Conservatives field 10 out of 17 Candidates who live outside the Kirkburton Parish Boundary

Conservatives are being parachuted in from far and wide to stand in the Kirkburton Parish Elections

 In the Parish Council Elections the Conservatives have decided to' parachute in' over half their candidates from outside the Kirkburton Parish Council area. Their Candidates come from far and wide. Their Candidate for Flockton Robert McGuin lives in Marsh! Others live in Sheepridge, Lowerhouses, Thornhill, Marsh, Birkby and Fixby.

Parish Councils are very much about working in communities and getting involved in local projects. It is difficult to see what interests many of these candidates can have in getting involved in projects that are miles from where they live.

The fact that the Conservatives have fielded so many of their Party members from all over Huddersfield shows the lack of people willing to stand for them in our local villages. It also shows that their interest in standing is overtly political and not out of any genuine concern for our villages.

The Green Party have only one Candidate who lives outside the Boundary and that is me! I live a few hundred yards outside the Parish in Brockholes and represent Farnley Tyas and Thurstonland. The next door villages to where I live.

There are 17 Tory Candidates of whom 10 live outside the Parish

Candidate for Flockton Robert McGuin lives in Marsh!

Candidate for Kirkheaton Homma Abid lives in Sheepridge

Candidate for Kirkheaton  Maria Ackroyd lives in Lowerhouses

Candidate for Grange Moor Cristophe Walker lives in Thornhill

Candidate for Lepton Khawar Nazir Awan lives in Sheepridge

Candidate for Lepton Tasmin Coloney lives in Marsh

Candidate for Lepton Bernard McGuin lives in Marsh

Candidate for Lepton Zahid Mehmood lives in Birkby

Candidate for Shelley Bill Armer lives in Sheepridge

Candidate for Farnley Tyas and Thurstonland lives in Fixby

Leaders debates

En route to the Leaders Debates with Patrick Harvie MSP, Ross Greer and Cllr Jillian Creasy.

All good fun at the Leaders Debates for me in Manchester this week at Media City. I was part of the Green Party Team in the 'Spin Room' to provide commentary on the debate. The Spin Room was in a seperate building from the place where the debate proper was held. It was in a building called 'The Pie Factory' which I guess it might have been once. It looked like it had been very hastily put together as a studio to contain all the camera crews and milling politicos and their press teams.

 In the end I did a piece to camera for the Press Association and that was that, but interesting to be there nonetheless. Green MSP  Patrick Harvie described the atmosphere as being like a Count without the ballot papers and it was. The room was full of  prominent Politicians waiting around for hours many of whom I don't like much. it was just that instead of your common or garden Tory Cllrs we had George Osborne and Teresa May accompanied by their Special Branch minders. Reps from all the parties were there all in their huddles just like we were.

Natalie gave solid and substantial answers to the questions posed and the social media response to her was very positive. Nicola Sturgeon shone with righteous anger and Leanne Wood took first blood. She laid into the contemptible Farage. He seemed to have completely defaulted to his BNP factory settings by blaming immigration for every question posed to him. 

Cameron and Clegg we learnt nothing new about as a result of the debate. Clegg in denial of the harm he's caused and Cameron as 'smooth' and oily as ever. It was Miliband who was 'odd'. Now I know it isn't a revelation to say he is odd but Sheffield Central Candidate  Cllr Jillian Creasy reckoned he had over rehearsed. It was the way he stared directly at the camera as if he was trying to enter your very soul when he answered a question that freaked me out. It was obviously something he had been told to do but it didn't come across as natural at all.

Afterwards the team all met up and had a few shandies and got an early night. Nah!