Anne Milton - Guildford MP (and Dipstick)

Given recent developments, I think it's worth pointing out (as it has been pointed out to me) that the Guildford Conservative Association operates very much independently of Anne Milton's office.

(ahem)

And now, for no reason whatsoever, here are some of the individuals who posed as your average man or woman on the street, endorsing Anne Milton in her 2005 election literature...

Meet 'Jill' from Compton:

Jill appeared in Anne Milton's April 2005 election pamphlet and said: "Let's have Anne as MP. Let's get Matrons back in charge - Anne's a voice of common sense."

Ah, yes... common sense. Common sense would dictate that - if you had a vested interest or a close association of any kind - you would be careful to declare it in such situations. Perhaps this is why Jill took the precaution of using exactly the same photo on the Guildford Conservative Association profile page; she wanted to make matters as 'obvious' as possible to the general public upon her appointment...

On the Guildford Conservative Association website she is currently listed as follows:

Jill Eyles - Deputy Chairman (Membership and Fundraising) of Guildford Conservatives

Jill is married with four children and has lived in the Guildford constituency for nearly ten years. She has been actively involved with the Conservative Party for most of her adult life and has campaigned in Streatham, the old constituency of S.W.Leicester, Brentford and Isleworth, when she also stood as a candidate for the local council and now Guildford. She has been involved in fundraising for many years mostly for Arthritis charities and most recently CHASE, the Childrens' Hospice based in Guildford which has now built 'Christopher's' at Artington where she also works as a volunteer. Jill also sits on Compton Parish Council where she is responsible for planning matters.

Needless to say, none of this background information appeared in the relevant election literature.

But we're not done yet, folks...

Appearing right next to Jill (and the lovely Dora) is 'Jonathon' from Blackheath:

When appearing in Anne Milton's April 2005 election pamphlet Jonathon said: "Anne is great value. She'll be a great MP. She's done so much for local people."

Jonathon also appears on the Guildford Conservative Association profile page:

On the Guildford Conservative Association website he is currently listed as follows:

Jonathan Lord - Chairman of Guildford Conservatives

Jonathan lives in Blackheath and, in addition to leading the Guildford Conservative Association as Chairman, he is also chairs the Wonersh and Blackheath Branch. His key aims for this year are to increase membership, to raise the income of the Association through successful events, and to prepare all the groundwork for successful borough-wide election campaigns in both Guildford and Waverley in May 2007. Prior to living in Bramley then Blackheath, Jonathan was based in central London, where he was a Councillor for the Ward of Little Venice and Deputy Leader of Westminster Council. Born in Oldham, he also stood as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Oldham West and Royton in 1997. Jonathan has over twenty years' of business experience in advertising, marketing communications and technology. As a Director of Saatchi & Saatchi, he ran campaigns for Hewlett-Packard across Europe and the Middle East. He is currently a Director of LastMile Communications Ltd.

Needless to say, none of this background information appeared in the relevant election literature.

But we're still not done, folks...

Meet 'Christine' from Stoughton:

Christine appeared in Anne Milton's April/May 2005 election pamphlet (you can download a copy of this as a PDF file here) right next to the even-more-lovely Kathy.

When appearing in this pamphlet, Christine said: "Anne got straight on to the police about the problems with vandals round here."

Oh, how nice... and yes, you guessed it, Christine appears on the Guildford Conservative Association profile page, too... and - like Jill - she has taken the precaution of using exactly the same photo. I mean, we wouldn't want to go swanning about deliberately misleading the electorate, now would we?

On the Guildford Conservative Association website she is currently listed as follows:

Christine Stacy - Deputy Chairman (Political) of Guildford Conservatives

Christine is married and has lived in Stoughton for nearly 40 years. Following a successful career in communications including service and personnel management, including as Branch Secretary for some years in a moderate trade union, she took early retirement. She is heavily involved in the voluntary sector working with the frail and housebound and was also a Governor at Northmead School in Stoughton for 8 years, including for 2 years the Chairman of Governors. Christine has a keen interest in the health service and thoroughly enjoys helping a local branch of a pensioners' organisation. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gardening, good health and chocolate in moderation! She recently stood Conservative Candidate in the Guildford North division (Stoughton & Stoke) at the County Council elections in May 2005..

Needless to say, none of this background information appeared in the relevant election literature.

So that's three out of four current members of the Guildford Conservative Association who - before their appointment to this association - appeared in Anne Milton's 2005 election literature endorsing Anne Milton without declaring their past or current affiliations to this candidate and/or the Conservative Party (the only exception being the Right and Truly Honourable Lord Howell of Guildford).

Meanwhile, Conservative activists closely associated with Anne Milton continue with false claims that this weblog is the work of Liberal Democrats (and much worse besides) and when I choose to complain to the Guildford Conservative Association about this kind of thing, for some strange reason the only reply I get is from Anne Milton's office. Now why do you think that is?

[Note for the record: After receiving no reply from the Guildford Conservative Association about recent smears, I finally managed to call - and get through to - Jonathan Lord on Friday. He was kind enough to put me on speaker-phone. Make of that what you will.]

Labels: smear-blogs, tory ringers

Two of Anne Milton's most ardent supporters - local Conservative campaigners Mike Chambers and Dennis Paul - are heavily implicated in an anonymous weblog smear campaign that will turn your stomach:

Click here for the full exposé.

Dennis Paul has since stopped blogging on his official weblog (where further accusations have been made against myself), but the anonymous websites - one of which features a baseless claim that one of their political opponents is a paedophile - are still live.

Anne Milton was informed of the latter site - and the involvement of her former election campaign team member Mike Chambers* - a month ago. Her response was to get a researcher to promise that she would "look into it" only if the victim of this smear came forward.

(*Note - It only became clear in the past week that Dennis Paul was equally involved.)

My view is that - in a case such as this - it doesn't matter what the victim does or does not want to do or say; if a former member of your campaign team and a current local Conservative campaigner is implicated in a smear campaign, it is up to the most senior Conservative representative in the area to investigate it.

When it involves the type of accusation that has in the past led to attacks on innocent people by unbalanced individuals, then it is up to the most senior Conservative representative in the area to investigate it pretty bloody urgently.

Sadly, despite a clear opportunity to deal with this problem, Anne Milton now has to deal with the following facts:

FACT: This involves a criminal act; specifically, a hate crime.

FACT: On Tuesday 18 July 2006 I informed Anne Milton via email that I had proof that Mike Chambers was connected to this criminal act, and she did not even ask to see that proof.

FACT: The relevant smears against myself, many previous attacks on my good name, and this hate crime are all a direct result of my daring to scrutinise the performance of my local MP (which I believe is the right of any constituent). In short; with or without her knowledge, Mike Chambers and Dennis Paul were operating for her benefit and/or for the benefit of other local members of her party.

I am not for a minute suggesting that this is why she is dragging her heels; in fact, I have asserted time and again that she is *constantly* dragging her heels - and once again I'm forced to go public with my findings just to get this woman to Do. Her. Bloody. Job.

Seriously; does she have to be shamed into doing every little thing?

UPDATE (22 Aug) - I now have proof that Mike Chambers is directly involved in the 'paedo' smear... and Anne Milton's office is *still* stalling.

Labels: dennis paul, inaction, mike chambers, smear-blogs

One of the most amusing claims made about this weblog during the recent Wikipedia spat was that it is "selective in its use of facts."

Today, we're going to have some fun with that.

We begin with some carefully selected facts about the Health Select Committee...

Fact: Anne Milton is a member of the Health Select Committee.

Fact: The Health Select Committee has met 29 times since the original appointment/formation of 13 July 2005.

Fact: Anne Milton has attended 18 of these meetings.

Now, if I were to apply facts selectively, I could stop right here and quite rightly claim that Anne Milton has attended the majority of these meetings (more than half, in other words).

But I'm not going to do that.

I'm going to be far more responsible and provide a comprehensive overview.

The attendance records of current members of the Health Select Committee (who have been members since its inception) are presented below in ranking order:

Kevin Barron (Chair) --------------- 29 (100%)
Dr Richard Taylor ----------------- 28 (97%)
Charlotte Atkins ------------------ 25 (86%)
Mike Penning -------------------- 24 (83%)
David Amess -------------------- 23 (79%)
Dr Howard Stoate ----------- 23 (79%)
Anne Milton ------------ 18 (62%)

Again, if I were to apply facts selectively, I could arrange it so that Amme isn't at the very bottom of the pile. All I would have to do is take the attendance records of those who have left or joined the committee since its inception and calculate a percentage based on the total number of meetings (i.e. rather than the meetings they were actually expected to attend).

But I'm not going to do that, either.

This is a list of the of MPs who have joined this committee since its inception:

Doug Naysmith ------ 14 (since late 2005)
Jim Dowd ------------- 11 (since late 2005)
Paul Burstow ------- 11 (since late 2005)
Sandra Gidley ----- 8 (since April 2006)

All of these members have an actual attendance record of 75% upwards. Those who have left the committee since its inception have similar attendance records during their time as active members.

So let's get back to the most inactive member... Anne Milton.

Fact: Out of all of the members of the current Health Select Committee (past and present), Anne Milton has the worst attendance record. By far.

[Note - Fans of this website's shamefully mocking tone may enjoy the following....]

Traditionally, a committee is understood to be a group effort... i.e. a group of members meet, and make an effort. If one of the members fails to meet with the group and/or make an effort, then there's very little point in them being a member of that group.

Yes, even in Parliament, the general system seems to be that MPs who cannot manage the considerable workload that any given committee demands duly resign from that committee, so another person can take their place and meet said workload; everybody understands this process.

Everybody, that is, expect Anne Milton.

Past form (1, 2) would suggest that Amme is treating the Health Select Committee in much the same way that she treats this constituency; she revels in the power and status they provide, but she simply will not (or cannot) handle the pesky workload that each demands... and even if she does lift her game in time to avoid a humiliating shunt from this committee, it will only serve as yet another example of her being shamed into doing more than the Bare. Bloody. Minimum.

[Miltonites! If you wish to dig and double-check on Amme's behalf, then feel free... everything you need is right here. Dennis Paul! Mike Chambers! Come on, fellas... you're supposed to be the A-Team. You know that Amme can't deal with this alone - it's up to you to undo the damage by targeting the messenger instead of dealing with the facts. Prepare your sock puppets and get back on form! What's it to be this time? A xenophobic attack? Homophobic, perhaps? Maybe even another cack-handed attempt at interfering with my professional life in response to me catching you (both) pissing away taxpayer's money by conducting your personal/political vendetta during work hours? Any time you're ready... ]

UPDATE - And here's how Dennis Paul reacted, boys and girls....

Labels: inaction