I write from Birmingham, where the Conservative Party is gathering for its annual Conference which this year is a beauty parade of leadership contenders. More on that in a moment.
Our area is rich in activity and poor in connections. I mean there is a huge amount going on and not enough coordination. So it’s a very good thing that Andy Rhind-Tutt, the polymath councillor of Amesbury, periodically pulls together a large tableful of local leaders - from business, the public sector, the culture sector and charities - and gets them to recount their recent work and future plans.
I joined them this week and was inspired, as I am so often, by the breadth and depth of what organisations are doing in the neighbourhood, and how useful it is when they collaborate. The Chambers of Commerce, for example, across the table from me, congratulated the Army (to my right) for their increased procurement of local goods and services.
It’s not all good news, as I heard. Businesses lament the lack of office and industrial space - Wiltshire’s business units are full, and we urgently need more capacity to grow our local economy. And English Heritage are worried how to cope with the growing numbers attending Winter Solstice at Stonehenge, when there are no dry fields to park in.
Next month Lloyds Bank, the last branch in Marlborough high street, closes. This sad day reflects the fact that the branch only sees 200 or so customers a month; it simply doesn’t make economic sense for them to serve this town. The trend is national, of course. And there is mitigation: as a business or a private customer you can do all the obvious banking things at the Post Office, using your bank account. I am also pressing for a new ATM and cash deposit machine.
But it’s a great shame that this familiar aspect of our high street is no more, especially for elderly people, who don’t do online banking and can’t travel easily to Swindon or Chippenham. Along with the Marlborough Town Clerk Richard Spencer-Williams, I met with the Post Office and a rep from Cash Access, the government scheme to ensure people can still use cash, and made these points. We intend to apply to the banks for a Community Banking Hub - a staffed branch - to serve the town.
Ogbourne St George, like so many villages, have spent too much of 2024 under water. I visited again this week to meet the parish council and look at the work Wiltshire Council and Thames Water have been doing - and not doing - to prevent flooding this winter. To be fair these agencies have invested in the village; and more importantly the village itself has stepped up and taken responsibility for the drains and ditches. This is a place that bought its pub to save it from development, so it’s a resourceful community. They just need more and better communication and a green light from the powers-that-be, to do more.
So, Party Conference. I am ‘campaign manager’ for Robert Jenrick so I don’t need to pretend impartiality here. But I do hope all the candidates get the airtime they need to set out their stalls, and most of all I hope our members get all the opportunities they need to judge the candidates for themselves. My strong view is that the country is at a grave moment: we have a government plainly adrift, without a clear plan for the country and now embroiled in exactly the sort of sordid scandals they raged about in opposition; we face huge and interrelated threats to our security, our economy and our culture; there is an urgent need for an effective opposition to hold the government to account and prepare for the next election.
To my mind Robert represents the right policy positions - especially on the economy, security and immigration - the right presentation - he is a serious, capable politician, moderate in tone and manner - and the right skills and character - he is diligent, brave, smart and calm. He’s also the candidate most likely to attract former Reform, Lib Dem and Conservative voters. I think the Party would be lucky to have him if he won, and the country would soon appreciate that an alternative, and a better, Prime Minister is now available.
