Anne Milton - Guildford MP (and Dipstick)

Thanks to comments made following the outing of Mike Chambers, we now know that another 'average local person' in Anne Milton's 'Talk of the Town' pamphlet is closely tied to her party and/or campaign.

(BTW - Yes, that is Howard Flight pictured between Anne Milton and Mike Chambers in that post. As far as I know, Anne has expressed no opinion about the recent unpleasantness, but she *is* becoming famous for waiting to hear what the majority thinks before forming her 'own' opinion.)

Meet Mandy. She thinks; "Anne really understands our worries about crime and anti-social behaviour. She'll be a really effective MP."

1. Note that word 'worries'... this suggests - once again - that the local Tory campaign in based not on reality, but a perception of it.
2. I doubt very much that Anne will be an effective MP, but I'll get onto that shortly.
3. The womanly 'man in the street' Mandy is in fact Councillor Mandy Worrall of Ash Parish Council (bottom right).



Now, here I seek to remind you that the original investigation into Mike Chambers was very much the result of random selection. I started with one face, hit pay-dirt, and then stopped there.

I then did Anne the courtesy of asking her straight out if my suspicions were correct and allowing her to respond.

And what was the result?

A promise that she would get back to me.

Did she keep this promise?

No, she did not.

In much the same way that she didn't keep her promise to get back to me about the mysterious call centre that she knew all along was directly connected to her party.

Now we get back to my judgement as to whether she'll be a good MP...

Let's begin with this comment on Guido's blog from lambethlad: re Anne Milton - her own side don't like her either. And this was also true when she was a Reigate councillor. Great promises, but no action.

I couldn't possibly comment about what was or wasn't delivered in Reigate (or if Anne was or wasn't the most popular girl in class), but I *do* know that I've had direct contact with Anne Milton twice now - and on both occasions she has promised to take action and failed to deliver.

So, previously when I saw her claiming to be Little Ms Action when it came to mobile phone masts when I knew that Sue Doughty had been taking reaction on behalf of residents (and was certainly better-placed to do so, being our MP and all) I was willing to give Anne the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps she also had taken action on behalf of residents.

But I don't think like that any more... because I know she's all mouth and no trousers.

When I read in her pamphlet that she would oppose any plans to build an incinerator in Guildford when I knew that plans for an incinerator originated from the Tory-run Council, I was willing to believe that perhaps Anne simply had a different view to her Tory counterparts on local Councils.

But I don't think like that any more... because I know she's all mouth and no trousers.

I once thought that if/when Anne *finally* expressed an opinion on the hot issue of a local casino, I would be willing to listen to that opinion and take it at face value.

But I don't think like that any more... because I know she's all mouth and no trousers.

And finally... now Anne's pamphlet assures me that she's the 'Talk Of The Town' and not one but *two* of the locals featured in this pamphlet (who have [a] heard of her and [b] think highly of her) turn out to be closely associated with her party or campaign, I'm now inclined to think that ALL of the locals featured in this same pamphlet are closely associated with her party or campaign. Every last one.

Because I know she's all mouth and no trousers.

But... Anne has a chance to tell me otherwise, prove me wrong and/or earn back the benefit of the doubt.

All she has to do is fulfil her promise to get back to me about the other vox-pops in this pamphlet and tell me how many of them are sourced from people closely associated with her party and/or her campaign.

And she has a clear choice here...

She can some clean and tell us what the story is (i.e. elaborate on "So what?" and tell us how many of these 'average people in the street' work for her or the Tories) or I can start digging in earnest.

Hell, I can even spend time focusing on other issues and just sit back and wait for further revelations regarding this pamphlet - and others - to come in via readers... one after the other... over the next 4 weeks.

Your call, Anne. Come clean or get hosed.

UPDATE - Here you go, folks... here's a scan of the back page of Anne's March 2005 pamphlet (there's also a PDF version available on this page of her website). Let me know if you recognise anyone.

Labels: tory ringers