A FEW OF our avid readers have commented that our coverage of the elections has been a tad lop-sided of late. In short, a Labour love-in.
Fair criticism. I think over the years, we have given Labour a fair amount of scrutiny. We have highlighted that John Kent seems a very able leader but that some of his colleagues are concerned that he is too much like an officer.
The clan-ishness of Labour with a lot of married couples being councillors seems a little too parochial and in general and by Labour’s own admission, the standard of candidate in Thurrock is far below that in Basildon and Harlow, who seemed to have developed a new strata of candidates.
Much to our disappointment, Ockendon councillor Aaron Kiely has been a public relations disaster and Tilbury’s Claire Baldwin, not much better.
We also happen to think that the Labour cabinet has a very long tail indeed.
We have already published a number of pieces on the Lib-Dems and continue to admire UKIP (interviews in diary) for their continued growth in the borough.
As for the Conservative group. We have been informed that the candidates are not available for interview as they are not satisfied as to our level of accreditation.
We were not invited to the manifesto launch. We spoke to the Tory leader, cllr Phil Anderson who said it was not his decision.
We were sent a series of questions about our “authorisation” by the campaign organiser, cllr Mark Coxshall.
That’s it folks. We are conscious of not crossing the “becoming the story” line.
It is a shame. There are people, we have come to know over the years. Those we have shared a beer with or chatted on the phone to at length and often not about politics.
We have had to remind Tory candidates, who try to make comments on the site anonymously, that they are not supposed to be interacting with a site they don’t recognise…..remember, you are all in this together.
Onward and upwards with the candidates we can interview.
As I’ve said before……Our local Tories are getting very nervous about the forthcoming local elections.
They know that the electorate tend to vote with national issues in mind as well as local.
Whatever the excuses for the present situation, Labour and the other parties realise that this is a crucial year and opportunity for them.
Whether they are available for interview or not, you can bet your bottom dollar they will be reading the site’s every word, and watching all interviews with Labour, Lib Dem or UKIP candidates!
It is disappointing from the Tories, and for any candidate or party who declines to give an online interview – in a media age where people are increasingly selective over which media they choose, selecting their own channels as opposed to traditional print (or leaflets through the door at election time), or in a world where we are often busy so that we miss any calls on the door from candidates, not to have the opportunity to be able to get a feel for a potential councillor and local representative.
The choice in Thurrock has never been more difficult – a sensible and strong Conservative MP in Jackie Doyle Price compared to a Tory group which locally were a disaster for Thurrock,versus a Labour Party which is totally unimpressive nationally and responsible for a lot of the problems we face but locally has done a better job than the Tories and at least has “steadied the ship”. So more than ever the election will be down to the best person for the job – even more reason for each party to keep democracy and independent media alive locally and put their candidates up for interview.
I cannot believe that the local tories will not comment on a site that is read by their local constituents, come on Cllr Anderson sort it out, let your public know what is going on rather than sitting behind closed doors
thurrock tories seem to be a bunch of weirdos.
Conservatives self-fulfilling prophecy that Mr Casey is biased against the Conservatives.
First ban all the Conservative candidates from speaking to YourThurrock.
YourThurrock can only interview Labour, LibDem and UKIP candidates.
Then start complaining that YourThurrock is biased towards Labour – because they haven’t got any stories about the Conservatives.
Lambo you cant seriously think this is anything to do with Cllr Anderson. This veto is the work of JDP`s bag man and Tory leadership contender Mark Coxshall.
If you want to hear what they have to say, open your door and grab a leaflet. When you’ve no candidate to open the door for, they don’t really deserve to get elected in the first place.
Abbie, in the past 10 years I recall only ever seeing one candidate at my doorstep, the local election candidates are getting very lazy and just rely on you to vote as you normaly do….
The Tories are shooting themselves in the foot. They should speak to YT no matter what they may think of it. YT has a large readership so it is a good vehicle to use for getting points across. If they are worried that there may be some kind of bias going on they shouldn’t. The people that visit YT are quite capable of making up their own minds about the issues that are presented therein.
Then maybe because of this, you will end up seeing more candidates on the doorstep. If there’s no interviews, they’ll find another way to get their message across, most probably through more intense campaigning. Maybe now many candidates are becoming too reliant on interviews, taking too much advantage of YT’s massive readership.
Perhaps the real reason mr casey thurrock tories don’t want to be interviewed by you in case you ask them about the youtube video Thurrock planning the wrong way on Youtube have a look you won’t believe it!!!!! Joy redsell upto her old tricks once again, this woman could teach markcockshaw a few things.
Discusted
Georgy!
Come on Phil let them speak. Even the NF are trying to communicate via their lost generation.
Georgy just watched it , a bit hard to find but this woman is completely out of control. Does any one in Thurrock council legal department have any comment or Cllr Anderson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTau7lBo7oc