THIS MORNING, Canvey residents awoke to find that Dave Blackwell’s Canvey Island Independence Party had comprehensively pushed the Conservatives into second place on the island to take all council seats in the local elections.
On the mainland, the Conservatives romped home, taking all seats and denying Spink’s Independent Save Our Green Belt Party a foot hold.
Labour Councillor, Brian Wilson, lost his seat to the Conservatives in St Mary’s Ward, and the CIIP wrenched Canvey West from the Tories. Overall there was no change in the council’s Conservative majority.
The result sets the scene for more implacable opposition to any majority decisions in the borough – and a Summer of fuelled protest against any necessary cuts introduced by a coalition government.
The island’s results were as follows:-
Canvey Island Central Ward
- Peter James May (Canvey Island Independent): 1,579
- Stewart Topley (Conservatives): 913
- Daniel Curtis (Labour): 421
Canvey Island East Ward
- John Albert Payne (Canvey Island Independent): 1,572
- James Lee Parkin (Conservatives); 1,041
- Alan Curtis (Labour): 402
Canvey Island North Ward
- Nick Harvey (Canvey Island Independent): 1,675
- Pat Haunts (Conservatives): 1,046
- John Payne (Labour): 561
Canvey Island South Ward
- Joan Margaret Elizabeth Liddard (Canvey Island Independent): 1,565
- Mark John Howard (Conservatives): 1,146
- Katie Curtis (Labour): 406
Canvey Island West Ward
- Jane Elizabeth King (Canvey Island Independent): 1,000
- Colin Alan MacLean (Conservatives): 926
- Bill Deal (Labour): 285
Canvey Island Winter Gardens Ward
- Peter Greig (Canvey Island Independent): 1,549
- Richard Bender (Conservatives): 951
- Maggie McArthur-Curtis (Labour): 373
… (07/05/2010) – Bye, Bye, Bob – Hello, Rebecca
… (09/05/2010) – Dave Blackwell: A Changed Man?
… (Ted Pugh, 25/05/2010) – A New Political Era For The Country – But The Same Old, Same Old For Canvey
Filed under: Government, Island focus, Politics | Tagged: Local election |
The Canvey Beat 
Well, that puts pay to MacLean’s and Parkin’s ambitions.
Their “just like them” campaign didn’t help did it Ted?
No, it didn’t, Cynical.
Unfortunately, their Methane Mud and Memories blog became a symbol of local Conservatism – and a focus for CIIP venom, which they were unable to handle.
They gave way to Anne Wood’s threats and then made two fatal mistakes in a single move. They tried adopting the CIIP’s stance on Canvey’s Green Belt, as you say, and introduced the word ‘never.’ The result was that they came across as unprincipled and opportunistic, and what did not help was MacLean being challenged about his CIIP history on this blog – and failing to provide an answer.
I don’t know about you, Cynical; but I found the Conservative campaign to be very weak where I am on the island. The only flyer I had was Rebecca’s – and that left my area’s only source of information as the MMM blog – which went quiet!
And what happened to local policies?
I don’t think anyone can doubt my own views about the CIIP; but at least residents knew where they stood…
I wasn’t blagged by the local Conservative candidate either Ted. And no local flyer from Labour either. All I received was from the CIIP (professionally produced) and the Concord Pool protester’s flyer.
Perhaps the main parties have given-up on the island altogether? They certainly didn’t have anything to say in this local election.
Hi Ted can i just say now all the dust has settled as leader of canvey island independent party i have always tried to work with the ruling group for the benifit of the residents of canvey island .people who attack me dont even know me i have lived on canvey all my life and i love the place and want to help inprove it for the better and i will work with anyone who wants the same .i just wish the leadership of the council in benfleet would except the canvey peoples decision and work with us . and i hope rebecca will to .Dave
Dave you know Rebecca will work with you
.
Now Spink is no longer interfering with the truth perhaps you and whoever the Leader of the Council will be can work together to ensure the Borough of Castle Point is a united one rather than what Spink wanted, The Island and the Mainland.
If you continue with the negative approach Spink suggested the Islanders will never forgive you.
i am sure you will show very clearly that you have the ability to lead your party properly and get what we both know needs to be done, for the good of the residents of Castle Point
bill i agree and look foward in working with you all for the benifit of our residents
I made no “threats” to anyone. The MMM site should not have “pretended” to be a community site, it was always set up to be a Conservative tool for the election. The site attacked the CIIP from the start and Colin then focused his attack on me – as has this site too. I thought Colin was more trustworthy than to pass on my personal email to him. He lost a lot of people with that below the belt action.
I will work with the new MP and whatever councillors/cabinet to get the best for Canvey and for Castle Point. Unfortunately, some of you out there just will not believe me or the CIIP no matter what but that is up to you.
‘No “threats” to anyone,’ Anne?
Yes, no threats. I will not play ping pong with you over this. I made no threats, I won’t be back on your site, I will not waste my time, I thought you were actually going to report things for the good of the Island and for the people. I was wrong.
Anne Wood
Colin Maclean was the instigator of his own demise on election day. His underlying anger and aggression was never far enough below the surface to fool the electorate. People saw him for what he is and also saw Jane King for the hard worker and real Islander that she is – No contest.
The only reason Colin got as many votes as he did on the day was because Ray Howard was beside him.
I can’t find methan mud and memories online – has it been removed?
The MMM site is still there.
Am I right in saying that Ms King has been a Labour councillor, a Conservative Cllr and now a CIIP cllr?
If so I wonder for how long?
Ha ha ha, I think you will find I have posted on the MMM blog since the election so it is incorrect to say that we have ‘pretended’ it is a community site!
As for the post from the lady called Liz Swann (she doesn’t seem very keen on me) I am guessing that she is the lady ‘telling’ for the Indies all day in the Save the Paddling Pool t-shirt (I thought it was a ‘non-political’ campaign??)
Re: her comments I am not sure I can bothered in getting involved but here goes…….
I was born on Canvey so think that I can also claim to be a ‘Real Islander’ and anyone that lives in West ward will agree that I posted more leaflets and knocked on more doors than Jane King during the campaign.
Perhaps if Mrs Swann puts herself in front of the electorate to be judged next time then we will see how well she fares!
MMM will continue to publish community news and views and as reading it is not compulsory it shouldn’t offend anyone else!
I will comment on the elements that matter in the various points made by people on this thread.
1. No-one could have worked harder than Colin Maclean in the last election or indeed all of the elections he has participated.
2.Jane King is and I hope will stay a friend of mine. but on the day I told her quite clearly how dissapointed I was that through a fit of pique she had stood as an independant.
3.It would have been so simple for any administration to have failed to take note of the comprehensive report on the paddling pool until after the election .The Leader and cabinet decided the details within the report were too dangerous for it to be deferred or ignored .
4. I believe the pool should be saved and the negotiations are correctly ongoing to achieve this end
5. Anne dont start this new council year with arguments lets all work together to join the mainland and the Island as it shoud be. CASTLE POINT .
6. the canvey beat is a perfect blog for the Island but i wonder whether it is causing the continued friction between Islanders and Manlanders because of its title ? any chance we can change it to the Castle Point Beat Ted?
7. Spink has gone so no more lies. Lets all work together and create our Borough
I think that changing the Blog’s title would be a little pretentious, Bill.
The fact is: I don’t have the resources to cover the whole of Castle Point or compete with the likes of the Echo, who, in any case, have a duty to cover that larger territory. Also, it has never been my intention to clash with the local press – or start a battle over advertising revenue to fund a commercial venture. So I choose only to cover Castle Point, or indeed national, news, which has a direct bearing on the lives of islanders.
Actually, I was not aware of any friction between mainlanders and islanders – apart from that which the CIIP has purposely manufactured. I know that I did once write a piece from a ‘bog-dweller’ viewpoint, when reporting Spink’s ‘hard work;’ but that was written tongue-in-cheek to lend a little humour to an otherwise extensively boring article. I did not personally receive any complaints from mainlanders, and it was not my intention to be taken seriously or upset anyone other than our then illustrious MP.
I am in the process of winding the Canvey Beat down, to allow me to devote more time to other matters; but, as part of that, I actually hope to provide more coverage of Castle Point politics in general. I’m hoping to be able to conduct a round-robin of the constituency’s wards and also provide regular news of our new MP.
So, in answer to your question: name change? No. But I will compromise and replace ‘Canvey Island’ with ‘Castle Point’ in this Blog’s masthead.
And thank you for signing the petition, Bill. That, at least, makes two of us :-)…
Hi Bill – I have never wanted arguments and still don’t but I also do not just stand back and take it. You should know that.
I look forward to working together, I always have Bill and now that Rebecca is our MP I hope to work with her too.
I never said Colin did not work hard, I have said he should not have hidden behind a “community” site – it is a conservative site because it only attacks other parties, mainly CIIP. I think everyone would be happy for a community site that was not biased.
Anne
Collins – ‘bias’ – mental tendency or inclination esp irrational preference or prejudice.
Wood – ‘bias’ – not conforming with my views
Collins – ‘threat’ – a declaration of the intent to inflict harm, pain or misery – or alternatively a person or thing that is regarded as dangerous or likely to inflict pain or misery.
Wood – ‘threat’ – does not recognise the word – or alternatively does not recognise the noun best used to describe her.
Collins – ’embittered’ – aggravated (hostile feeling, difficult situation etc)
What makes you so embittered Anne and incapable of using the English language properly?
Oh here we go again Cynical Observer alias ??? (yeh I know who)
I won’t go any further with this. My party won the seats and until next year, there is nothing you can do about it other than continue to moan and attack – which I presume you all intend to do.
Good Luck.
Oh the moral high ground from the campaign manager of a party that just fought an election on the single policy issue of ‘Don’t trust the Tories’ fantastic!
I have not ‘hidden’ behind any site for goodness sake I have a blue rosette on in most of the pictures on there and the heading said Vote Colin….. for the last four weeks.
It is still getting hundreds of hits every day and we do not have another election for 12 months so for the last time it is a community site, read it if you want but stop moaning about it!
Yes for the last 4 weeks or so but not from the start- you know that Colin as I questioned your setting up of this site from the site. Anyway, the votes are in and counted and this time we have won the seats, perhaps now the squabbling will stop until the next time round. At least I hope it stops as it has become ridiculous.
By the way – I was not campaign manager – something else you got wrong.
Goodbye, good luck until next year
I assisted Canvey Independent Party in return for their support with the paddling pool. By having a cabinet entirely of conservatives they were the party that made the issue political – The conservatives were the ones who voted for it to go.
It doesnt matter how many doors you knock on or how many leaflets you post at the end of the day the electorate made their choice and it wasnt you!
The voters clearly have a higher opinion of Jane King, they know what she stands for and how well she will work for them – what you see is what you get.
Bill, if the pool was so dangerous why didnt the Council decommission it immediately when the report was produced in August 2008, why let it stay in use for the whole of last year. You would have thought such a dangerous place would at least have had one accident last year, but of course it didnt because it is safer than the open sea and mudflats. As for the reports, they were hardly condemning, in fact I dont think any of them said it should actually be demolished.
In many ways I’m reminded of the current political situation existing between Scotland and England.
Substitute Canvey for Scotland and you will see what I mean.
Scotland has just one Conservative seat in a sea of Labour.
Canvey has just one Conservative seat in a sea of CIIP.
The mainland has a sea of Conservative
England has a sea of Conservative.
The mainland has the purse strings
England has the purse strings.
Telling lies about the Conservatives on the mainland isn’t going to help an Island that has had millions spent on it in the last few years. Some people have long memories.
In fact there is a strong sentiment that says enough is enough we want more money spent on the mainland and less on Canvey.
Not dis-similar to the feeling that if Scotland wants full devolution they should be cut adrift and left to sink or swim.
I can sympathise with that analogy, Turindot; but it is not quite that clear-cut. In fact, the latest Canvey results do nothing more than highlight the current national issue of, what many consider to be the need for, a proportional voting system.
If you add together the total number of votes cast (on Canvey) you arrive at a total of 17,411 votes: 8,940 voted for the Canvey Island Independence Party; 6,023 voted Conservative; and 2,448 voted Labour. But, because of the similarity in each ward’s vote, the CIIP gained all seats.
It is fair to say that the CIIP gained more votes than any other party; but that result does not reflect the fact that only 469 more votes, throughout the island, were cast for the CIIP as there were for the two main parties. That just gives them a real majority of some 2.7%.
No doubt Julian will correct me if I am wrong; but, as a rough rule of thumb, a proportional system would have given the mainland majority a further 6 seats; Labour 2 and the CIIP 9.
But the frustrating thing for islanders is that we know nothing about the CIIP stance on a fairer voting system (the SDP has made their aims clear) – and, publicly, we know nothing of the CIIP’s plans for separation. Again, the SDP are both honest and clear.
Evilc – a contributor to the Echo’s comment section – often refers lovingly to islanders as ‘bog-dwellers;’ but he is not far wrong politically – it is an absolute quagmire over here…