York Central Labour MP below average in dealing with correspondence

Ranked 433 out of 653 MPs nationally

According to independent research site “Write to them.com” retiring MP Hugh Bayley achieved only a “medium” score on responsiveness to resident’s communications. He had achieved a “high” score the previous year.

Julian Sturdy the Conservative MP for the neighbouring York Outer seat also only achieved a medium score.

The scores were based on the proportion of communications that an MP responded to.

In Hugh Bayley’s case he replied to 34 of 73 communications, while Julian Sturdy managed 31 responses to 59 contacts

Nationally the best MP (Michael Ellis, Conservative, Northampton) replied to all 32 contacts that he received.

Iain Duncan Smith Conservative for Chingford came bottom of the table replying to only 4 out of 55 contacts.

Four MPs however declined to respond at all to the “write to them” web site. (Barbara Keeley, Labour, Worsley; Dominic Raab, Conservative, Esher; Liz McInnes, Labour, Heywood and Nadine Dorries, Conservative, Bedfordshire.

Ironically two of Hugh Bayley’s office staff are standing as Labour candidates for the York Council at the May 7th poll.

York quest by candidates who want to be local….. “Wanderin” Joe takes root.

Electors are being bombarded with literature by election candidates who are trying to establish a “local” image.

The trend was started by the London based Labour parliamentary candidate who fell over herself to issue statements saying that she was a York resident. This claim appeared to be based on on her having bought a property in the City as recently as last December.

“Wanderin Joe” takes root

Not to be outdone, our old friend Joe “wandering star” Riches has now issued a leaflet claiming he is rooted in the York Outer constituency (which he hopes to represent in parliament).

Wanderin Joe achieved fame in 2011 by having four “local” contact addresses in the space of 18 months.

The Tories have been more open in admitting that their York central candidate is London based.

The LibDem candidate, Nick Love, has lived in York since the 1980s.

Nor are local election candidates immune to the “lets try to be local” urge.

To be fair, living in the Council ward that you hope to represent is an important qualification.

Councillors have a key role in identifying and addressing local issues. They are better able to do so if they experience the same issues in the course of their everyday lives.

They are also better placed to check public service standards on a regular and methodical basis. Residents don’t want to be left with remote Councillors in times of, for example, heavy snow fall.

In Westfield only one of the Labour candidates lives in the ward and then for less than a year. Her two colleagues live miles away.

One set of candidates do pass the “local” test with flying colours.

The Westfield LibDem team all live in the ward and have done for decades.

Westfield LibDems election plea

The by election campaign in the Westfield Ward is hotting up.

It was still neck and neck between the LibDem candidate Andrew Waller and his Labour opponent as the parties entered the final week of campaign.

However recent revelations about the Labour Council Leadership are a major talking point and seem likely to influence the result of Thursday poll.

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