Sunday away from Cambridgeshire - is this wise?

Sue and I spent Sunday away from Cambridgeshire - and 'campaigning' (though my independent election campaign hasn't officially started yet) - and I wondered (just to Sue and myself), 'Is this wise?'

Well, wise or not, we had a wonderful time with lots of Sue's 'Turnip Taleban' relatives and returned to Chapel Farm sated and happy. I call the Norfolk crowd 'Turnip Taleban' because the hard-working Conservative loyalists - and most, if not all, of Sue's Norfolk relatives are or were Conservative loyalists - were nicknamed thus during the serious crisis that the party experienced in that part of good old East Anglia when yet another London-based candidate - Elizabeth Truss in this case - was 'parachuted in' to the supposedly safe Conservative seat of South West Norfolk against the wishes of said hard-working loyalists.

The same problem appears to be shaping up in West Suffolk where none of the six picked for final selection to succeed Mr Richard Spring in another supposedly safe Conservative seat have local roots or connections. I know that people in the Suffolk part of Newmarket are unhappy to say the least. It's a 'rum owd do' (a native saying, not likely to be understood beyond the bounds of Cambridgeshire, Suffolk or Norfolk) when hard-working loyalists whose most important role, hitherto, has been sorting out and selecting appropriate applicants to stand in the Conservative interest are seemingly sidelined, often in the cause of 'inclusiveness.' The Conservatives should nurture their own people and 'include' them at all stages of the selection process: the opposite is now in vogue and it appears that an applicant for such as South West Norfolk or West Suffolk has the best chance of being approved and 'selected' if he/she is a Londoner with connections to the Notting Hill set and/or from some variety of favoured or fashionable 'minority.'

The Norfolk relatives were in good form, however, and we had quite serious discussions on current affairs and the up-coming election. I was actually quite surprised to hear how David Cameron is derided. They have severe doubts about him and some expressed a preference for William Hague - again. Well, despite the latter being hot stuff in the House of Commons, I don't share the relatives' preference, for beer-swilling Willie had his turn as Leader, and he muffed it. I can't see the Conservatives ditching yet another Leader, unless 'airbrushed Dave' loses in May.

Incidentally, I was also surprised to hear more serious derision - along the lines of 'what has he done in 23 years in the House?' - regarding my likely opponent and I felt duty-bound to point out that Mr James Paice, M.P., is - and has been for several years - 'Shadow Minister of Agriculture.' My 'support' for Mr Paice didn't cut much ice with the 'Turnip Taleban' and they are mostly farming folk. What has 'Jim' done - or not done - to deserve this derision? I don't know.

By the way, the airbrushing of Dave is causing huge hilarity and I have commented on somebody else's blog as follows:

"This nonsense serves the Conservative spin doctors right. I am likely to be standing as an independent in South East Cambridgeshire. I have a big nose (as did Oliver Cromwell). I have always had a big nose. Everybody knows I have a big nose. If I cut off (as in airbrushed) my nose, I would spite my public face. It would be only too obvious. What Cameron's people have done is only too obvious. The rest of us know what the deer-stalking genuine article is. Cameron and his fox hunting, deer stalking, hare coursing clique of Hague, Herbert & Co. can run (with their airbrushers) but they can't hide their unattractive but real 'faces.' We should see them without the airbrushers' efforts - big noses and warts (as in Oliver Cromwell), bad policies and all."

Another version of 'airbrushed Dave' is below. Laugh if you wish: I did!