Labour Parliamentary Candidate Lacks Credibility

[Steve]

I find Labour's Katherine Chibah totally lacking in credibilty to the point where she appears to have little idea what she's talking about.

"The Tories' decision to u-turn and allow Waitrose to leave Hertford and move out of town, has left residents completely dismayed and it leaves the future of our county town in serious doubt."

What "Tories' decision" is she talking about? The Tories as a [local] group or political party made no such decision. What happened was that one individual local Conservative councillor representing a Hertford Ward made an individual decision to support the planning application to build an out-of-town store at Great Amwell, much to the chagrin of other local Conservative councillors. It wasn't Tory policy. To present it as such is deliberate misinformation.

"I put forward to a plan that would improve our town centre including handing over empty shops to local entrepreneurs"

How are you going to do that then, Katherine, given that these empty shops are privately owned? Please donl't make pledges you have little chance of being able to fulfill.

"The Tories nearly cost us our Post Office and once again they have shown their complacency"

Seriously? What did "The Tories" have to do with a contractual dispute between a Post Office franchisee and the leaseholder of the building? Has it escaped your notice that local Tories were campaigning to keep the PO open? I seem to recall that Katherine Chibah blamed the [near] closure of the post office on the privatisation of The Royal Mail. Surely she must know that The Royal Mail has nothing to do with running post offices, which are actually run by a nationalised limited company (Post Office Ltd) and nothing to do with The Royal Mail (Royal Mail Group Ltd).

http://www.kc4hs.org.uk/hertfordtownfuture

Still, never let basic facts get in the way of a political campaign.

[Ewoowar]

It would appear that she has been spoon fed a few local hot issues and is using the standard 'blame the opposition' tactics.

I'm not sure about her plan for "handing over empty shops to local entrepreneurs". They're not her shops.

[Hugo Kane]

Someone should have told her that her chances of getting elected would improve if she lived in Cornwall and thought foodbanks are a good idea.

[leo densian]

Well she lives in Enfield so to all intents and purposes her world probably ends at Waltham Cross

[Joby]

I find Labour's Katherine Chibah totally lacking in credibilty to the point where she appears to have little idea what she's talking about.

One of the major pitfalls of living in a "safe seat" constituency is that opposition parties are reluctant to put forward a decent candidate for election knowing that it's a waste. What ensures is effectively disenfranchisement for all, where the incumbent can effectively do nothing and still be elected* as there is no viable alternative. Voters of all persuasion lose out.

*Just to be clear, I don't intend this as an accusation of Mark Prisk - I'm no Tory but I do think he seems to be doing a half-decent job and is making an effort on the campaign front. Still not sure I could bring myself to vote blue, though

[Steve]

One of the major pitfalls of living in a "safe seat" constituency is that opposition parties are reluctant to put forward a decent candidate for election knowing that it's a waste. What ensures is effectively disenfranchisement for all, where the incumbent can effectively do nothing and still be elected* as there is no viable alternative. Voters of all persuasion lose out.

Maybe that's why the Tory parliamentary candidate for Birmingham Ladywood is Hertford town councillor Isabel Sigmac!

[Smudger]

Mark Prisk visited the company that I work for a couple of years ago and I showed him around.

I was very impressed with him.
He really understood business (having said that he was business secretary)
But above that, I got the impression that he really cares about the local district.

And talking about caring for the local area, I'm not sure how you could better the old Conservative guy (quite famous in the area - Raffles ? Ruffles ?)

So I suppose that makes me a Tory ?

[Smudger]

That's Peter Ruffles !

[Kateg28]

Katherine knocked on my door a few weeks ago and asked if I would be voting Labour to which I answered 'No' and then she asked who I would be voting for to which I said I was undecided and she just went 'Ok' and left.

I was a bit bemused as she didn't try and ask me why I would not be voting for Labour nor do anything to try and capture my vote. She seemed a pleasant enough person but she did not impress me politically.

I too have met Mark Prisk a couple of times and have found him actually quite personable. The second time, he remembered me from the previous time and that impressed me as it was only a brief discussion about a minor issue. I know you shouldn't really vote on who you like, but on the issues, but the people involved do influence it.

[Joby]

Katherine knocked on my door a few weeks ago and asked if I would be voting Labour to which I answered 'No' and then she asked who I would be voting for to which I said I was undecided and she just went 'Ok' and left.

I was a bit bemused as she didn't try and ask me why I would not be voting for Labour nor do anything to try and capture my vote. She seemed a pleasant enough person but she did not impress me politically.

If, as you stated, you're undecided but categorically not voting Labour, it would surely be a waste of her time "trying to capture your vote"?

I definitely agree with voting for people you like. I vote for Peter Ruffles whenever I get the opportunity to do so, purely because of my regard for the man and his love of the town and not his party affiliation. He remains the only Conservative I have ever voted for.