AND so we enter April. And so we can say that the General Election is next month.
For the majority of people, the election is far from their minds.
We had 27,000 page views on the site. The majority of those centred on the traffic chaos on the roads. A day, which Ensign buses described as "the worst in living memory."
For eight families, it was finding a home after their roof blew off on Daiglen Drive.
Very few of these people were thinking of how the traffic infrastructure may influence their vote or whether housing defences in South Ockendon may cause them to vote one way or the other.
Without getting all Maslow on you, people just getting on with their lives, from day to day and sometimes, hour by hour.
We think about all the people we saw today, just getting on with their lives in Thurrock. Some living lives of aspiration and some of desperation…
Anyway….we spent the morning down by Grays Level Crossing. Both Polly Billington and Tim Aker were there. Both seemed in chipper and determined mood.
In many ways , the level crossing seems to act as a metaphor for Thurrock or indeed Grays, where people feel a little bit talked at, a little bit "done to". Others may say that there are consultations all the time. Hardly anyone turns up.
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Eric Pickles was in town. He manned the phones for JDP. Someone once said that Big Eck is a hard man to dislike but hang on in there because it is well worth the effort.
Compared to five years ago, there is a lot of ground activity in the JDP camp. At the moment her game face is that "It is not impossible that she might win."
Compare to JDP, all seems fairly low key in the Stephen Metcalfe camp. He has been out but at almost the same sold but unspectacular style that has characterised his five year reign.
A year ago, Stephen looked a wee bit pessimistic but with the whole UKIP/Kerry Smith debacle, he may feel his chances have improved. Indeed, it is a constituency that isn’t attracting a lot of attention.
Mike Le Surf launches his campaign on Easter Monday at East Thurrock United’s ground. So perhaps, we will have a better idea after that.
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