Lib Dem and Labour voters think the Conservatives can win Yeovil
As many will know I have long known that for Gordon Brown to be kicked out of Downing Street it is going to mean the Conservatives winning as many seats as possible in the West Country and that includes Yeovil. Yeovil people are telling us that they want to get rid of Labour and that they realise, however nice he might be, that the current Lib Dem MP is an obstacle to getting rid of Gordon Brown. Only the Conservatives can defeat Gordon is what foirmer Lib Dem voters are saying to us.
I must admit to be somewhat surprised that not only are Lib Dem supporters telling us this but it now apopears that even the Labour ones are. Below is a screengrab of a poll being run by the Labour candidate for Yeovil. What is particularly reassuring for us is that this poll (lalthough a small base) reflects the polling we have.
UPDATE: Looks like my Labour opponent has suddenly lost interest in polls and has pulled it from his site - obviously not a fan of democracy!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=87d98463-ec57-469c-8e48-d9d8cd4e7610)
Entries(RSS)
You will have your work cut out to overturn an 8,000 majority, but good luck.
8,000 was what I knocked off the majority of a Lib Dem in 2005 and that was not a good year for us. There are going to be lots of large majorities fall this election and plenty of surprises.
The '05 election, would that be the area you've lived the majoirty of your life AND still live there?????????
Like the Lib Dem MP and the Labour candidate, I spend the working week in London and two, sometimes three days working on constituency matters. In fact when in London I live a short distance from where the Lib Dem MP was born and brought up.
So your pledge of moving to Somerset is untrue- this is what you stated on a piece of literature.
Absolutely not - still trying to move but the house has not sold. On market for two years. Absolute pledge to have home in constituency. In fact my house went on the market before I was selected as the PPC as intended to move there anyway.
My parents live in Somerset. As it happens the current MP did the same as he moved there once selected so not really much difference.
Perchance in a similar time frame when you lost your seat on Kingston Council and lost the nomination as Kingston PPC?
Not that it is relevant but 'no'.
Curious!
http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/1358635.conserv...
Monday 30th April 2007....does anyone have a calendar?
As previou posters have also wondered what motives Kevin Davis has for coming to Yeovil and his dedication to the constituency. Perhaps "Yeovil pedigree" is a topic Davis should avoid!
I have no idea what you are talking about. The motive for coming to Yeovil is because I want to be an MP, as it is for most people who stand for Parliament in seats which they were not born in - most of them! The current Yeovil MP moved to Yeovil because he was selected to be the Lib Dem candidate and wanted to be an MP, in fact he fought the previous general election in Folkestone. I don't think David Cameron came from Oxford and I am sure Nick Clegg was not born and raised in Sheffield.
Clearly you were rejected by your home town's Conservative Party, and plumed for Yeovil on the basis that your family live in Somerset.
You're a disgrace, and will not be getting my vote.
Given your other comments on this site it was clear you were not likely to vote for me anyway. I also think its a little unfair to go around calling people names when you do not know them.
Actually Mr. Davis, I'm your classic swing voter, I've flip flopped between you and the Lib Dems since '92, so I'd actually think I'm the kind of voter you'd be trying to win around!!
OK.
I guess why I am confused is why you think I am a 'disgrace'. I have been open here about what has happened. Like many candidates you have to try and get selected in many seats. I am sure that the Labour candidate will move on once the next election is over. I am sure David Laws applied for a number of seats before he came to Yeovil, unless it was kept open for him by Paddy Ashdown. That is how our political system works and whilst I am sure we all like to think that all MPs are local people is in fact the case that very few of them genuinely are. The current MP is not local and neither am I. The Labour one is.
I have clearly pledged that I am tryng to sell my house to move here but I am not some wealthy banker who can just buy and sell houses and I also have responsibilities towards my children. I have said that if elected I will always have a home in the constituency and I will.
But not being born and bred in Yeovil does not mean you cannot stand up for local views. The Labour candidate who comes from Yeovil was not born and brought up in Chard but he is wanting to speak for them and the problems of Chard. I am sure David Laws has tried to do his best for Yeovil people but he does not come from here.
Anyway, I am sorry if you feel that way but like many things nowadays sometimes when you are open and honest about matters sometimes it is misunderstood.
If ever you want to meet up and discuss this then I am around the constituency and am happy to do so.
It’s fantastic to hear that any Conservative candidate is polling well in Yeovil. I’m sure that building on your previous experience you will do very well in here. Yeovil has been left behind by the Liberal Democrats and a Conservative from a soon to be Conservative government will have more pull in Westminster than any Liberal Democrat. A great many MPs have previously stood as a candidate in past elections and those that stick with it and choose to run again should be admired. David Laws was “born in 1965 in Surrey. He was educated at St. George’s College, Weybridge before attending at Kings College Cambridge”. Hardly yeovil born and bread. Then went on to become an investment banker in London and previously ran for Folkestone and Hythe. Kevin davis started a business and is coming to yeovil to become an MP and live near his perents. Who more local? Not that it should matter.
"Yeovil has been left behind by the Liberal Democrats and a Conservative from a soon to be Conservative government will have more pull in Westminster than any Liberal Democrat."
Yeh, right.
(1) Brown and Cameron have a long record of copying good LD ideas (after a decent delay, of course!). We don't mind because our aim is to look after the people in the Yeovil Constituency. Its a big team doing that job, it gets done well.
and
(2) Since when did Conservative back-benchers have any pull? Dogma rules how they think and "Follow my leader" is their favourite game. Just look at the clones around Cameron.
Actually, "who more local?", the Labour candidate was born and raised in Yeovil for over 20 years. I think this qualifies a lot better than "my parents live somewhere in Somerset but I don't". I would suggest that Kevin Davis bringing this up earlier in the comments section is misguided since his connection to the local area is nothing to write home about. At best, he currently has the worst claim to knowing the local area.
Of course you are entitled to your option and I mine. I agree that under Labour, back benchers have been left out of the wider discussion. I do think though that the Conservatives and to there credit Liberals are much better at including backbenchers in the process. Often some of the best ideas come from the backbenches. With regards to Conservatives using Lib Dem ideas I must say I often hear good conservative ideas and honestly some good Labour ideas being announced by the Lib Dems who seem to stand back and pick and mix the others ideas. I’m from Yeovil and I would be happy to have a candidate from any part of the UK as long as they have good ideas the ability to act on my behalf. I don’t think the Labour candidate has either of those. It seems though that we will have to agree to disagree on our favourites in the coming election. Happy campaigning!
Of course you're entitled to your opinion! And it was your own comment that asked "who more local?" which belied that you actually didn't have any knowledge of the candidates therefore your judgment on the personal attributes of other candidates is hard to take seriously! Of course now knowing that this is not an issue that you have a leg to stand on on this issue you now fall back on changing tack from "who more local?" to "oh well". Clearly blindly backing a candidate without any basic knowledge of their candidate or the political spectrum and avoiding any kind of high level debate is something some voters will do but the rest of us will use some level of balanced argument in chosing who to vote for.
At the time of my comment "Whos more local" we were comparing Conservative and Lib Dem there was no mention of the Labour candidate, who of course is a local man. I don’t believe it matters where the candidate is from but it has to be said the Conservative candidate has more of a connection with the local area then the Lib Dem MP had when he was a candidate. I don’t enter into any debate without thoroughly researching the topic, I know where each of the candidates are from and what they have done as well as what they stand for. I am not:
“blindly backing a candidate without any basic knowledge of their candidate or the political spectrum”
I am also studying politics and international relations at LSE and have served in Afghanistan. Now you know a little about me. Anon
Kind Regards,
SmithK
Sorry, the question was still defunct. Even the UKIP candidate has a closer link than Kevin Davis. Thanks for the long post, but actually whatever your background it still didn't detract from an unresearched answer with information from wikipedia. Good luck to you and I am sure you are an intelligent person but you can't square this circle so move on.
The information I used was from David Laws own bio on his site.
Thank you, good luck in the future.
I have managed to get to the poll mentioned above.
And theres a message on it which sums up the reason that this thread is spin spin and nothng but spin.
Something the Tories invented, and intend to use.
Thank you for helping me decide who (not) to vote for at the next election.
The poll was taken down some days ago. I don't think anyone, including me, was even aware of the poll until it was mentioned by Torybear.
Will you be informing the electorate of Yeovil of your other business interests outside of politics?
If elected I will not have any business interests that are incompatible.
I currently have shares in a public affairs company but take no remuneration nor have an executive role. My remunerated post is as the the CEO of a charity.
I sit on a number of charitable trusts and public bodies such as the South West Trains Passenger panel and the All Saints Trust. I am also a board memebr for London Travelwatch and receive a very small remuneration for that position but I will be steppingback from that position for the duration of the election and will not be a member should I become an MP. I am the Governor of a school in London which I have been associated with for over 25 years. Apart from the Passenger panel I have not taken a decision over which bodies I might continue to support.
Once elected I have to sign a declaration of interests and would have been happy to do so before the election.
Mr. Davis. Research via the internet suggests that you're now running a public affairs company, not just a shareholder.
Is there truth in this? If not, are you willing to confirm your position with the company.
No, this is not true.
About twelve months ago I was the con-founder of a new company with a friend. I have no executive position and I do not receive any income - I give advice if asked. The company works in the charitable, regeneration and renewable energy sector.
My full time post is as CEO of a charity but for reasons to do with charitable law it would not be right to mention the name of it on a political website.
I guess from reading the belligerent comments of Mister Uppety, writing as Anonymous above, that he's one of their constituency party competitor-paranoid kingpins? Out to try to assassinate the opposition rather than conduct an intelligent or genuine debate? Making irrationally derrogatory claims, which if equally applied to the sitting MP (who slipped into an easy seat with the weighty backing of the departing Ashdown) are arguably no different?
I think, Mr Davis, the patience with which you've conducted such civil dialogue above, with the deliberately antagonistic Anonymous (who, alas, has an IQ score too low to grasp the facts being clearly explained to him) is commendable.
I don't understand their hostile criticism of your residence pre-election.
No one moves to a region willy-nilly *before* they get the job. The current Lib-Dem MP did not, and he fought & lost other seats first, too.
I agree with Nell B, Anonymous is stupid, he claims to be a swing voter in one reply and then goes on to say...
"Brown and Cameron have a long record of copying good LD ideas (after a decent delay, of course!). We don't mind because our aim is to look after the people in the Yeovil Constituency. Its a big team doing that job, it gets done well."
doh...
I had a lib dem call around the other day and they were slagging off KD for not living here and coming from London, I didn't know at the time that David Laws had started out in the exact same position. They are obviously feeling desperate if they need to use low, unfair tactics like that. It is clearly the Lib dems who are the disgrace here!!!
Good Luck Kevin, Hope you manage to boot them out!
Not all the Anonomous posts came from the same author. The one you cited Emma reads very differently from the others so I think that was a different person posting, it is confusing though.
I have a question for you Kevin:
The Conservatives have a very poor record for supporting AugustaWestland and British industry in general, how is your party better placed then the Lib Dems to represent the most important employer in our area given that Conservative MP's are already speaking out against Augustawestlands contracts with the armed forces?
At the end of the day people will vote for who will protect their jobs and livelyhoods best, and the noises many people are hearing from your party is that they arn't interested in doing that.
I am intrigued by your view that the Conservatives have a poor record in supporting Westland - I presume you are going back thirty years to the debate about its future under either US or European ownership?
The current Conservative party, and the Shadow Defence Team, are incredibly committed to the armed forces having a diversity of equipment supliers that does not mean we end up sourcing all our equipment from ovesears suppliers. WA is a premium supplier of helicopters that cover a range of markets from defence to search and rescue. There is one Conservative MP (Douglas Carswell, who is not a senior MP as the Lib Dems like to claim) who has for some time thought that the order for Super Lynx should have been given to the Americans because they could deliver the helicopters faster and cheaper - and of course speed of delivery is paramount when troops are being shot at. The Shadow Defence team disagree with him because they know fundamentally that what is being proposed can not do the same job and Super Lynx is the only game in town.
Why would a Conservative MP make a difference? Well, put simply no one needs to listen to a Lib Dem MP, and they don't. In fact in over 6,000 questions that the current Lib Dem MP has asked in his entire time in Parliament only 22 of them were anything to do with helicopters. Ultimately a Conservative or Labour Government can ignore him and if businesses like Westland are to survive then we need to see the case for them being made right at the heart of Government, not on the periphery. Let me give you an example. I am a huge supprter of the work Westland is doing but I know there are some in the company who are worried about the siphoning of business away from Yeovil to the parent company in Italy. This is not a Yeovil issue or even a Somerset issue but a debate that needs to be held at very high diplomatic and international business levels. That is not a debate the Lib Dems are going to ever be party to. We have already seen GKN ( Westland shareholder) shut down some of its ow business in Yeovil and we must ensure we do not see more of that drain take place.
So, it is important for the future of this area, especially in the dire financial position we are in, that the case is made amongst those who have the power to do something for Yeovil, as opposed to ignoring an MP who just happens to be in the wrong party.
The one same rude Anonymous poster who is debated pointlessly with a few weeks ago, who I took issue with, the one making the personally derrogatory attacks on Mr Davis based purely on his current address (casting aspersions that he has some dark, morally reprehensible motivation for wanting to move to the constituency he wishes to work for if he wins- where his parents live already) & purporting to be the classic target swing voter, is I believe
[Text lost-] I think they're in the Lib Dem team trying to smear Mr Davis for something illogically no different to their own MP's pedigree, a banker from London who stood for different seats till he won one. But they seem to be trying to fight a campaign against Mr Davis based on the fact that he already has the seat & a weekend home down here now bought for purpose. No family or life down here at all! So what's with these daft campaign cards?!
I said..! -I think they're in the Lib Dem team trying to smear Mr Davis for something illogically no different to their own MP's pedigree, a banker from London who stood for different seats till he won one. But they seem to be trying to fight a campaign against Mr Davis based on the fact that he already has the seat & a weekend home down here now bought for purpose. No family or life down here at all! So what's with these daft campaign cards now?
Kevin just curious to see how brave you are, but the "others" as they are descibed i presume were BNP voters. Now we all know the conservative party here will not be losing votes to the BNP, they may lose a few to UKIP but not the BNP. So my point is this, the better Robert Baehr does the better you will do. Laws and the labour fool are leaking votes to the BNP like a sieve. I should know i'm one of the "Others". If truth be told i sincerely hope you do take yeovil, you seem a straight up and down kind of guy. And of course if you do, it'll almost certainly mean we've smashed apart the libdem / labour vote for you.
I think it is probably the case that Labour and the Lib Dems will have done a fair bit to lose their own votes in this area. Labour certainly do not deserve the support of people in this constituency because they have never done anything for local people. The Lib Dems are of course an irrelevancy. This election will be very simply about whether you want Gordon Brown to continue in office and if you don't, then there is only one thing you can do; elect the Conservatives. I am finding that people are very fed up with Labour but are equally coming to realise that the Lib Dems are not the way of getting rid of Brown. UKIP is many respects is the same problem as the Lib Dems. Vote UKIP and you run the risk that the Lib Dems will win in Yeovil and Gordon Brown will get back in. Labour and the Lib Dems would sell us down the European River if they had the chance.
The BNP? I disagree with the agenda that the BNP puts forward on immigration. Putting a cap on immigration is what I would propose we should do but the idea there is some way we can go back to a supposed 'golden age' of Britishness is not convincing or achievable. One of the more curious aspects of the Labour candidate in Yeovil is the way he becomes enraged at the mere mention of the BNP and yet supports a Prime Minister who not so long ago was proclaiming one of the main planks of BNP beliefs (British jobs for British workers) as Labour party policy.
You make some very valid and indeed correct points, about voting ukip, libdem etc yielding a possible labour victory, Heaven forbid they should win again, i think we can all agree on that one.
The "golden age" wasn't a "supposed time" talk to a few of your more mature local conservative members, i rather think they can educate you as to the fact that, that age was in fact very real. This was once the greatest nation on Gods earth, we were powerful, respected,and influential on the world stage, our manufacturing industry was unchallenged throughout the world, we had pride, national cohesion and belief and trust in who and what we were. As for our labour candidates loathing of the BNP, he like so many liberal/socialists still believe we're all neo-nazis. The fact that none of us actually are is irellevant, the irony is his view of the BNP as a bigotted political party, is in reality based on his own bigotry.
I hope you will agree that whilst much of what you say is right it is also true that the world has changed and the reality is we have no choice in that. I think it is interesting that there is an argument that in many ways we still do lead the world with our onnovation and scientific endeavours. Our biggest problem is that we are not big enough to exploit those things we invent abnd in a global world we rely on global players:
Clockwork radio
SMS messaging
The World wide web
The Wolfram search engine
Iris reognition
DNA fingerprinting
Dyson hoover
Nuclear transfer - cloning
All these are English inventions that it takes bigger conutries and businesses to exploit.
I'm not sure that i can agree with your somewhat defeatest approach, with regards to our ability to compete with other nations on the basis of size. Nations such as Japan, south korea, taiwan etc are all small nations & lacking natural resorces. However their manufacturing sectors are powerful, thriving and competing globally. If they can then we can, it's as simple as that. It is poor quality education, a lack of investment on necessary infastructure, a penalising tax system and above all choaking burocracy, state interference & regulation, most of which originates from the EU that have created this situation. To coin the phrase "size is not important"
All the inovation and design brilliance in the world are pointless when you've no manufacturing sector with which to exploit those ideas.
Not defeatist, just realist. It may be that we are not the best placed to develop/manufacture our inventions. We can pretend the global market does not exist but it does and whilst I am sceptical of many of the things the EU does I am happy for us to colloborate on trade - the one thing we have had a referendum on.
any disillusioned Labour voters out here I think need vote Tory this time and be sure we get rid of them at last. To get them out of government the tories have to win. they can easy take this seat if people dont waste votes on likes of UKIP and lib dem. Every year we get same old bits of paper chucked threw our door from libs saying LABOUR CANT WIN HERE wanting those votes. But if you really dont like labour VOTE TORY or otherwise Labour do stay!
Labour can't win Yeovil, even if you wanted them to.
So it becomes a question of whether you want 5 more years of them in power under the obstinately blinkered and deaf to reality Gordon Brown, who'll just head us through chaos till the next election as the Old Labour union mobs emerge (as we see already) disrupting every public sector in succession, or, make sure they lose power for now (only way is to vote Tory) till they re-group without Brown
Labour can't win Yeovil, even if you wanted them to.
So it becomes a question of whether you want 5 more years of them in power under the obstinately blinkered and deaf to reality Gordon Brown, who'll just head us through chaos till the next election as the Old Labour union mobs emerge (as we see already) disrupting every public sector in succession, or, make sure they lose power for now (only way is to vote Tory) till they re-group without Brown
Labour can't win Yeovil, even if you wanted them to.
So it becomes a question of whether you want 5 more years of them in power under the obstinately blinkered and deaf to reality Gordon Brown, who'll just head us through chaos till the next election as the Old Labour union mobs emerge (as we see already) disrupting every public sector in succession, or, make sure they lose power for now (only way is to vote Tory) till they regroup without Brown