Wilson and subsequently joined the Borough Executive, I’ve talked to plenty of non-Labour people, who were not so much horrified as bemused, rather as though Waverley now had a representative from House of Stark. It’s 17 years since we had Labour councillors here, and I’m not sure we’ve ever had Labour Executive members. I’ve met a number of people who say they would have voted Labour but didn’t think we had a chance. “This is Surrey! It’s the stockbroker belt. How did you do it?”
Well, two things.
First, the belief that society should be mutually supportive is somewhere in every human heart, whether we live in a £10m mansion in Surrey or a desperate tenement in Glasgow (and over the years I’ve canvassed both). Life is short and precious, and it makes sense to spend some of it trying to help each other get the most out of it. That’s the fundamental theme of Labour, regardless of where we live. We need to keep that flame of idealism and optimism flaring afresh even in difficult times. More of our lives than we like to think is governed by chance – you and I are just a stroke away from depending on social care, a corporate decision away from losing our jobs, a bad council policy away from ruining our children’s school. Socialism is essentially collective insurance – if we do well, we help out; when things go wrong, we’re helped. It makes sense, even if you’re doing well – because you actually don’t want the world around you to be dark and full of terrors.
Labour has something to prove in Waverley: that we work hard and effectively for ordinary people.
Second, if we accept the principle, we need to try to make it a reality. Naturally, that’s a bit easier if we live in Manchester than in Surrey, but that merely means we try harder. During the local elections, we canvassed every home in Binscombe. Nobody else bothered. That doesn’t mean they were bad candidates: they put forward their views in leaflets and let people decide, and that’s fair enough. But Labour has something to prove in Waverley: that we work hard and effectively for ordinary people. And without being nasty about past council majorities, it does strike us that a little fresh energy and commitment is not a bad thing.
I’m not a fanatic about politics – I socialise, pursue a full-time managerial job, play poker, write books about board games, enjoy life. But I do think that a life worth living should contain a chunk of effort to make the world around us a better place, with more compassion at home and more solidarity globally. Labour doesn’t always get it right (Iraq! PFI!), but its virtue is consistency: a steady dedication to do our best to make life a little better and more hopeful for everyone – not just those who have rolled a double six in the snakes and ladders of our puzzling world.
I was an MP for Broxtowe for 13 years, the only Labour MP the seat has ever had, and when I moved to Surrey it was natural to keep going. The local Labour Party is thriving with the largest membership for many years, and I hope that many Waverley Web readers will join. Living in Surrey doesn’t mean that you give up on working for social justice. It just makes it more fun when you win. And then, of course, you’ve got to show that it really makes a difference. Watch this space!
PS “If people want to join Nick’s email list for updates, he’s on nickmp1@aol.com.” He is trying to build up a borough-wide list of people to keep updated on what’s happening – not a party political thing.”
WW thinks Labour also had a little help from its friends. Surely the Compass political Alliance had something to do with it?! No Lib Dem or Greens stood in this ward.
A little more about one of our new Waverley councillors. We would like to hear from more?
Always nice to have the Deputy Leader in the centre! Can you spot who is really in charge?
The new Rainbow Coalition Executive of Farnham residents, Liberal Democrats, a Green and amazingly a Labour Councillor. In Waverley! Here’s the momentouspress release. We say momentous, as for the first time it includes quotes from all Group Leaders! Apparently, the Leader and Deputy Leader roles will ROTATE every year. Now that’s got our heads spinning!
Farnham Residents – John Ward – Leader (Farnham) Liberal Democrats – Paul Follows – Deputy Leader (Godalming) Farnham Residents – Andy Macleod – Planning & Policy Services (Farnham) Farnham Residents – David Beaman – Health Wellbeing & Culture (Farnham) Farnham Residents – John Neale – Place Shaping, IT & Customer Services (Farnham) Liberal Democrats –Anne-Marie Rosoman – Housing and Community Safety (Godalming) Liberal Democrats –Mark Merryweather – Economic & Community Development (Farnham) Green Party –Steve Williams – Environment & Sustainability (Godalming) Labour Party– Nick Palmer – Operational and Enforcement Services (Godalming)
Liberal Democrats – Chair of Joint Planning – A Cranleigh Lib Dem to be nominated.
We understand the Rainbow Alliance offered an Exec seat to the Tories, but they declined. They liked the idea of 4 more years playing childish opposition politics rather than grown up co-operation.
Here at the Waverley Web, we are seriously impressed with some of the new intake, Labour’sNick Palmerwas MP for Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire (1997 – 2010) before losing to Anna Soubry, with plenty PPS experience in the Dept for Environment, Dept of Trade and Industry and Business. We believe he currently works for Compassion for World Farming in Godalming.
The Green’s Steve Williams was a former Labour activist, expelled from the party (one of the Godalming 3) for supporting Dr Louise Irvine in the General Elections. He seems to be chair ofThe South West Surrey Compass, the brains behind the cross-party campaigning which has eventually been so effective in sweeping away the Tories. Their catchphrase is: “Southwest Surrey Compass is part of a national organisation which aims to be ‘the home for everyone who wants to be part of a much more equal, democratic and sustainable future’.
Steve Williams is a co-editor of the book ‘A New Way of Doing Politics’ alongside Louise Irvine, Susan Ryland and Penny Rivers. Available in all good Waterstones here!
This election was prompted by the sudden resignation of Godalming Town Council Mayor, and Tory Waverley Borough Councillor Simon Thornton for undisclosed ‘personal reasons.’ Reasons, that the whole town is talking about!
In our efforts to ensure you know who you are voting for … some, despite our repeated attempts, haven’t so far provided information… we are featuring here Lewis Curtis the Labour man standing for the Godalming Town Council seat.
Lewis, who has lived in the Godalming area his whole life, says:
‘I am committed to doing everything in my power to making sure everyone has a voice in our community.
I have lived in a council house for most of my life, so I understand the importance of social housing, and investing in it. I will make sure the people have someone to fight for them on this issue.
I am a blue badge holder as I was born with a physical disability, and I understand the importance of this scheme. Blue badges allow people to live independent, active lives and to access the community and its facilities. Having a disability has a financial impact on day to day life which can be costly, and free parking is an essential, not a luxury.
It will be an honour to be elected as your local councillor.’
Mr Lewis might be interested in reading our blogs on the disabled parking charges that have been imposed and the problems faced by the disabled in flashing their cash in the borough’s car parks!
“Southwest Surrey Compass is part of a national organisation which aims to be ‘the home for everyone who wants to be part of a much more equal, democratic and sustainable future’.
