The Action Team outside Somerville School - Me, Simon, Ann, Marg, Alex and Paul (with Ian Lewis behind the camera!)
The team were out in Seacombe tonight calling on people living in roads near to Somerville School, asking for their views. Quite a few residents were adamant that they would not vote Labour again. Many people were upset about the closure of Seacombe Library and are also concerned that Guinea Gap Baths will close when their two year ‘reprieve’ ends.
Along with Cllr Lesley Rennie, I was invited to the Beacon Course Presentation Day organised by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service. This is an opportunity for young people to demonstrate practical skills they have acquired during a 12 week Beacon Course to an invited audience of family, friends and partner agency representatives. They gave a display of the skills and knowledge that they acquired during what was a very demanding course. Seven out of the original eight who started finished the course.
The Beacon Project is part of a community initiative, supported by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and funded through local area forums in Wirral. Young people learn about Community Fire Safety, first aid, basic fire-fighting techniques. Standards are monitored for attitude, effort and achievement. Congratulations to all those who completed the course.
For a free home fire safety check, call the nearest Community Fire Station or phone the Fire Service direct on: 0800 731 5958
Saturday morning was spent delivering our latest leaflet ‘Intouch‘ around Acton Lane in Saughall Massie with Cllrs Simon Mountney, Ian Lewis and Paul Hayes.
We then started delivering in Wallasey Village but as it was so cold we decided to stop for lunch at ”Time Out’ for a quick sandwich and coffee. Afterwards we carried on delivering around the School Lane area in Wallasey Village. We were stopped quite a few times by residents, who told us how upset they were by the closure of their community library next month.
Delivering in Wallasey Village with Cllrs Paul Hayes and Simon Mountney
Interviewer Oliver Adam, me and Jeremy Hunt MP at 7 Waves in Leasowe
On Friday, Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was in Wallasey again and I was delighted that part of his programme included an interview for 7 Waves Community Radio. This is a brilliant, community-led station, run by Pauline Murphy and the team and broadcasting across Wirral. Jeremy gave an in-depth interview about new media and this will be broadcast on Tuesday evening.
On Thursday, at our annual meeting, my friend and former MEP Jackie Foster, gave a great speech to Party members and mentioned a recent attack by another MEP on Gordon Brown, while he was in the European Parliament. It’s available on YouTube and I’ve added it below. Brilliant!
Last night was Wallasey Conservatives Annual General Meeting which, this year, was held at the Floral Pavilion.
After eight years as Chairman, Cllr Ian Lewis decided to step down so he would have more time to spend campaigning. Cllr Lesley Rennie was unanimously elected as the new Chairman.
Ian has been a fantastic Chairman, his achievements are far too many to list here! It was good to see Jackie Foster, former North West MEP, as well as many members and friends who came to support us.
Photo: l - r : David Fletcher, Jackie Foster, Leah Fraser, Cllr Lesley Rennie, Cllr Ian Lewis
This afternoon I went along to the New Brighton Community Association Luncheon Club which is based in Hope Street.
The first person I bumped into was Pat Hackett the ex Labour Councillor for New Brighton, infact, I met half his family! his brother Mark was there in the IT section and their sister Celia cooks for the lunch club - a family affair!
There were also students from Wallasey School and Oldershaw who study at the IT section - a great facility.
Back to lunch, the club meets every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 12.30pm. Today it was roast chicken, it looked really tastey and I confess to eating a few roast parsnips as I helped out!
One lady travelled from Reeds Lane in Leasowe and another couple from Bebington, but most were local New Brighton residents, happy to have a meal at the bargain price of £2.50.
I think lunch clubs are great for the elderly, they get a hot, three course meal, meet up with friends and they all look out for each other, real community spirit!
It was non-stop and very fast service! and yes, I rolled up my sleeves and got stuck into the washing up! I turned my back for two minutes and the two students from Wallasey School took over the washing and drying up - thanks lads! It was a very happy atmosphere and the people who went thoroughly enjoyed their lunch.
Earlier this month, the independent opinion research company, Populus, carried out an opinion poll of members of the Unite trade union.
This is Britain’s biggest trade union, with two million members. One of their key campaigns is to save the UK motoring industry, something which many families in Wallasey and Moreton will support.
I was interested in the findings of the opinion poll - at the last election, Labour had a lead among Unite members of a massive 26%. Now, that lead is just 3% with 31% of Unite members saying they will vote Conservative.
As well as this, 54% of Unite members said they were opposed to any more large donations to Labour. It’s in your hands, comrades!
David Cameron said last week that a Conservative Government would freeze the BBC licence fee for one year. This would be an important signal to the country of the need for all public institutions, in these difficult economic circumstances, to do more with less.
On the theme of ‘doing more with less’ our Conservative reps on Merseytravel, Cllrs Ian Lewis and Chris Blakeley voted to freeze plans for higher allowances for Councillors on Merseytravel. Read more here.
This is the blog of Cllr. Leah Fraser, prospective Conservative MP for Wallasey and Moreton. Promoted by Ian Lewis on behalf of Leah Fraser, both at Conservative Campaign Centre, 46 Seaview Road, Wallasey CH45 4LA. No part of this blog, words or images, may be reproduced without the prior written approval of the promoter.