Virtual Doorstep: 19 Weeks to go..
It is said that elections are won on the doorstep, and that may well be true. Being armchair activists, it’s difficult to check up on that.
Twitter and blogs however are part of our social media present and future, and if the election was decided there, how would each of the wards be looking?
The Week in Medway Politics, 16th Dec
Time again for our round-up of the week. What we said, what others said and most importantly, a bumper edition of what Rehman did in ‘Rehman about Town.’
Our Stories
Top Tweets
The Week in Westminster, 15 Dec
The Week in Medway Politics, 9 Dec
Just time for a quick roundup of the week, where we take a look at the big stories in local politics, what each political party has been up to, and a special Brexit debate special of Rehman About Town.
Our Stories
The Week in Westminster, 1 Dec
The Week in Medway Politics, 25 Nov
Just time for a quick roundup of the week, where we take a look at the big stories in local politics, what each political party has been up to, and of course the latest edition of Rehman About Town.
Our Stories
The Week in Westminster, 24 Nov
While we tend to focus on the drama of local politics, it can be easy to forget that Medway has three MPs representing us in parliament. What are they doing? What are they saying? Our new feature will try and break that down, while also accepting that many of the workings of parliament are horribly dense and not particularly accessible. Which leads us nicely to:
The Week in Medway politics, 18 Nov: Two Chishti stories, a survey and the return of..
Just time for a quick roundup of the week..
Our big stories
We also updated our list of local election 2019 candidates. Things are getting busier for us now as we hurtle toward May, so if you’d like to help us out, you can buy us a coffee or even become a contributor to this site.
Now, strap in, it’s the long awaited return of..
Rehman About Town!
If there’s one feature we’re asked to bring back more than any other, it’s our weekly roundup of everything and everyone the MP for Gillingham and Rainham has had his photograph taken with.
This week, Rehman has had his photo taken with the Singapore High Commissioner, people from his Conservative Association, Nick Robinson while appearing on Radio 4, a Pakistani cricketer, the Ambassador of Switzerland, residents and councillors in Wigmore, some folks from Arkansas, some students from Rainham Mark Grammar School, the Bishop of Rochester, the Oast House Christmas Bazaar, the Hempstead Village Fair, and residents in Rainham. Phew.
The Week
Return of the Igwe
After leaving their selection for the Strood South by-election to the last possible moment, Medway Labour picked former councillor in the ward, Isaac Igwe to contest the seat. Thanks to the archaic way Labour selects it’s candidates, it was left in the bizarre position of having six candidates, and barely more than that many members making the choice. Igwe is a curious choice though, not supported by the new left of the party, and plenty of others uncomfortable with his views on social issues like equal marriage.
Greens recycle candidate
The Green Party also selected their candidate for the Strood South by-election this week, announcing that local party leader Steve Dyke will fight the battle. The Greens didn’t stand in Strood South in 2015 (Dyke stood in Strood North), so the fact they’re putting forward a candidate indicates some improvement in local organisation.
UKIP? Uwhat?
Proving that Labour aren’t the only party wrapping themselves up in petty infighting, there seems to be a kerfuffle within UKIP locally over their Strood South candidate selection. Karl Weller announced himself as the candidate some time ago, while former local chairman Chris Spalding claimed no selection process had been followed and announced he also wanted to be the candidate. As it stands, Weller remains the candidate, but it seems unlikely the local party divisions will be healed anytime soon.
Regressive alliance
Huge news this week for the structure of Medway politics, as Medway TUSC announced that they will no longer field candidates against Labour. Aside from leaving a question of exactly what the point of a political party that doesn’t field candidates is, one has to wonder how much impact this will have on the upcoming Strood South and Rainham Central by-elections. Given they got a combined vote of about 300 in both seats, it would seem very little is the most likely.
Brace yourself, it’s good news from Kelly Tolhurst
It’s not often we write something positive about Rochester and Strood MP Kelly Tolhurst, but she’s putting forward a Private Member’s Bill that seems to be doing something genuinely positive. She’ll be moving a bill in Parliament that will enshrine a 12 months ‘breathing space’ window for those in debt to be able to get themselves back on their feet. You can find out more about the bill here.
Audit combo
An interesting story that hasn’t received a large amount of attention about how Medway and Gravesham Council have combined their audit services to save £230,000 between the two councils. This kind of thing is seemingly becoming more common, and when savings of that scale can be made relatively easily, I expect we’ll be covering plenty more such changes in the future.