Yesterday's real headlines

• The Bank of England raises interest rates to a six-year high.
• The projected cost of the Government's ID card scheme rises by £400m to £5.31bn.
• Tony Blair doesn't resign as Prime Minister or even as leader of the Labour Party, but talks about it a bit.

Coincidence? You decide...

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

So there you have it - the last of the English council results have come in. And let's not pretend otherwise, they're a great set of results for the Conservatives, on top of a great set of results last year. Even some of the Labour bloggers are honest enough to say so.

Tomorrow, Tony Blair will almost certainly announce that he's standing down as Prime Minister. He'll try to take the rap for these results, or at least be blamed by the rest of his Party for them. His ten years in office have been a missed opportunity, and I've been racking my brains this afternoon trying to think of anything positive he's achieved since D:Ream's Things Can Only Get Better rang out that day in May 1997.

The only things I can come up with are ASBOs (which hopefully one day won't be needed anymore) and the continuation of the Northern Ireland peace process, which was started by his Conservative predecessor John Major with the Downing Street Declaration. Yesterday, people across Northern Ireland witnessed the product of the process so far when the DUP, Sinn Féin and the other parties sat down together in government.

But as one Labour Prime Minister gives way to another, let's not forget the tax rises, the billions wiped off pension funds, the rewriting of the government's own fiscal discipline rules, the economic problems stored up for the future. This isn't just the legacy of Tony Blair, it's the legacy of Gordon Brown.

Well done Nigel!

Bournville Councillor Nigel Dawkins has been selected as the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Birmingham Selly Oak. Having grown up in Selly Oak Constituency, I remember the heady days of the late, great Sir Anthony Beaumont-Dark, the Constituency's last Conservative MP.

Nigel was selected by an open primary, which is a new innovation for the Conservatives and British politics in general. This allows anyone, regardless of political affiliation, to vote for their preferred candidate. As a party, we're trying very hard to broaden our appeal, and hopefully this will go some way to doing just that.

The incumbent (Labour) MP is standing down, and with a fair wind and a healthy swing, let's hope that Nigel can win it for us. Well done Nigel, and good luck!

Elections Reflections

I've been on holiday in Suffolk over the weekend, and I've had time to gather my thoughts about last weeks elections.

Lows

1. Having my car broken into and my sat nav nicked while I was leafleting. (For the record, it wasn't on display and there were no suction marks on the windscreen). On the plus side, the police officer who attended was very professional.

2. Getting two parking tickets while I was leafleting. I got one of them despite texting the new service you can use instead of pay-and-display, because the replacement car I was driving (see 1) had a different registration number than the one they had on record for me. Particularly annoying.

3. Waiting for hours for someone to deliver 67 postal votes to be included in the count. This meant that we didn't get a result until far later than usual.

4. Losing our outright majority in Solihull, but I'm sure we'll get it back next time.

Highs

1. All the people who helped me in so many different ways, be it leafleting, advice or just being there. You know who you are. Thanks.

2. Those 732 pieces of paper that showed that 732 people had taken the time and trouble to write an 'x' next to my name. If I knew who all of you were, I'd come round and thank you personally.

3. Our three gains in Birmingham. Very many congratulations to Barbara Wood in Kings Norton, Colin Hughes in Billesley and in particular to my friend Gareth Compton in Erdington, who trounced Susanna McCorry on a huge swing to the Conservatives.

4. Albert Bore going out of his way to compliment my campaign in his re-election speech. Always good to receive compliments from your political opponents.

5. Being attacked (in all but name) in at least one of Labour's leaflets. You know they're getting scared when they do that!

6. Seeing Labour run around Ladywood leafleting like crazy to try and counter my active campaign. The amount of effort they put in was evinced by the number of Labour activists at the count. This must have hampered their ability to operate in Birmingham's more marginal wards.

7. In the early hours of Friday morning, finding out that John Lamont had become a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Roxburgh and Berwickshire. I met John at the Conservative Party Conference last year, and I know how hard he's been working.

8. Looking at the BBC website (above) and seeing that we've gained 898 Conservative Councillors and 38 Conservative Councils in England.

I've thoroughly enjoyed being the candidate for Ladywood and I'll carry on trying to serve the people of Birmingham in whatever way I can. And as I said in my speech at last week's count, I'll always be proud to call myself a Conservative.

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who voted for me yesterday. A clear second place is a very positive result for the Conservatives in Ladywood, and many congratulations to my colleagues across the city and country for the remarkable gains we've had. More later...

Vote for Peter Smallbone TODAY!

Thursday 3rd May is the day that you can vote for positive change in Ladywood Ward. Please vote for me.

Don't forget - polling stations open from 7am until 10pm
Don't forget - you don't need your Polling Card or ID to vote
Don't forget - voting only takes five minutes

Out and About

My team and I did a load of leafleting round Icknield Port Loop over the weekend. I spoke to many residents during our rounds, and the following themes came out:

1. Recycling collections. Not all residents are getting their boxes returned to their front doorsteps - I will get the Council to sort this out.
2. Illegal dumping and litter. Residents aren't happy that dumped fridges etc just get a sticker put on them, rather than stronger action being taken. One resident suggested putting a skip at the end of the road from time to time to take litter and larger items. I don't know about the viability of this, but again I'll take this up with the Council.
3. Noise. Some residents are unbelievably inconsiderate. I've suggested making a complaint directly to the Council - the offender shoudn't be able to find out who you are.

All in all, a great weekend's work and I'm looking forward to the election on Thursday May 3rd.

Finally, great to see such an amazing turnout in the French presidential election. If only we could get 85% in Ladywood!

Gordon Brown Ate My Pension

We had some fun yesterday handing out a spoof tabloid newspaper at New St Station, illustrating Gordon Brown's shameless tax raid on UK private pensions. This was part of a national campaign at commuter hot spots and accompanied Shadow Chancellor George Osborne's 'No Confidence' motion in the House of Commons.

Labour had a rent-a-mob handing out something or other, but they didn't stay as long. No sign of their candidate either...

Then it was off to another part of Ladywood Ward, where I finished off a round of leafleting. Finally a campaign meeting. Phew!

Register to vote by Wednesday 18th April...

...or you won't be able to vote in the election on Thursday 3rd May.

It's easy - just download the voter registration form, print it out, fill it in and send it off.

If you don't know whether you'll be around to vote on the 3rd, then just apply for a postal vote. Download the postal vote registration form. Again, you've got until Wednesday 18th April.

It's Official!

Last night, I came home to find a letter from the Council telling me that my nomination for the Ladywood Ward election on 3rd May is valid. Bring it on!

Just like last year, I'm the only candidate who lives anywhere in Ladywood Ward!

What Happened at the Ladywood Ward Committee

Sorry I've not posted anything for a while - I've had a touch of 'man flu'. Back in business now...

The Ladywood Ward Committee took place about a week and a half ago. Cllr Albert Bore even stayed for the first 45 minutes! Here's what happened.

The News Team's Swimming Pool Presentation

This was a well constructed combination of reportage and archive footage. It was particularly interesting to see the demolition of the Monument Road baths, over which the old Labour council presided.

Neighbourhood Policing in Central Ladywood and Summerfield

Presentation by Sgt Des Lambert. The main purpose of neighbourhood policing is community engagement, and to this end the police work with the Council, the Housing department and so on.

Sgt Lambert warned us about a recent spate of bag snatching on roads such as Gilby Road - thieves target this area in the hope that people have just visited cash machines on Broad St.

He also told us about a recent survey that the police have distributed. If you received it, please fill it in - you can return it for free.

The whole of Ladywood Ward is now an alchohol exclusion zone! This means that if you see anyone drinking in public anywhere in the Ward (including all of the City Centre), they are committing an offence.

Environmental Wardens in Ladywood Ward

Environmental Wardens patrol the Ward, looking for litter, graffiti and other similar problems. They also perform an education function and have enforcement powers.

Cllr Hartley piped up and announced that Ladywood has been judged the cleanest Ward in Birmingham! Er, really? Tell that to the people that contact me about rats around Ladywood Middleway!

You can contact the Wardens on 0845 113 500.

I raised one of my pet issues, that of noise. I consider noise to be an environmental crime, but it doesn't appear to be a priority for the Environmental Wardens, which I found a bit disappointing.

Grant Approvals

Various grants were approved, including the one for the City Centre Neighbourhood Forum (of which I am a Committee Member).

Coach Parking in the City Centre

This is a problem whenever the ICC has a major event on. This has been significantly improved since the police started threatening coach drivers with penalty points. Well done!

16,219

• There are 16,219 voters in Ladywood ward.
• The ward's Labour councillors were elected with about 1,300-1,600 votes.
• That means that out of all the voters, only about 10% voted for them.
• If only 11% vote for someone else (like me), that person wins instead.

Pretty simple!

P.S. I do wish that more people voted...

Friends of Edgbaston Reservoir AGM

Edgbaston Reservoir and the surrounding roads are within Ladywood ward. The Friends of Edgbaston Reservoir is an organisation that tries to preserve the character of this jewel in the crown of central Birmingham - they have been at the forefront of the opposition of the proposed Tower Ballroom redevelopment for example.

None of the Ladywood Labour ward councillors attended the meeting. I don't know why. You'll have to ask them...

Nick Bird from ISIS was first up. ISIS is a sort of development corporation part-owned by British Waterways. They control all 28 acres of land inside Icknield Port Loop, which is a canal loop adjacent to the Reservoir.

This whole area is ripe for redevelopment, alongside adjoining land owned by Advantage West Midlands (a development corporation funded by central government) and Birmingham City Council. All these organisations apparently co-ordinate activities in something called the 'Landowners' Forum'. I must admit that this was the first time I'd heard of this body. Nick said that the Forum 'could work better', which set a few alarm bells ringing. I must find out more about it, and who from the Council participates. It is absolutely imperative that the area is redeveloped as a contiguous area - we should aim for a situation where it's almost irrelevant which 'player' owns which bit of land. All of them have a public service remit after all.

ISIS's bit will be a mixed-use, housing-led development. A figure of 1000 residential units was mentioned. 1000 units? How are all the inevitable cars going to get in, park, and get out again? This needs some serious thought. Nick mentioned that a 'car club' might help - something that's been tried in New York. Perhaps.

ISIS is doing a bus tour of the area showing people their ideas. Sadly I couldn't find the timetable on their website, so all I can say is to look out for it!

I thought that ISIS were good to come to the meeting, but the whole thing is lacking detail at present. In particular, architectural style and housing mix have a huge influence on how an area 'performs'. We need to avoid 1000 identical, boring, grey flats built on the site. Similarly, we need to avoid wacky designs - the kind of buildings that architects build just to impress other architects. Nick gave some assurances that the development won't be 'another tentacle of city living'. However, we all know that 'pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap' often appeals...

The remainder of the meeting involved discussions around the Tower Ballroom site and Harborne Walkway (a disused railway track bed now popular with walkers). I won't go into too much detail on the discussions as I think it's only fair to wait until the FER has published their meeting minutes.

All in all, a very worthwhile evening. Thanks to St Augustine's Church for hosting the meeting in their hall, and to TNT News for filming it.

Ladywood Ward Committee, Tues 20/03/2007

The next Ladywood Ward Committee will take place as follows:

• 7pm, Tuesday 20th March 2007
• The Boughton Hall, Ladywood Community & Health Centre, St. Vincent Street West, B16 8RP (http://tinyurl.com/36eftl)

Topics will include:

• Neighbourhood Policing in central Ladywood / Summerfield
• Report from the Environmental Wardens
• Televised report of the Ward Committee meeting on 10 February 2007 relating to the development of Icknield Port Loop

Download a poster for the meeting.

Hope to see you there!

UPDATE 14/03/2007: Agenda just published. You can read it here: http://tinyurl.com/3xadyt

Recent round-up

I've been busy this last week or so:

Thursday 22nd February saw the City Branch AGM. We have a brand spanking new committee, full of ideas and enthusiasm, all determined to make the Branch the place to be for Birmingham's graduates, city centre workers and anyone else who wants to join.

On Thursday 1st March, a load of us from City Branch attended Birmingham University Conservative Future's drinks event at the Mailbox. The event was very well attended, with guests including Caroline Spelman, MP for Meriden and Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Richard Shepherd MP and our very own Cllr Deirdre Alden, Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Birmingham Edgbaston. My memory of the evening gets a little hazy towards the end, but I do remember winning a bottle of wine in a raffle I must have entered.

Yesterday saw a record attendance at my canvassing/surveying event in Ladywood ward. We got a lot done - still a lot to do, but hopefully you'll see me or one of my friends before the election on Thursday 3rd May.

After that, we scooted over to Quinton to do some canvassing for Cllr Len Clark, a long-standing and popular local Councillor, who I'm sure is set for victory in May.

Weekend Survey

Along with some other local Conservatives, I spent some time over the weekend surveying parts of Ladywood ward. I spoke to loads of local people and I was very interested in what they had to say. I'm trying to get round all of the ward before the election, so if I haven't come knocking yet, chances are I will!

On a different subject, I'd like to welcome Cllr Stephen Bentley who has left Labour and joined the Conservatives on Telford & Wrekin Council over the weekend, citing disillusionment with the Labour administration. The Conservatives are making constant progress in our region against a backdrop of Labour waste and failure - welcome Cllr Bentley!

Target: Kings Norton

Kings Norton (its park is above) is a ward in the South of Birmingham, and it's one we're going to win on 3rd May. We have a strong candidate in Barbara Wood, and to show my support I'll be leafleting there tomorrow morning. We're all meeting up at about 10.30 am - if you'd like to join us, please drop me a line...

UPDATE 18/02/2007: Yesterday's leafleting went very well - the only snag was that my MP3 player ran out of power before the end...

Ladywood Ward Committee - second post

A few more details have emerged about the next Ladywood Ward Committee:

• Saturday 10th February at 10.00 am
• St. John's and St Peter's Church, Darnley Road, B16 8TF (http://tinyurl.com/yj7l4x)
• Agenda items include a swimming pool for Ladywood ward and a discussion of the Icknield Port Loop development. Download the full agenda at http://tinyurl.com/2xjp8q.

Again, the cheek of the Labour councillors never ceases to amaze me. In power for twenty years, their only achievement was to close Ladywood's only swimming pool at Monument Road. Now that they realise the Conservative-led administration is here to stay, it's on the agenda faster than you can say 'no petting'. Coincidence..?

Also, let's hope that Cllr Hartley controls the meeting a bit better and stops it being used as a sandpit for one or two, and enables it to be a forum for all.

Conference comes to Ladywood ward!

Yesterday, Conservative Chairman Francis Maude MP offically announced that the 2008 and 2010 Party Conferences will be held at the ICC, in our own ward of Ladywood. Francis Maude commented, 'Following the success of our 2006 Spring Forum in Manchester, we are delighted to be bringing our main conference to England's second city.'

This is a massive vote of confidence in Birmingham and its Conservative-led Council under Mike Whitby. The Conference is likely to generate about £20 million of economic activity for the ward and the surrounding area.

I can but wonder whether our own hugely successful City Branch drinks event last December played some small part in the decision...

UPDATE 05/02/2007: Watch The Stirrer's interview with Francis Maude and Mike Whitby about the announcement at http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=472121918&channel=353512426.

Terrorism-related arrests

I just want to say a few words about the recent arrests in Birmingham under the Terrorism Act. We live in an uncertain and unstable world, and threats can come from anywhere. The police have clearly been working hard behind the scenes in difficult and challenging circumstances. If what we've been hearing in the media is true, the police have foiled a very serious plot and they deserve our gratitude.

For obvious reasons, the police have to remain quite tight-lipped about some of the specifics, in case it affects ongoing operations or the due process of law. However, West Midlands Police did release a statement earlier via the Key Individual Network. You can read the statement at http://tinyurl.com/29zgle.

If you'd like to join the KIN to receive this kind of information, please go to http://tinyurl.com/y5h40t.

At times like these, it can be tempting to believe that the police are deliberately targetting one community or another. However, nothing could be further from the truth - it's just that the nature of the threat means that sometimes it can look that way on the surface. The police are trying to protect us all and and they continue to have my full support.