The election in Wokingham

Over the last few weeks I have re-visited every town, village and small settlement in the constituency. I have talked to people, canvassed and delivered leaflets as a candidate does. From Parkers Corner to Norreys, from Riseley to Winnersh, from Aldermaston Wharf to Evendons I haveĀ walked and driven round Ā the area. I have just thrown away a pair of shoes whichĀ fell to bits Ā under the effort.

I have sent out two different  leaflets by free post to every two person household, and with my team hand delivered a longer four sided leaflet setting out what I and the Conservatives would like to do if elected with a  majority.

It has been a frustrating election as half the other candidates refuse to join debates. One of them has sent out a leaflet attacking me with lies about my views, with no content about what she would do if elected.

I have decided to continue with my positive campaign, explaining what I have been doing and what I want to see through and do next to make the Wokingham constituency an even better place to live in. I am also stressing how we can have a more prosperous country if we get that Conservative majority with the public service boosting and tax cutting budget we now need.

50 Comments

  1. Freeborn John
    December 7, 2019

    Was out leafleting for you today in Spencers Wood and midweek. Feedback from the doorsteps that I was asked to pass on to you:
    – anger about BBC ending free TV licenses for the elderly.
    – get brexit done.

    Reply Thanks. Good messages.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 8, 2019

      It is an outrage that the BBC extracts a licence fee from anyone under threat of imprisonment – it is totally unfair competition. Where is the competition authority. Made worse by the fact that the BBC is clearly a propaganda outfit with wrong headed views on almost everything. Wrong on Climate alarmism, ever bigger government and higher taxes, insufferably PC and wanting ever more of the anti-democratic EU. Staffed almost exclusively by fairly dim, lefty art graduates and air head lovies. With only lefty comedians every allowed on. Climate realists and sound scientists not on group think message are banned.

      1. Martin in Cardiff
        December 8, 2019

        The BBC does not do that.

        The law of the land does.

        1. Lifelogic
          December 8, 2019

          Indeed but no less an outrage for that.

  2. Lynn Atkinson
    December 7, 2019

    Your opponent whose leaflet attacked you sounds like a loser John. Just keep right on to the end of the road … the British electorate is a wize one.

  3. ADAMS
    December 7, 2019

    Is your Party to continue with the usual lies about cutting immigration John ?
    This issue will not go away . Are you helpless against your own executive ?

  4. Lifelogic
    December 7, 2019

    Keep up the good work let us hope we get the working majority and the next government at the least follows your sensible advice – which has been consistently right for very many years and still is. What is needed is tax cuts, red tape cuts, cheap reliable energy, far less government, and far more freedom of choice as to how people spent their own money and to leave the EU cleanly. The Boris deal is not clean enough.

  5. Brigham
    December 7, 2019

    There doesn’t seem to be enough sanctions to stop politicians lying. As most of them seem to be most interested in feathering their nest, I suppose to hit them in the pocket would be the best way. Ā£1000 fine for an outright lie, and lesser amounts for the slimy
    way they try to weasel out of answering questions

    1. steve
      December 7, 2019

      Brigham

      “Ā£1000 fine for an outright lie, and lesser amounts for the slimy
      way they try to weasel out of answering questions”

      A day in the village stocks is better.

    2. Peter Wood
      December 7, 2019

      Brigham,

      Fantastic idea! You’d get my vote. However, I can’t really see it in ANY political manifesto of our present party’s.

  6. Posty
    December 7, 2019

    You should have boots with good ankle support.A spatula for a dog bite at the other side of the letterbox

  7. Stred
    December 7, 2019

    Best of luck S. J. R..I wish you were my MP instead of the deluded fool who will be elected again by equally illogical constituents.

    1. Oggy
      December 7, 2019

      I can identify with your comments Stred re my own MP who will no doubt be returned.

      1. Oggy
        December 7, 2019

        PS, best of luck Sir John.

    2. Richard
      December 9, 2019

      Best of luck Sir John. I wish that you were my MP too!

  8. Ann Fabian
    December 7, 2019

    This time they say Oxygen levels are lower in oceans. We’ll evolve.
    Even now I know a Mr and Mrs Gill.
    The SNP are at forefront on this one. No wonder they hate Scottish fishermen

  9. Ian @Barkham
    December 7, 2019

    Sir John

    Integrity always wines through.

    The spurious antics of your opponents, at best beggar’s belief. Even more bizarre is the noisiest ones cant even get to stand in their own constituencies, they have been turned down and rejected at home. Yet they come to Wokingham and make believe they have had a long time active participation in the area. Which for some is tenuous at the extreme

    Any one in Wokingham that believes these election candidates are local, please check there validity and ask why are they rejected in their own communities.

    The UK parliament has been undermined, pulled into the gutter and has forgotten what Democracy is. This fault line starts by those that make spurious claims to get elected, electors are deceived over and over again. We all should vote, but we should all try to validate the claims by those standing. The media is no help here. Otherwise what little is left of integrity, standing and the point of a UK Parliament is for nothing. We pull it the gutter at our own peril. There was a point to ‘Magna Carta’ don’t through it a way

    1. Ian @Barkham
      December 8, 2019

      I hate predictive text – ‘Wins!’ among many things….

  10. percy openshaw
    December 7, 2019

    All the very best, Sir John. We need you in parliament and we certainly do not need any sort of Labour administration.

  11. agricola
    December 7, 2019

    I wish you well on 12th, putting all the nay sayers to the political sword. If the Conservative party prevails in the country at large it will be interesting to see what sort of Conservative it turns out to be. Much depends on the vision and quality of Boris’s leadership. I hope he confounds his critics. Any repitition of the last three years will be a political disaster.

  12. Alan Jutson
    December 7, 2019

    Less than a week to go JR so remain positive.

    All the other candidates just want to moan, complain, and find fault, lots of lies and misconceptions on social media chat groups as well.
    Seems like a lot of people want to talk about you, but have never actually made contact with you, or are are even aware of your website.

    Never known so much fake news about, if this is the modern way of running an election campaign, then god help our Country in the future.

    Wish you well !.

  13. Everhopeful
    December 7, 2019

    If only all Tories were like JR.
    If they were the Tory Party would not now have fallen to an 8 point lead/ 14 seat majority.
    The future looks awful bleak.

    1. steve
      December 7, 2019

      “If only all Tories were like JR.”

      They are.

      1. Everhopeful
        December 7, 2019

        They canā€™t be.
        If they were weā€™d have already done Brexit properly.
        And I very much doubt if the disastrous 2017 GE would have been such a disaster.
        Also I know my Tory MP does not waste any shoe leather on the likes of me!

      2. APL
        December 7, 2019

        steve: “They are.”

        Even John Major former Tory leader and Prime minister who, according to the Papers is not agitating against the Tory party.

        I don’t think so.

        A house divided against itself will not stand.

      3. Simeon
        December 7, 2019

        Ouch!

        Ultimately, and in the only way that really matters, you are of course right. Politics is a team game, and Sir John, even if he’s mercurial, is still a team player. And the team sucks. Sadly, Sir John lends the Tory party a veneer of credibility it really does not deserve.

        I cannot stand their politics, especially on Brexit, but in a very narrow sense I can respect the likes of Gauke and Grieve’s decision not to rejoin their old party and to run as Independents. I certainly respect them more than the other rebels who slunk back into the party after agreeing to support BJ’s BRINO/Remain. That said, I could never, ever countenance voting for them!

        1. rose
          December 8, 2019

          People who fight another election in their former constituency and lose, get a large capital sum. People who stand down honourably, don’t. This needs to be reformed.

          Gauke and Grieve were not in a position to rejoin because of their dastardly actions in cahoots with the EU and the xxxx Speaker during the Traitors’ Parliament.

          1. rose
            December 8, 2019

            Dastardly actions which culminated in forcing the PM to break his word. That is not just going against the whip as so many apologists try to make out.

          2. Simeon
            December 9, 2019

            No one forced BJ to break his word, and no one forced him to pursue a course of action at odds with achieving a clean and proper Brexit. He is responsible for where he and his party are, and in my view he’s perfectly happy with that. Of course, all this depends on a Con majority…

          3. rose
            December 9, 2019

            You don’t seem to have followed what went on in Parliament and the Courts.

            The Benn Burt directive forced him to break his word and cut the ground from under him in negotiations. It was backed up by the politicised courts.

      4. Lifelog
        December 8, 2019

        You are joking, most are more like Nick Clegg, Joe Swindon or Ed Davey. Daft pro EU, tax borrow and waste lefties and all full of green crap.

  14. ian wragg
    December 7, 2019

    A difficult sell John whilst supporting Boris’s WA. They know it is not Brexit in any meaningful way.

    1. Peter Wood
      December 7, 2019

      I W,

      It is a risk, but its better than the alternatives. ’twas ever thus. Hold your nose and put a cross…..

    2. Lifelogic
      December 8, 2019

      It is not it need improving on or just leave.

  15. zorro
    December 7, 2019

    That may be the case JR, but we have not received anything from you or the Conservative Party, neither the four sided pamphlet nor the two other leaflets, and nothing from Labour either…..

    I have, however, received 14 (yes, fourteen) separate communications from Dr Lee and one from Sarah Wollaston!.

    So, I am not sure what is going on there! I am not sure how many trees have been cut down to support the Lib Dems, but it must be huge!

    zorro

    Reply What is your address as you should mow have received all 3

    PS The large one is on my twitter feed and as you read this site it is the same thinking.

    1. zorro
      December 8, 2019

      We are definitely on the electoral list as we have received our polling cards having moved into one of the new estates! Donā€™t worry about me as after commenting on this blog for years, I have a rough idea of where you are coming from! I am thinking about others who have been love bombed/bombarded with Lib Dem propaganda and may be chuntering ā€˜Lee, Lee, Lee ā€˜ all the way to the polling station……

      Zorro

      Reply Everyone on the electoral roll should n ow have had the leaflets. If you let me know your address we will see what has gone wrong. john.redwood@wokinghamconservatives.org.uk

    2. IanT
      December 8, 2019

      I feel a bit short changed – as we’ve only had 12 mailers from the Lib Dems and 1 from the Conservatives. Of course an “independent” gentleman also took a full page ad in the local Wokingham newspaper (apparently at his own expense) and seemed quite well disposed towards Dr Lee (a recent arrival here from Bracknell).

      In fact the local newspaper has had two issues with complete outside wrappers from the Lib Dems (4 pages paid ads) which at first glance looked like the newspaper was simply supporting the LDs. This is a Remain area, so the LDs are doing well here. Let’s hope people really think about what they might achieve – I doubt any of them would enjoy a Corbyn Government very much….including the bloke who can afford a full page ad in the paper supporting the LDs!

      Best wishes Sir John – we’ll be supporting you – but I’m not so sure about our neighbours. Could be close…

      1. IanT
        December 8, 2019

        PS The person who wrote a letter saying he’s never seen you shopping in Wokingham obviously never goes to Tescos – as we’ve seen you there a few times. We decided we’d let you select your frozen peas in peace though….

    3. Ian @Barkham
      December 8, 2019

      You forgot the bitter and twisted leaflet from ‘Mullin’ she Hates the World, she Hates freedom – her address is in the Vauxhall Constituency – the party is called Advance Together which is for all intensive purposes is the liberal equivalent to Labours momentum group. She is there to increase Liberal overspend, a backdoor foil to get Lee elected in Wokingham- nothing else. She wont come to Wokingham herself and wont represent Wokingham herself. She is on the ballot paper to stack the odds on spending against any party but the Liberals.

      Then you get Lee – Address in Maidenhead Constituency. Maidenhead doesn’t want him. He was in Bracknell but after lying to his electorate they have said goodbye. The Liberals have no chance of becoming the Party in Power, but are prepared to support Corbyn – how is that rational? He is in the fortunate position of promising anything this time round knowing he and his party can never deliver

      What ever way you lean in this election, voting for people or groupings that will promise anything then reneged on that promise is not the sort of integrity we want in our Parliament. Yes Politics is a dirty business, but how dirty do you want it? Haven’t we had enough of these people that keep dragging democracy into the gutter.

      This Election is not just about political standpoints but about cleaning up this place we call Parliament.

  16. rose
    December 7, 2019

    Keep being your idealistic self. The woman you mention may cancel out the Illiberal Antidemocrat. It sounds reminiscent of what Mr Raab has got going on in his constituency and he is looking very positive and idealistic too. We are thinking of you and wishing you good luck and a well deserved reward.

    1. rose
      December 7, 2019

      I have just realized, this woman must be the one Guido Fawkes has investigated, who runs Advance Together which is dedicated to syphoning votes to the Illiberal Antidemocrats. Can they not be investigated by the authorities as well? There must be something wrong about the spending. Who is paying for these leaflets which are assassinating your character? And for whose benefit?

  17. Christine
    December 7, 2019

    I wish you well for next Thursday. You deserve to get re-elected. You are one of the best MPs in parliament and Boris should have you in his cabinet.

  18. Derek Henry
    December 8, 2019

    If you would drop the balance the budget myth and balance the economy instead and introduce an inflation constraint instead of a gold standard, fixed exchange rate self imposed budget constraint.

    Tell the truth and you would win by a landslide John.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-V6-GnsvcG0

    You are the only conservative I know and I have got to know you quite well over the last 3 years that gets close to telling the truth. Even though you still infuriate me at times when you break the government accounting rules.

    I wish you all the best.

  19. Mark B
    December 8, 2019

    I have decided to continue with my positive campaign . . .

    Which is the right way to do it and win !!!

    The LibDems have been campaigning hard. I do not know where all the money they must be getting is coming from, I have had at least five, yes FIVE leaflets from them through my door.

    I understand from others that Sir John’s seat is a target for them. I hope he wins and wins big ! I believe his greatest enemy is apathy. Alexander Johnson has not fought a good campaign but it was at least better than the last, which. to be honest, would not be that hard.

    So good luck Sir John šŸ™‚

    1. Know-Dice
      December 8, 2019

      11 from the libdems here. Do a Google search for Dr Phillip Lee Ā£70,000

  20. MikeP
    December 8, 2019

    All the best for Thursday Sir John, we’ll be there to cast in your favour. The Phillip Lee documents have been scandalous and naturally make no mention, for the don’t-knows, of his transformation from Brexit-backing Tory elected in 2017 to a mainstream LibDem (?!?) from Bracknell. His infamous bar chart pamphlet and more recently the faux-newspaper are two woeful examples of misinformation. If only we could do honest politics in the open – open to daily challenge – as with this blog. We hope your consistency and constant delivery for Wokingham and the greater good of the country will pay off.

  21. Mike Wilson
    December 8, 2019

    An even better place to live in!!!! Weā€™ve just run away to Dorset because we canā€™t stand how busy the area has become. Are you promising, Mr. Redwood, to keep up the massive house building going on there? Mind you with the Tories letting in a third of a million people each year, no wonder the place is so crowded now. And you want people to vote Tory. Seriously!

    1. rose
      December 8, 2019

      The Socialists, Liberals, Greens, SNP, and Plaid all want open borders. These things are relative.

      1. Mike Wilson
        December 8, 2019

        These things are relative? What is that supposed to mean? The Tories allow a third of a million people to come here each year, but that is relatively low?

        1. rose
          December 9, 2019

          No. With the other parties it could be a whole lot worse. Look what happened in 1997 when Blair and Barbara Roche took over. You probably thought it was too high before.

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