Is this it?

Well it is just over 12 hours until the polls open and campaigning is drawing to a close. I have had another Labour party leaflet through today, the only one from any party this week.

Searching for a word to sum up the 2010 election campaign in York Central I have landed upon lackluster, or perhaps unenthusiastic.

Over the last four or so weeks I have received a few leaflets from the main parties (chart below) but no canvassers, no one knocking on my door, no-one phoning, emailing or stopping me in town. On my street there are perhaps 2 leaflets stuck up in windows.
Obviously a lot of attention locally has been diverted into the much more marginal York Outer constituency. Even accepting that it does not feel as though the main candidates, especially those trying to unseat Hugh Bayley, have really put in much of an effort to win my vote.

Leaflet tactics - are Labour smarter than the rest?

A slightly arcane but, I think, interesting topic this one. Section 91 of the 1983 Representation of the People's Act basically entitles election candidates to each have one piece of election literature delivered by the Royal Mail for free.

In York Central the Conservatives and the Lib Dems both appear to have done the same thing, that is to use their free mailshot to have one leaflet delivered to everyone on the electoral register. So far so straight forward.

The problem arises when you have houses where more than one person is on the electoral register, for instance there are three people registered at my address. The result is that three identical leaflets from the Conservatives turned up at my house on the same day, and then a week later three identical leaflets from the Lib Dems turned up. One of these leaflets get read and the other two get discarded.

What Labour appear to be doing is breaking their mailshot down into stages. So last week we received one leaflet addressed to one of the people at my address. This week we received a different leaflet addressed to another one of the people at my address, and one presumes we will receive a third leaflet to the third person next week.

The impact is that Labour effectively get double or triple value from their free Royal Mail delivery. At the same time they lessen their reliance on local volunteers pounding the streets doing deliveries and potentially make their campaign seem more active than it really is.

Leaflets flooding in

Above is an updated version of my candidates contacts chart showing the recent influx of leaflets from the various candidates in York Central.

On Monday I received a leaflet from the BNP and one from UKIP. Both were waiting for me together when I got home from work and both are the same size and of equally lurid design. This did seem a little suspicious but the BNP leaflet explicitly criticises UKIP so we will put their simultaneous arrival down to a coincidence.

Of the other parties the latest Labour leaflet concentrates on what Labour and Hugh Bayley have done for families while the Lib Dem leaflet contains the word "change" 11 times. The Greens focus on their local work as councillors and campaigners but also include more of their national policies than they have on previous leaflets. Interestingly they are continuing to push the message that the Tory's are not targeting York. Something which can be seen from my own candidates contacts chart above. (Although to be fair Susan Wade-Weeks may have been preoccupied this week what with the assassination attempt on her at the weekend).

Last, but certainly not least, the Monster Raving Loony leaflet puts forward a range of local and national policies. My favourite of which is the elimination of red tape - by making it blue.

York Central Election Hustings

There are a number of hustings events happening in York central over the next few days. The main ones open to the general public are:

Sunday 25th April 8pm at the Salvation Army Citadel - organised by a couple of local church groups

Monday 26th April 7.15pm at Holy Trinity Church Micklegate - all candidates confirmed apart from Hugh Bayley

Wednesday 28th April 6pm at York Race Course - joint York Central and York outer hustings organised by the York Press (you need to email in advance to attend this one)

If you can't make it to any of these events, or if you missed it first time around, you can download a podcast of the Minster FM hustings which took place last week and featured the Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem candidates.

Candidate Contacts Chart

I have created the chart above (and in the right hand navigation) to show the number of contacts that I personally receive from each of the York Central Candidates.

As contacts I am counting leaflets, letters, emails, phone calls, knocking on my door or accosting me in the street. I will not be counting any attempts at contact though this blog though. What I am interested in is the amount of contact that an ordinary voter in York Central gets from each candidate.

I am using the beginning of this week as the starting point. So far I have had 1 leaflet each from the Liberal Democrats, Greens and Labour. I will update the chart periodically through the next few weeks up to election day.

Paul Abbott - UKIP

I now have some more details on Paul Abbott the new UKIP candidate. He is the same Paul Abbott who runs the Micklegate Post Office and is involved in various local campaigns through the Micklegate Traders Association.

Paul Abbott now has his own page on the UKIP Candidates website which is rather charmingly rambling and full of spelling mistakes. This page gives some basic biographical information but is rather light on policies and ideas. Giving his reasons for standing in this election Paul Abbott says that

I want to become a Member of Parliament primarily because of what I learn over our post office counter. Bearing in mind it is 2010; it is an absolute disgrace how we treat the elderly, family life, students, self employed, ex armed forces and freedoms.

Paul Abbott doesn't give any indication what he would do to improve things, but it is early on in the campaign so there is time yet.

Interestingly, given that he is the UKIP candidate, there isn't much mention on Paul Abbott's UKIP Candidate page of Europe.

4 weeks to go

We now have 4 weeks until the election on May 6th. The confirmed candidates for the York Central Constituency are

Hugh Bayley MP (Labour)
Susan Wade-Weeks (Conservative)
Christian Vassie (Liberal Democrats)
Andy Chase (Green)
Paul Abbott (UKIP)
Eddy Vee (Monster Raving Loony)
Jeff Kelly (BNP)


There has been a boundary change since the last election. The results from 2005 were

Labour 46.9%
Conservative 24.4%
Liberal Democrat 21.8%
Green Party 4.5%
UKIP 1.8%

The BNP and the Monster Raving Loony's did not put up candidates for the seat in 2005. There were 3 other candidates in that election but none of them got more than 0.5% of the vote.

The BBC have done a projection of what the 2005 vote would have looked like with the new boundaries. This gives

Labour 48.8%
Conservative 22.9%
Liberal Democrat 20.1%
Other 8.2%

Which ever set of results you look at the Conservatives and the Lib Dems are going to have to do something fairly dramatic to unseat Hugh Bayley who has, after all, been MP for York for 18 years.

UKIP Candidate Change

It seems there has been a change in the UKIP candidate for York Central. John Upex is now standing in Harrogate and Knaresborough. The new UKIP Candidate for York Central is Paul Abbott.

Paul Abbott stood in the Scarborough and Whitby seat in the 2005 general election where he came in last with 2% of the vote. So far I haven't been able to find much other information about Paul Abbott but it seems from his recent letter to the York Press that he is a local businessman who owns holiday cottages. This letter also suggests he is involved with the Micklegate Traders and it is therefore possible that he is the same Paul Abbott who is the Micklegate Sub-postmaster but I have not yet verified whether this is correct.

More information and, hopefully, a photo once I have confirmed Paul Abbott's identity. As yet I have not found a website for him.

John Upex - UKIP

John Randall Upex was born and raised in Leeds. He has had a long career in engineering and owns and runs his own manufacturing company. He is 63, married with two grown up children. He has lived in Harrogate since 1984.

John Upex has stood in a number of elections in recent years. In the 2005 General Election he stood in the Wakefield seat for UKIP, finishing in 6th place with 1.1% of the vote. In 2008 he stood as an independent in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election gaining 0.2% of the vote. Also in 2008 John Upex stood in the Nidd Valley Ward of the Harrogate Borough Council Elections where he got 2.6% of the vote.

As one would expect John Upex's main concern is with Europe. In election literature attributed to him during the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election he likens the EU to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and claimed that if he was elected he would overthrow the government and lead a peasants revolt in order to remove Britain from the European Union.

Jeff Kelly - BNP

Updated 24/01/10 with picture of Jeff Kelly

Jeff Kelly stood in the recent council by-election in the Heworth ward of York gaining about 6.7% of the vote and finishing in 5th place.

Jeff Kelly also stood in the Rydale Distict (Norton Division) of the North Yorkshire County Council elections in June 2009 where he got over 10% of the vote and beat Labour into 4th place.

Jeff Kelly's website doesn't contain any biographical information on him and none seems to be available from the official BNP website. Jeff Kelly's website does not contain much in the way of policies. Instead it concentrates on the unfairness of the York Press Newspaper not publishing his letters.

The BNP did not field a candidate in the York constituency in any of the last three general elections (1997, 2001 or 2005).

Contact Details

The Secretary, PO Box 699, York, YO32 2WB

Telephone: 07531 339238

email: Heworth_BNP@live.co.uk

Eddie Vee - Monster Raving Loony Party

Elvis impersonator Eddie Vee is the official Monster Raving Loony Candidate for York Central. Eddie stood for the Monster Raving Loony Party in York in 2001. He officially stood as "The Yorkshire Elvis, Minister for Yorkshire Tea, Yorkshire Puddings and Elvis Music", with one of his main aims to get an Elvis Presley Memorial Garden set up in the Museum Gardens in York.

Alongside his political and musical careers Eddie has appeared on numerous TV shows including The Weakest Link, Trisha and This Morning.

Check out Eddie Performing

Andy Chase - Greens

The Greens got 4.5% of the vote in York in the 2005 General Election (up from 3.1% in 2001 and 1.5% in 1997).

Andy Chase is 37 years old. He has previously stood for election to York City Council. In May 2007 he beat both Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates to finish in second place to the Labour candidate in the Micklegate ward.

Andy Chase has lived in the Micklegate Ward for over 10 years and has been active in a number of local campaigns, particularly on planning issues. He opposed the Coppergate II shopping mall scheme and plans for the former Terrys chocolate site. He spoke out in favour of re-opening the Barbican centre as a non-profit community run venture. He has also been vocal in opposing the introduction of ticket barriers at York Railway Station.

His blueprint for the City of York includes introducing congestion charging, increasing the number of night buses and promoting independent retailers.

Contact Details

York Green Party, Basement, 22A Fishergate, York YO10 4AB

Telephone: 01904 636239

e-mail: yorkoffice@greenparty.org.uk

Christian Vassie - Liberal Democrat

Christain Vassie has been the City Councillor for the Wheldrake ward since 2003. Christian Vassie was educated in York at the Minster Song School and later at Archbishop Holgate's School.

Christian Vassie studied African Languages and World Music at the School of African and Oriental Studies in London from 1978-1982 graduating with a BA (hons.). Since graduating he has worked as a musician and composer, running his own production company since 1986 creating music for various TV productions and films. Christian Vassie is also a published author of both children's and adult books.

Christian Vassie claims on his website (as of 10/01/2010) that he is currently a member of York City Council's ruling executive with responsibility for Leisure and Heritage. He was sacked from this job in May 2009. He has since been critical of his council colleagues on a number of issues.

Christian Vassie was involved in a three year legal battle with his neighbours over their garden boundary. In 2007 this resulted in him having to pay £22, 500 in legal costs.

Christian Vassie identifies his two main campaign interests as the environment and civil liberties.

Contact Details

Chritian Vassie, 10 Blake Court, Wheldrake YO19 6BT

email: christian@vassie.co.uk

Susan Wade-Weeks - Conservative

Susan Wade-Weeks has recently moved to York from Sussex in order to stand as the Conservative Party's candidate in the 2010 General Election. Educated at the prestigious Cheltenham Ladies College (1970-1975), Universite de Lille (1976) and St Andrews University (1976-1980) she graduated with an MA in French Language and Literature.

Susan Wade-Weeks' professional career has largely revolved around advertising and marketing with one of her biggest clients being the Sofa Workshop. Alongside her professional career. Susan Wade-Weeks has raised three children, Honeysuckle Weeks, Perdita Weeks and Rollo Weeks. All three have become actors and Susan often accompanied them on set as a tutor and chaperone when they were children.

Susan Wade-Weeks joined the Conservative Party in 2005. She was elected to Chichester Borough Council in May 2007 and resigned her post in May 2008 after being adopted as the Conservative Candidate for York Central in March 2008. During this period Susan Wade-Weeks says that she

achieved a number of local improvements, campaigning to support village shops, save local post offices and fighting to retain local accident and emergency services, as well as facilitating and funding the introduction of broadband internet access.

In her own PR material Susan Wade-Weeks concentrates on the importance of the family, improving schools and the NHS and highlights her campaigns on behalf of local small businesses. She also highlights her support for green issues and her opposition to the war in Iraq.

The Guardian have an interview with Susan Wade-Weeks from September 2008 which covers her views on Tax, the Family and Europe.

Contact Details

1 Ash Street, York, YO26 4UR

email: susan@susanwadeweeks.co.uk or susanwadeweeks@yahoo.co.uk

Find her on Facebook and Twitter (empty when I last looked).

The Candidates

So far there appear to be 7 candidates standing for the York Central constituency in 2010 General Election.

Labour Hugh Bayley (sitting MP)
Green Andy Chase
BNP Jeff Kelly
UKIP John Upex
Liberal Democrat Christian Vassie
Monster Raving Loony Eddie Vee (Elvis)
Conservative Susan Wade-Weeks

I have put links up to their personal websites/blogs on the right hand side of this page. The exception being John Upex from UKIP for whom I could not find a site (or even a profile of him on the UKIP website).