UKIP Leader Nigel Farage pictured at Great Yarmouth Racecourse
UKIP steps up fight for control of Great Yarmouth
Sam Russell
Thursday, August 2, 2012
9:05 PM
THE UK Independence Party (UKIP) is stepping up its fight to win political control around Great Yarmouth.
Candidates threw down the gauntlet to the Conservatives and Labour in May’s borough elections by contesting every seat - and came within 48 votes of seizing their first in Gorleston.
And wasting no time to capitalise on this momentum, organisers have revealed they will be fielding candidates in all of Yarmouth’s county council seats for next year’s elections.
Party leader Nigel Farage - a familiar face on BBC One’s Question Time - has the borough in his focus and has made repeat visits, most recently to Yarmouth Racecourse.
And he and local UKIP leader Matthew Smith are confident of the party toppling serving councillors in the near future.
Mr Smith said: “This is a statement of intent to pick up seats in Yarmouth and a firm commitment to the electorate that we will be campaigning all year round and not just at election time.”
He narrowly missed out on a borough council seat in Gorleston after Tory Bertie Collins placed 48 votes ahead of him in May.
But he will be contesting the Gorleston St Andrews division in the May 2013 Norfolk County Council elections.
Former Conservative Councillor Alan Grey, 54, is to challenge Tory cabinet member Graham Plant for his seat in Breydon as the UKIP candidate having been a borough councillor for the Conservatives between 2008 and 2012 in Bradwell North.
Rex Parkinson Hare will be looking to defend his seat in Nelson, Southtown and Cobholm, and apprentice carpenter Liam Probert will be UKIP’s Magdalen candidate.
Security guard Colin Aldred, 60, will contend Lothingland, student Alex Dougal is challenging for Yarmouth North and Central and Jonathon Childs, landlord of The Grange in Ormesby, is to stand in East Flegg.
Logistics manager Mike Bird, 24, of Scratby will contest West Flegg division, and Caister resident Jack Cutting will stand in his home division of Caister.
When he visited Yarmouth last week, UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: “I think we have got a good chance of winning seats. Since 2012 we are taking a big percentage of Conservative voters.
“We can make serious headway in Great Yarmouth.”
Election candidates for all parties will be printed in the Mercury as they are announced.
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12 comments
Nick, the trouble with you europhiles is that you're totally blind to the ble*ding obvious... "The decline of the fishing industry has always been about stocks"....Like chucking back into the sea' dead undersize fish?? That will get the stocks up!...lets move away from fishy thing as you've been well and truly kippered over it. Roads, no upgrade to the A47 unless the unelected eurocrats deem it useful. I've looked on their website and it's not on their agenda. That leaves your blooming great white elephant of a port, standing basically idle...Which is very much like many of the natives of GY at present !!!
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nrg
Saturday, August 4, 2012
NRG, Don't make me laugh! The decline of the fishing industry has always been about stocks! I know all about the problems associated with the CFP. Technology has moved on and that particular mantra is ridiculous! The importance today about GY remains its strategic position as a port. This has nothing to do with fishing and in fact the EC was always very keen to include us in its integrated transport network. Modern port infrastructure will place us back where we belong, integrated into the county of Norfolk( we are presently it seems excluded) and working as a strong link across to Europe. This is what yarmouth been good at .......being a port and that is what we shall remain. The biggest problem here is the lack of political understanding of that fact. The UKIP party has no comprehension or understanding of this town. A terrible thing if we see any of them gaining credence in this area.
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Nick
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The UK Independence Party does not want to control Great Yarmouth. It wants to give control back to the people - now that makes a change. Its main platform is the restoration of democracy with local and national binding referenda.
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David Ramsbotham
Friday, August 3, 2012
Contro of what? Can it be worth it? And what would you do with it if you had control? Could sell it, maybe clear off the whole of GY and re-develop as near offshore wind farm?
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Paul Morley
Friday, August 3, 2012
V..you're a marked man, a rebel or your remarks don't fit the agenda.Cleaning out the cookies helps, though i'm not sure how with firefox.
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nrg
Friday, August 3, 2012
Once again Archant, discriminated against. Comment once again has not appeared. Whats the excuse this time?. Comment requires death by firing squad ?.
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"V"
Friday, August 3, 2012
Nick, " keeping those close ties is very important for the future prosperity of the town"..The managed decline of GY has been followed through by successive governments and councils on the orders from the EU unelected bureaucratic elite.The disappearing fishing industry and many other industries in the area was the price paid to join this failed club, people often fail to grasp that Britain pays over 45 million pounds everyday into the EU failed pot, with only pennies paid back into this country in the disguise of EU funding.
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nrg
Friday, August 3, 2012
Winning County Council seats wouldn't give them 'control of Great Yarmouth'. Most local control is within the Town Hall.
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DT
Friday, August 3, 2012
Not so DrJB, also a pity that you did not include the lilly Lib Dems with your Tory and Labour parties, all three suck up to the EU, the vast majority of British people want to be out of the EU as soon as possible.
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Paul Platten
Friday, August 3, 2012
What a scary party! Their success is mostly due to the inadequacies of the Tory and Labour parties.
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DrJB
Friday, August 3, 2012
Love to see that mason plant take a good polling booth kicking...up the kippers!!!
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nrg
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Voting in a new party won't make a difference to the town but moving to a better place make your lives better it did for me.
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chris
Thursday, August 2, 2012