Tracey Crouch

Helping Rochester

2009-07-04T17:03:00.002+01:00

We took time out from our own campaign in Chatham & Aylesford this morning to help colleagues in Rochester & Strood deliver their latest In Touch. It was nice to lend them a hand since they often provide us with help, especially if we have a big delivery, but boy were we hot afterwards. The landlady of the house designated as today's HQ clearly didn't know what had hit her when we all arrived back gasping for cold water, juice and mugs of builders' tea! However, the sandwiches, sausage rolls and mini pork pies all went down very well after our morning of hard work - we'll come back with service like that!

Pottering

2009-06-28T16:35:00.004+01:00

I have spent a lovely day with my other half wandering around various events. We started off at the Pottery Market at The Friars in Aylesford. There were potters, sculptors and ceramic artists from across the UK and Europe exhibiting their wares and I was rather tempted by some wonderful vases and a splendid water feature. However, I didn't buy anything today but will certainly go back to the pottery shop once the builders have finished in my house and I can begin to decorate the house with beautiful ceramics more safely! We watched a bit of the Mass before leaving to go to Burham's Fun Day - and jolly good fun it was too. They had all sorts of fairground stalls which would keep children entertained for some time. We were rather amused by some shocking attempts by golf enthusiasts to chip balls into certain holes - one went flying over the top and into a field never to be seen again! It was also good to see Cllr Roger Dalton doing his bit by serving beer to thirsty mums and dads in the Beer Tent!

After Burham we headed up to the Robin Hood for their Beer Festival barbecue and lunch time jazz. The Kent beers on offer were fabulous but sadly since I was driving I had to stick to the homemade lemonade - and lovely it was too. It was wonderfully relaxing to sit in a beer garden with the newspaper listening to some live music - who needs Glastonbury?!

A Saturday Montage

2009-06-27T19:13:00.008+01:00

The day started with the opening of the Aylesford Village Festival and ended with the Red Arrows. Words can't describe how brilliant the air and sea display was on and over the River Medway to celebrate the first Armed Forces Day so instead here is a photo montage of my day.

Kingfisher allotment

2009-06-26T17:01:00.002+01:00

I was at Kingfisher School last night for the Meridian Girls AGM and couldn't help but notice how fabulous the new allotment looked. Their sweet peas and lettuces looked fabulous! They have come a long way since March when Cllrs Pat Gulvin and Matt Bright reported on the opening of the allotment HERE.

I am very much looking forward to an Armed Forces Day reception tonight and watching the various events tomorrow. It is great that we are finally having a day to celebrate our services and even better that it is happening in Chatham!

Today's post!

2009-06-23T21:38:00.002+01:00

This is today's postbag of returned Capstone petition cards...keep them coming!

A great end to a really busy week

2009-06-21T13:52:00.004+01:00

This week has been extremely busy but despite being exhausted I can't help but feel really pleased with what we've achieved this week.

As well as going to work, this week I have been dealing with the Capstone Valley announcement; was invited to a "new generation" dinner at the BBC; attended my Association's Executive meeting; coached the girls football team; went to Norwich where I bumped into the Conservative campaign team for the Norwich North by-election; drove down to Hythe to see my best friend who is over from Australia and 4 months pregnant with her first child; and been to the wedding of a friend in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

And all this fitted around a Friday off in the constituency where I met with the Snodland based Valley of Visions team to hear about the variety of projects they are co-ordinating to conserve the Medway Gap within the Kent Downs. It was fascinating to hear what they are trying to do, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and to learn about all the wonderful wildlife that exists within the valley. After leaving Snodland I headed up to Chatham to attend a seminar hosted by MCCH Medway about Pathways to Inclusion. Bizarrely I knew the man from Cabinet Office who came to speak about the Adults facing Chronic Exclusion programme and it was good to hear him present to the group. He spoke quite candidly about future spending issues and the need for reviews to ensure that proper cost benefit analyses could be done on programmes. I got the impression that the Pathways to Inclusion scheme was (rightly) very well regarded and I certainly look forward to hearing more about it in the future. That meeting was followed by one at the Council with the Deputy Leader, Cllr Alan Jarrett, to discuss current initiatives across Chatham and to give my views on certain 'live' issues concerning people. As the only candidate in Medway not on the Council I found it an extremely useful meeting.

Then yesterday, a large group of Conservative activists, including Gravesend MP Adam Holloway and helpers from Bearsted, Faversham and Rochester, gathered to help deliver 23000 petitions to residents across Chatham calling for the Government to stop trying to build houses on Capstone Valley. The petitions are already coming back and people are emailing me to get more cards. I hope this time, third time lucky, the people of Chatham are listened to!

Save Capstone Valley...AGAIN!

2009-06-16T17:21:00.005+01:00

For the THIRD time, proposals to concrete over Capstone Valley are being consulted on despite opposition from the public and our Conservative controlled council.

Thanks to planning laws and rules imposed by the Labour Government, Medway Council is obliged by law to put development proposals to concrete over Capstone Valley out to “public consultation”. If they refuse to do so the developers will have the right to apply for planning permission and even commence building work.

With overwhelming support of local people, Medway’s Conservative Council has defeated these proposals twice already. Not only do they want to keep Capstone Valley as it is but they have already identified sufficient land for new homes without the need to concrete over Capstone. But this Labour Government seems determined to ruin one of our last remaining open spaces.

I have to say this is getting ridiculous. This is the third time in five years that the public have had to fight against developers concreting over Capstone Valley but every time local people reject them, another piece of legislation is passed favouring the developers.

Two years ago, along with my Conservative colleagues in Chatham, we organised a referendum to give local people a chance to comment. Over 95% said NO. See these links for the full story:

http://blog.traceycrouch.org/2007/09/capstone-referendum.html

http://blog.traceycrouch.org/2007/10/what-amazing-day.html

http://blog.traceycrouch.org/2007/11/98-say-yes-to-save-capstone-valley.html

I will be encouraging everyone to make their views on Capstone known and if that fails I will be left with no other option than to lie down in front of the bulldozers!

Time for the summer festivals

2009-06-13T18:21:00.004+01:00

Hurrah, the summer is here and the festivals, fetes and open days have begun. There are so many that it is almost impossible to go to them all but today I managed two!

Having met the Chatham councillors this morning for a catch up, I headed over to the RSPCA's Open Day in Leybourne. There were so many dogs I was sure it would be bedlam but it was a surprisingly calm environment! The dogs of all shape, size, and hair length were merrily sniffing each other or things that might be food leaving their owners to look at the range of stalls selling pet-related wares. Rather brilliantly, there was even a "cooling area" for the dogs which was great fun to watch because the dogs would come along, plonk themselves in the big tin baths and then get out and shake themselves down soaking an unsuspecting passer-by. It was really good fun to watch!!

After leaving the Open Day and popping by to help clear up a bit from last night's dinner, I headed up to the Blue Bell Hill village fete. The dancers this year from the local school were fabulous and clearly Strictly Come Dancing has influenced some more lads to get involved as there were two in their bow ties leading out the troop for some ballroom dancing. Like last year, I picked up my bottle of Kent Apple Juice and grabbed an ice cream before meeting a new member for a chat in the tea tent after she heard David Cameron's call for more people to consider standing for Parliament. It is good to know that despite all of the scandal over MPs' expenses people still want to get involved in politics and make a difference in the community.

Dinner with Michael Howard

2009-06-13T18:07:00.004+01:00

Last night Folkestone & Hythe MP Michael Howard joined Chatham & Aylesford Conservative members and friends for a wonderful dinner in Aylesford. We decided earlier on this year to take a gamble and host the dinner in the garden of one of our members knowing that the weather in theory should be reasonably good. However earlier this week when the team were erecting gazebos in the pouring rain it didn't look too good but thankfully the sun came out yesterday and it was warm and dry enough for us to all stay outside.

I first met Michael when I was 17 on a school trip to Parliament and whilst I was already interested in politics through my A-levels it wasn't until Michael encouraged me to get involved that I became actively interested. The rest, as the say, is history. Michael spoke very well about the current political environment but despite being egged on by mischievous activists he refused to reveal any secrets about the teenage girl he once knew who became his researcher, campaign team member, and now Parliamentary candidate! I only hope that in my vote of thanks in response, the protege didn't disappoint the master.

The evening finished a lot later than was expected due to the fabulous meal, most of which had been donated so that we could make maximum profit from the tickets for the campaign ahead. But all in all it was a brilliant evening and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Euro Results

2009-06-08T10:19:00.002+01:00

I went to Medway's Euro Count last night and was delighted to see the Conservatives win locally with a clear 10,000 or so votes ahead of Labour, who were pushed into third behind UKIP. The result in Medway was repeated across Kent and the South East with Labour coming fifth overall. What amused me most last night was that every party had representatives at the count proudly wearing rosettes or stickers highlighting their affiliation...except the small gathering of Labour activists who decided not to advertise their allegiances. Anyone would think they were embarrassed - and perhaps after the last week of results as well they should be!

Gardening with local Scouts

2009-06-06T17:57:00.002+01:00

This morning I joined Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and an Explorer Scout from the 41st Medway Scout Group for a community project in Walderslade village. Thanks to Councillor David Brake, the Council kindly donated a truck load of plants for the Scouts to put into existing concrete tubs. We spent 90 minutes weeding, digging and turning the soil before arranging and planting various flowers. I was working with two excellent Beavers, one who was 6 and the other was 7, a lovely female Scout (girls weren't allowed in the Scouts in my day!) who kept us entertained with Lady Ga Ga tunes from her mobile and an Explorer Scout who taught me the difference between the Explorers and Venture Scouts (I wish they existed when I was in the Guides!!!). I arranged my tub of flowers into a "41" in honour of the Group but not sure I am quite good enough to consider it as an alternative career! I had to leave after 2 hours but left the committed group of youngsters merrily digging away.

After doing a few chores, I went to the Golden Eagle in Burham for a post-election thank you gathering hosted by our new KCC Councillor Peter Homewood. There has been some further analysis done on the voting in the Malling Rural North East and Malling Central wards - all I will say is that I would be delighted if something similar happened during the General Election!

British food for British Government?

2009-06-05T19:25:00.002+01:00

Gordon Brown recently talked about British jobs for British workers. Well now it is time to put his money where his patriotic mouth is...or rather it is time he stood up for British produce. Instead of Government receptions serving French Champagne, Chilean Merlot and Brazilian beers with Portuguese strawberries, French asparagus and apples and butter, the Government could be sourcing food and drink locally, providing a huge boost to our home grown produce. Frazer Thompson of Kent's Chapel Down Winery, the owners of the wonderful new vineyard in Blue Bell Hill, has started a petition on the Number 10 website calling for the Government to source their food and drink from Britain. You can sign it HERE.

Local Electon results

2009-06-05T17:20:00.005+01:00

Well what a day! It was a long count due to the separation and verification of the European ballot papers but we eventually got the results of Malling Rural North East, Malling Central and Malling North around 2.30 today.

Firstly Peter Homewood overturned the Liberal Democrats and won Malling Rural North East with a majority of 2000 exactly. This was an absolutely fantastic result for residents of Burham, Eccles, Wouldham, Ditton, Blue Bell Hill, Aylesford and the TMBC parts of Walderslade. Peter will be a fantastic County Councillor and I am delighted that all our hard work on his campaign over the past few months really feels like it has paid off. Labour were beaten into fourth behind the English Democrats and very nearly came last after the Green Party by just a few votes.

Sarah Hohler held Malling North but unfortunately despite nearly halving Trudy Dean's majority in Malling Central, Alice Hohler was less successful. However I was really pleased to see that the Larkfield Conservative vote, the only part of Malling Central within my parliamentary constituency, was very healthy indeed and hopefully reflects the amount of community and issues based work we have done in the area. Alice fought a great campaign and worked very hard, and although it might not feel like it at the moment, she did a fantastic job.

Across Kent it seems the Labour Party have had a dreadful time losing both the Group Leader and Deputy Leader and at the time of writing only one Labour Councillor has retained their seat... You can follow what's going on, or look back at what has happened HERE.

Poll Day News

2009-06-04T21:05:00.002+01:00

Well it has been a busy two days!

Yesterday began with a breakfast at Mickey's Diner, fuelling us for the day ahead delivering letters to our pledges across Ditton, Aylesford, Burham, Eccles and Wouldham. We briefly stopped for lunch before heading back out again, firstly to Snodland and then up to Walderslade. I skipped off for an hour to train the girls in Princes Park before rejoining the team who had finished Blue Bell Hill in my absence. Unfortunately there was a nasty incident involving a dog who bit off the finger of the girlfriend of the Lib Dem candidate. Rather nicely he phoned through to the Council to ask that they warn us of the dog on the particular road so that we didn't get injured as well, for which we are all very grateful. Went for a quick bite to eat with my campaign manager before falling into bed and watching the end of Newsnight.

Up early this morning, although not as early as those who were out telling at 7am. Was out knocking up Wouldham before 11am and then into Ditton and Aylesford before lunch. This afternoon we had a large team out and I seemed to go from polling station to polling station picking up slips, as well as visiting the Committee Rooms in Snodland and West Malling (covering Larkfield and East Malling). It has been a lovely day and I think the weather has helped with turnout although it is difficult to say with so many postal votes how high/low it has been. This evening half the team have been knocking on doors getting the vote out and the other half have been telephoning pledges. The team have just reconvened at HQ and shortly we are all heading off for a fish and chip supper. I am so ready for a battered sausage and chips and hopefully a nice cold beer!

Off to the Count first thing tomorrow so fingers crossed that our hard work as paid off...

The last weekend!

2009-05-31T11:56:00.003+01:00

We had another excellent team out yesterday for the last Saturday session before the local and European elections on Thursday. We split into two groups and half went canvassing and the other half put up posters before we all met up for lunch at the Robin Hood. I really like the new posters - the message is clear and you can notice them from some distance. It was a superb day for it and was very difficult to leave the comfort of the beer garden after lunch! However, the poster team did just that and merrily went on with their hard but extremely valuable work for the rest of the afternoon.

Since I was not going to be much use in the poster team due to my lack of arm muscles or ability to hit things with a sledge hammer, I went to see my family instead but I made my excuses early so that I could get back in time to watch the Britain's Got Talent Final, which I did with a few minutes to spare! What a fabulous final it was too and a great end to the last Saturday before Thursday's elections.

Children and Britain's Got Talent

2009-05-29T22:36:00.004+01:00

I have a confession - I am a closet Britain's Got Talent addict! It is affirming, inspiring and sometimes just hilarious. Twice this week, I have left evening engagements early in order to get home in time to watch at least the second part of the semi-finals and I am already very excited about tomorrow's final. But I have to say tonight I began to feel really uncomfortable about the number of children left in the competition especially after 10 year old Holly Steel burst into tears during her song.

I have absolutely no doubt that she was exhausted (she didn't come on until 9pm and at 10 that is a late night) plus standing in front of that huge audience it must have been very daunting, but to be reduced to tears not once or twice but a number of times just made me think that this is wrong/borderline cruel. When young Aidan won tonight he cried tears, albeit of joy, but earlier this week another young girl was reduced to tears when she didn't win the judges vote. Nobody likes to see other people cry, especially children, and therefore I am beginning to think that some of these kids need better protection from the producers of the programme: it feels that the duty of care towards children that you'd expect from such a high profile programme has been totally forgotten.

I am sure there will be plenty of tears tomorrow but I just hope they are caused by the emotion of the event not the agony of the young performers, as was demonstrated so publicly tonight.

Congratulations Gillingham FC

2009-05-23T19:23:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Gillingham FC for their promotion to League One after winning the play-off final at Wembley today. I am not a Gills fan but their presence across Medway and Kent is huge and their contribution to grassroot schemes is often understated so I am delighted that they have been promoted back into League One after last year's relegation.

Having heard the funniest interview between the breakfast and sport presenters of BBC Radio Kent and BBC Radio Shropshire on Friday morning, I am now looking forward to the follow up interviews, especially since the Shropshire lot were being so cheeky to the Kent guys: I guess they'll be eating humble pie now!

KCC electioneering

2009-05-23T19:02:00.002+01:00

A good team turned up today to deliver Peter Homewood's election address for the forthcoming County Council elections. It was a lovely day for it and loads of people were out in their gardens making the most of the bank holiday sunshine. I popped into the Brassey Centre's garden plants sale and tried to persuade the lady who grows them all to do some voluntary work in my garden! We stopped at the Chequers for lunch on the terrace overlooking the River Medway before heading off to deliver a few more leaflets. It was such a nice day that it didn't feel like hard work getting everything done.

No wonder we are losing faith in our justice system

2009-05-23T18:31:00.004+01:00

Last night I nearly wrote a very angry post about the sentencing of those who viciously abused and eventually murdered Baby P, but I decided to reflect and see if I calmed down...but I haven't. Reading the story on the BBC I was incensed at the pathetic sentence that Baby P's mother's boyfriend received for his death. The report read as follows:

"The boyfriend was given 12 years over Peter's death and life for raping a
two-year-old girl. He must serve a minimum of 10 years".

What?!?! He gets 12 years for systematically abusing a helpless toddler who eventually died as a consequence, and he gets life for raping a girl of two, but after ten years he may be considered for parole! This is an absolute disgrace. No wonder people have lost faith in our justice system.

The Chief Executive of the NSPCC got it absolutely spot on when he said: "We are disappointed that the minimum tariff was so low. It raises the question of how bad the abuse has to be before offenders get a longer minimum time in prison. Baby Peter suffered sustained abuse leaving him with horrendous injuries. Two of his abusers could walk free at a time when Peter should be a schoolboy with a new world in front of him. Despicable cruelty has denied him that opportunity.
These three caused or allowed the torture and death of a defenceless baby."

I spoke to David Davis this afternoon and he is going to wrote to the Attorney General in disgust. Good on him. I think we should all write!

Friday activity

2009-05-22T20:02:00.002+01:00

I took another day off work today in order to have two fantastic and extremely interesting meetings with the local council and then the KM. This was followed by an afternoon of canvassing in Larkfield for the local and European elections. The message about having an early election is definitely resonating with the public - I think they want to see the expenses scandal sorted out as soon as possible so that politicians at all levels can get back to dealing with the economic crisis as well as issues relating to crime, immigration, health and education.

Justice for Gurkha Veterans...Finally!

2009-05-22T19:54:00.003+01:00

Finally the Government did a massive u-turn and Gurkhas who have served for at least 4 years will now be able to settle in the UK. It was the right decision by the Government but it is just such a shame that they were dragged into it kicking and screaming.

Champions!

2009-05-20T22:47:00.002+01:00

Well done to the Kent Schools Football Association Under 14 Girls who last night became South East England's champions after beating Suffolk Schools FA 4-2 in extra time.

Gaining Traction

2009-05-20T08:34:00.003+01:00

Was out delivering for the local and European elections last night. There was genuine recognition of what a momentous day it had been in Parliament with the Speaker's resignation and announcement on expenses reform. Interestingly, David Cameron's petition for a general election got some unprompted comment and I heard a BBC journalist say that the initiative was getting "traction" on the radio this morning. Could it really happen...?

Sign for Change

2009-05-18T22:12:00.002+01:00

David Cameron has today launched a petition calling for an early General Election. It is clear from what people are saying to me on the doorsteps that there is a real desire to have an election now, not least to clear up the mess in Westminster and start again with a fresh new Parliament.

You can sign the petition HERE - who knows, it might be the first time Gordon Brown listens to what we the Great British public is saying!

Canvassing this week

2009-05-16T11:27:00.002+01:00

I was out in Snodland on Wednesday and Walderslade last night. Conservative support is definitely begin to strengthen. Curiously only one person mentioned expenses to me on Wednesday and two people simply spoke about a "general mess" last night. Interestingly most people have been very sympathetic saying it must be difficult trying to get into politics at this point when Parliament is in disrepute, the economy is such a shambles, and public support for politicians is at its lowest point for some considerable time. My response thus far has been that it may be difficult but the current crisis actually makes me more determined to get elected and sort things out. And with today's opinion polls showing that the public want an election now lets hope I get the opportunity sooner rather than later.