Category: Election 2015

Cereste toppled

17:17 Friday 8th May 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

WASEEM MIRZA: There’s been a day of drama already today. Let’s start with Peterborough, where there were 20 out of 57 seats up for election. Technically 56, because a councillor had resigned about a month or so ago. Today the Leader of that city council Marco Cereste lost his seat. A little bit of background, back in May 2013 Marco Cereste survived a leadership challenge, after being criticised for his support on major projects, including a multi-million pound solar and wind farm near the city. He survived that surprise challenge back then, but in today’s elections he lost his seat to the Conservative Ray Bisby, and UKIP’s John Whitby. Now the new make-up of Peterborough City Council now looks like this. Largely unchanged from the last election, Conservatives with 26 seats, losing 2 on the previous election. Labour 12, the same as before. The Independents 7. Again no change there. UKIP 4, that’s up on the previous 3. Liberal Democrats 4, again no change there. The Liberal Party 3, the same as before. So what does that mean? Well no party has overall control of Peterborough City Council, again, the same result as in the previous election. But with Marco Cereste no longer at the helm, there could be big ramifications there for the future. So, what next for Mr Cereste? Well he told this programme earlier the public will decide his legacy.

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Care home closures at Peterborough hustings

11:45 Friday 1st May 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Is it time we talked about adult social care in a serious way Stewart Jackson? Is it time we looked after our elderly in a better way, and spent more money on it? Surely not the time to be closing care homes, is it?
STEWART JACKSON: Well I’m not going to defend the City Council’s decision on care homes. They’ll have to come on and defend that themselves. My view is that in a sense adult social care and the co-ordination between acute district hospitals, GPs and the City Council is almost an issue above politics. Because none of us can stop the demographic change, the number of over 85’s doubling in the next twenty years.
PAUL STAINTON: And it’s time to do something now isn’t it Lisa Forbes, and everybody get together on this before it’s too late In thirty years time we’re all going to be looking after each other on zimmer frames, aren’t we?
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Political engagement – trust in politicians and bothering to vote

07:18 Monday 27th April 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: We’ve been talking today about political engagement. Overall in 2010, the last General Election, Cambridgeshire saw a turnout, the number of people voting, that was actually above the national average, although only just. The turnout varied between 74.9% in South Cambridgeshire to just 63.9% in Peterborough. And you do hear people complaining that all politicians are alike, that politicians just don’t keep their promises, so why should we bother voting? Why should we bother voting when they never do what they say they will do before the election? So lots of people trying to do more to increase the number of people who actually turn up to vote on May 7th, and we’re going to hear from two of them now. Clive Semmens is the Green Party Parliamentary candidate for South East Cambridgeshire. Morning Clive.
CLIVE SEMMENS: Good morning.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And also with me in the studio is Huw Jones, who’s the Labour Parliamentary candidate for South East Cambridgeshire. Morning.
HUW JONES: Hiya Dotty.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So South East Cambridgeshire, at the last General Election it was neither the highest nor the lowest in Cambridgeshire in terms of turnout. Why do you think Clive that still one in three people on average just don’t vote?
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Ed Miliband in Cambridge

16:09 Wednesday 22nd April 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

SAM EDWARDS: The Labour Leader Ed Miliband has today been in Cambridge, trying to whip up support in a region that had on the whole turned its back on him. With just two MPs in East Anglia, life on the Labour campaign trail is tough, especially when it’s trying to convince voters it’s the party of government, and the party of the NHS. Ed Miliband spoke to our News Editor Mousumi Bakshi about the so-called creeping privatisation of the NHS, and why, if Labour is anti-privatisation, is a Labour peer on the board of a private healthcare company, a company that lost control of Hinchingbrooke Hospital.
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Cambs candidates on voting for economic prosperity

09:22 Wednesday 1st April 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL HAWKINS: Are we better off now than we were five years ago? Have things started to head in the right direction for you? This morning, you may have seen it in the Daily Telegraph, hundreds of business leaders in the UK have written an open letter praising the current Conservative-led government for their economic strategy over the last five years. The letter claims the Conservative strategies have in their words ‘supported investment and job creation.’ Some of those who have signed the letter include Dragon’s Den star Duncan Ballantyne along with top bosses from BP Oil, TopShop and Carphone warehouse. Meanwhile, Labour Leader Ed Miliband is expected to launch a tougher stance on zero hours contracts today if he were to be successful in May. Workers on the contracts will be able to demand a regular contract after twelve weeks under Labour’s new proposals. But with all this talk about big business and working contracts, do we really feel any better off? Would you say you were in a better or a worse place five years on from our latest change in government? And with so many different battlegrounds being created in this election already, are you starting to feel overlooked? Let’s speak to Heidi Allen. She’s running for the Conservatives in South Cambridgeshire. Good morning to you Heidi.
HEIDI ALLEN: Good morning.
PAUL HAWKINS: And Ken Rustidge. Good morning to you Ken.
KEN RUSTIDGE: Yes good morning.
PAUL HAWINS: Ken is the Labour candidate for the North East of our county. Let’s start with you Heidi then. This economic recovery, this letter from big business, but are people feeling it? Continue reading “Cambs candidates on voting for economic prosperity”