It Was Not To Be

Many of you have read the results of the by-election yesterday, but I'll repeat it anyway. The results for the Town Council and the District Council election were very similar, so I'll just post the District Result:

• Alec Branton (Conservative) 483

• Kevin Marston (Reform) 346

• Martin Curtis (independent) 127

• Theresa Okogwa (Labour) 60

I am pretty much going to repeat the result the short speech I did after the declaration yesterday. No apologies for that - it basically reflects why I stood in the first place.

• Thanks to everyone that organised the election, it ran really smoothly.

• Also thanks to the candidates for having the guts to put their name forward - it is not easy being a candidate, There were a lot of leaflets delivered and a lot of doors were knocked, which suggests great democracy. The fact that the turnout was 27% (which is really good for a by-election) is evidence of that.

• Congratulations to Alec Branton - from a Conservative perspective, the right candidate at the right time.

• Having the right candidate doesn't make the issues go away. The Conservatives need to deal with the bullying within their group, it is not good for Whittlesey or Fenland for them to keep ignoring the problem.

• It breaks my heart when I watch council meetings elsewhere (which I do through work) and I see a level of drive and ambition that just doesn't exist in Whittlesey Town Council or Fenland District Council - and that is why I keep standing.

• Whittlesey has a great community, but what does it say about our lack of community facilities that we have struggled to find an alternative home for Whittlesey Emergency Food Aid? (There were some suggestions last night that this has been sorted last night but, to a degree, it is irrelevant - it shouldn't have been so damned hard). What does it say about the lack of community facilities in Whittlesey that we had a by-election and had to use a house as a polling station? (Somebody suggested last night that they had to do this because the Conservative Club was booked for a funeral - I'll leave you to decide whether you think the Conservative Club is an appropriate place for a Polling Station - but all that comment does is strengthen my argument).

One final point related to this, unless Fenland really do up their game, if/when we do merge to form a Greater Peterborough Council, Fenland will get eaten alive because every other potential member is streets ahead in terms of ambition, vision and drive.

I genuinely wish Alec every success in his role - he comes across as a genuinely decent bloke with all the right intentions. I really hope he has the strength of character to make some change happen, because we desperately need it.

Thanks to everyone that chose to vote for me, it means a huge amount. Also thanks to everyone that took time out to speak to me whilst I was out. And, of course, thanks to everyone that turned out and made democracy work in Whittlesey.

Finally, I shall probably pause using this blog for now, while I have a think. I will, instead, continue to post my political thoughts on my Facebook Page: Martin Curtis -Political.

This will include the weekly Podcast that I take part in 'Coffee Buses and Politics' which we are broadcasting an "Emergency" edition of tonight to discuss the County Council's decision about Local Government Reform. That can also be linked to from YouTube.

The podcast is normally broadcast at about 19.30 on a Sunday.