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SALFORD MAYOR ELECTION ON BRINK OF DEMOCRATIC DISASTER
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Star date: 21st April 2016 SALFORD STAR SURVEY REVEALS NO-ONE KNOWS NAMES OF CANDIDATES! "You might as well talk about Mickey Mouse" John A survey by the Salford Star, conducted in Walkden, Pendleton, Little Hulton and Swinton, has revealed that no-one could name any of the candidates hoping to be elected the next Mayor of Salford on May 5th. Neither could they name all the parties that are running. Of those who said that they would be voting, more than half didn't know yet which candidate they would vote for... "I don't know who any of them are, we've not had any information" said Penny on Salford Precinct. It's all a shocking indictment on the state of democracy in the city. Full details here...
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With the local elections and the election of a new Salford Mayor just two weeks away, a Salford Star survey has found that no-one interviewed could name a single candidate or a full list of the four parties for which the candidates are standing. The Salford Star team went out to Salford Precinct, the Ellesmere Centre in Walkden, Little Hulton Precinct and Swinton Precinct, interviewing three dozen people at random. The results, while hardly scientific, should be a major wake-up call to all the parties and candidates concerned. While 80% of those interviewed were aware that there was an election in the air, those who couldn't name the candidates or parties blamed a total lack of information. ... "I don't know who's running"... "I don't know what it's about"... "I've had nothing through the door"... "You've got to find information yourself"... were typical of the responses to the elections. Some people were also unsure of what the election was for. One lady in Walkden thought she was voting for the ceremonial mayor... "What does the Mayor do apart from cost money, drive about in a car and wear a chain?" Another said she would be voting `Out', confusing it with the European Election in June... "I've heard something but I don't know what it's all about" added a lady on Salford Precinct. Even those who knew which party they would be supporting still couldn't name the candidate who they would be voting for. Meanwhile, over half of those who said they would be voting were undecided which party or candidate they would vote for. "They're all like a bunch of school kids" said one potential voter... "I only see them every four years" said another... "I don't know what they stand for" explained Emma... "I don't know who any of them are, we've not had any information" said Penny... "You might as well talk about Mickey Mouse" said John. While the mayoral election in London is getting blanket media coverage nationally, the Salford Mayor election is so far below the radar that it is in danger of garnering even less than the 26.8% turnout four years ago, in which Ian Stewart was chosen as the first elected mayor of the city.
The Salford Mayor election is taking place on 5th May. The candidates are:
Paul Dennett Labour Party
Wendy Olsen Green Party
Owen Hammond UKIP
Robin Garrido Conservative Party The Salford Star will be carrying interviews with all the candidates next week except Paul Dennett (who won't talk to the Salford Star). Meanwhile the Salford Star print issue 11 contains interviews with the candidates, although three have dropped out since going to press click here to read the electronic version. For details of the Local Elections which also take place on 5th May see previous Salford Star article click here * Interviews conducted by Li Dai, Gareth Lyons and Stephen Kingston
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wrote
at 16:47:18 on 28 April 2016 |
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| Stuart - UKIP is not the bad boys it is Labour. Now we can read Livingstone is making Nazi remarks. You can see all those what voted Labour asking how did Labour get over-run by Unions what have extremists wanting to drag our UK down into the gutter. |
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Stuart Cremins wrote
at 11:48:50 on 28 April 2016 |
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| Before stating that UKIP is the only party without a whip, a little research is needed. |
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Andy Olsen wrote
at 19:44:05 on 26 April 2016 |
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| Like joe and mary said we are trying hard to put our case forward for some UKIP councillors in salford.
We are spending everyday canvassing and leafleting all area,s of salford. but it takes time and manpower! And like most UKIP party members we have full time jobs.
The M.E.N Salford Online tv and Radio etc are not helping us spread the word of our great party ?
I think people of salford should at least let us have a chance to prove ourselves. We could not do any worse than labour do now ???
We are the only party that is not whiped and we do not have to tow the party line let us put the people of Salford FIRST! NOT BIG BUSINESSES !!!
Andy Olsen Pendlebury UKIP.
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margaret ferrer wrote
at 12:05:29 on 25 April 2016 |
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| If the star asked people in Salford who their ward councillors were. Think you would find most wouldn't have a clue. They don't make themselves available to their constituents. As far as I know few if any hold surgeries any more.don't turn up to residents meetings and never send their apologies.Residents say they only see their councillors when there is an election. They are that confident they will get elected they treat people with contempt |
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Michael J Felse wrote
at 09:23:30 on 23 April 2016 |
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| Wishing all a very Happy Saint George's Day - day of honesty, obligation and inspiration. I hope these 4 candidates find 2016 a life changing journey. I regret my throat cancer has caused me to withdraw. Finding it painful to talk, eat and swallow meant taking that only sensible step but I remain a committed voter and will be reading each election address. I include in my St George's Day wishes my call for our new Mayor to open up Salford Council to the press in applauding the dedication we see in Salford Star. |
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joe oneill wrote
at 19:29:39 on 22 April 2016 |
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| shirley jones
This has to be a damning statement that reflects
in depth the reality of Salford Labour. The glossy leaflets,the union backing,the phone banks selling an image that being realistic is badly tarnished,They appear like mould three weeks before
election day the shame is mould is easier to get rid of. It's not the first case of this party making promises and doing an Houdini,they talk the talk they sadly fail to make the walk. |
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J wrote
at 14:35:23 on 22 April 2016 |
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| I got a "voter's guide" booklet through the mail today which has each of the candidates stating their case in two pages each. |
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Michael J Felse wrote
at 14:34:51 on 22 April 2016 |
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| Labour showing its latest desperation by it asking me to add Paul Dennett as a Facebook friend. Simple answer NO. I find all the honest comments on here turning me totally against Dennett. |
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shirley jones wrote
at 11:28:17 on 22 April 2016 |
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| Who has been asked by Paul Dennett to be added as a friend on their Facebook page? (See below... ).....Once again it appears that Hill Top Residents campaigning to keep Hill Top Moss a green public open land space from sale by the Council to developers they've been in secret discussions with for several years before residents were told, have been shunned by almost all of the Labour Party, but now also the Labour candidate standing to be Mayor of Salford, something you will all be asked to vote for on May 5th. Our Labour MP has consistently refused point blank to meet with concerned residents, she refuses to listen to concerned residents at all. This is despite her statements before the election that she was working to keep Salford's green public open spaces, open and free from inappropriate development. Most Walkden North Councillors ignored our requests too. Of all the parties you would think they would have been most likely to at least listen to our very valid, very serious concerns before making up their minds, but they haven't listened at all.
I was recently asked by Paul Dennett (Labour Councillor for Langworthy) to add him as a friend on FB. He's standing as the Labour candidate for the role of Mayor of Salford when Ian Stewart at last stands down this year. I contacted him and told him why I was adding him (albeit reluctantly), so that he could see the horrendous problems we are having up here and see about our campaign to stop the unnecessary & inappropriate sale of our green public open space land , land that has been used as such for generations, land we are campaigning to save as green open space for future generations. There is so little of it now in Walkden. I contacted him further saying I was prepared to listen to him if he would listen to us, & asked him not to forget to visit us here at Hill Top in Walkden North ward, he replied to reassure me that he would visit us, saying he was visiting all wards, but specifically explained our concerns & other recent problems, requested that he phone to discuss them & invited him to visit here when he visited the Walkden North ward, so that we could explain further & give him a guided tour. He asked for all my contact details. He promised he would be in touch and to visit. All seemed to be going very well. However, last night I saw lots of photo's of him & our Walkden North Councillors in Walkden North just over the road from here, but sadly they didn't have time to visit us up here on Hill Top to listen to us it seems. The area where the real problems are were totally bypassed by the Labour Party. Seems it was too big a problem for them to deal with. So when the photo's appeared on my feed I posted a very polite comment, that he/they (Walkden Labour Party) had not visited where the real problems are in Walkden North as promised, stating truthfully how 'very disappointed' I was, nothing more, nothing wrong in stating the truth surely. Paul Dennett immediately & without the courtesy of any explanation removed it. Why? No comment added to say perhaps that he'd not had enough time so would be visiting later, nothing at all. I waited as he remained online for some time, but nothing forthcoming. So are we to assume that the whole of the Labour party are purposely ignoring the concerned residents of Hill Top, can't blame us for thinking that? Why do we not deserve to be listened to by the Labour Party? How undemocratic is that? To be fair not heard from any of the other candidates either as yet. So I assume the Labour Party don't want residents of Walkden North to vote for them. After all if they won't listen to reasonable & serious concerns from us as residents, then why would they want our vote?
The Council are not happy with us for using our rights to use the FOI to get access to information that we need to make informed choices. They blame Salford citizens for them being placed on a special monitoring programme by the Information Commissioner, shamefully one of only 4 in the entire country. They do not like that we were successful in our FOI requests, despite them doing their damnedest to prevent us. They didn't like it even more when the Information Commissioner upheld most of our complaint when information was denied us. Salford Council were the only ones to blame for being placed in a special measures monitoring programme. They consistently & purposely broke the law, not us, hence why the Information Commissioner took they action they did.. We merely exercised our rights under the law, when information was unlawfully withheld from us. The information that was eventually released was very revealing, especially the MP's emails detailing her eagerness to meet with developers, but sadly no intention of ever meeting with her very concerned constituents. The info we did gain access to proves that we were denied info., were misled and at times have been lied to. Totally unacceptable behaviour.
So determined are they that they are appealing the IC's decision. Seems that there is a lot that they really do not want residents & the wider community of Salford to see in relation to the proposed sale of land & the proposed inappropriate development, but why all the secrecy still?? Why so determined?
You would think that of all the parties that the Labour Party would respect our rights to stand up against victimisation the most, for standing up against very clear injustice. Seems they can't handle that fact at all. The Labour party are no longer what they used to be.
Maybe tonight was merely an oversight, or maybe Paul Dennett did not mean to remove my very polite 2 line truthful comment expressing my disappointment that they had not visited us....... maybe he did it by accident, in error..... time will tell, but without even the common courtesy of an explanation, and due to past appalling behaviour of the Labour party when we turned to them for help and have just been ignored, then what are we to think.....? We only asked to be listened to.... |
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Alice Searle wrote
at 09:57:35 on 22 April 2016 |
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| I want to reiterate the question made by so many of my contacts which is, "why do we need a Mayor?" The fact that only 26% voted last time seems to me to say two things. Firstly, people don't care and secondly, people don't understand what a Mayor's role is all about. The current Mayor has received a great deal of criticism and his deligation of powers to his 'junior' mayors has cost additional expense without obvious advantages. If we all boycotted the Mayoral election would we still have one forced on us? I personally don't feel like voting for a role, or a person for that role, without knowing what it is all about. I must say the Greens have been in touch but no one else. For every job anyone applies for a CV is required giving qualifications and experience. So all candidates should do this. You too Paul Dennett. |
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Tahir Chakotai (Independent Housing Advocate) wrote
at 09:57:25 on 22 April 2016 |
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| There is only one thing I am sure of concerning this "Mayor Election". I will certainly not be voting for Councillor Dennet. This man promised to make the "Saford Housing Allocation Policy" more "Equality Friendly", in an article that featured me, in the Salford Star, dated the 15th of October 2014. This so called councillor promised to stop enforcing the over 55 age banding on properties for the vulnerable and disabled who live within Salford. Did he do what he promised. "No he did not". It is still the policy of the "Salford Council Housing Allocation System" known as "Salford Home Search" managed by "Salix Homes" on behalf of "The Salford Council" to disallow bids on over 55 properties, if a disabled or vulnerable adult is under the age of 55 and tries to bid on an adapted / suitable property, even though the vulnerable and disabled are "Exempt" from such "Age Banding Policies". Recently a solicitor informed "Salford Homes Search" that it is a "Section 149 Breach of the Equality Act", to use a "Blanket Policy" on the "Salford Home Search Website", that restricts the "Vulnerable and Disabled" from bidding on properties for the over 55's. Did Councillor Dennet or the Labour Council take any notice, "Absolutely Not". However the Salford Star printed a story recently that featured Councillor Dennet, apparently bending the "Social Housing Allocation System", to ensure he gained a Social Housing Property. In my opinion, he simply jumped the "Salford Social Housing Waiting List" to acquire a property, with an organisation / board, to which he is a board member. So "Councillor Dennet", in my opinion, is happy to allow "The Salford Home Search Website", managed by "Salix Homes", on behalf of the "Salford Council" to "Breach the Equality of every disabled and vulnerable applicant who bids on an over 55 property within Salford", but will bend the rules, if it suits his needs. I call this "Double Standards". Therefore, in my opinion, anyone who votes for Councillor Dennet to be Mayor of Salford, will be voting for a man who's motto is "Don't do as I do", "do as I say".
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Michael J Felse wrote
at 09:26:18 on 22 April 2016 |
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| I award Salford Star the Medal of Excellence for being the most openly reporting news in the UK. The irony of Labour thinking it can field a candidate who will not engage with all we Community Actaivists through the media will add to Salford Labour downfall. I have ONLY been canvassed by UKiP - all the others have not been out talking. To simply think dumping leaflets gets elected is a no brainier. The Greens risk our City to dipstick Labour - both Greens and Labour proving they are not fit to be our Mayor. At least Labour's silence does not have so many typo errors as the Greens. Are they able to pass even a GCSE English test? So, clearly as the Scientific Strategy shows there can be only one winner. |
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Salford Star wrote
at 07:16:04 on 22 April 2016 |
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| See Owen Hammond's comment below...Don't think anyone can accuse the Salford Star of ignoring this election - gave it 5 pages in the print edition, plus articles on the website and more to come next week. What we're not going to do is just cut and paste press releases from one candidate. We're trying to be fair in our coverage. Unfortunately the Labour Party candidate is refusing to engage. Make of that what you will. |
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owen hammond wrote
at 07:09:25 on 22 April 2016 |
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| Stephen, this problem is down to the media. You know that twice I have sent you press releases which you have not published. Same goes for the M.E.N. and Salford Online. TV and Radio have only contacted us in the past few days. As Wendy says, all we can do is leaflet every house and that takes a lot of volunteers and time. If I were privileged to be elected Mayor then in 2020 there would be a series of council sponsored hustings in all areas of our great City. |
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joseph oneill wrote
at 07:09:18 on 22 April 2016 |
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| Sat here with me cornflakes sun burnt, aching hips and feet packing my bag ready to put out more leaflets the reality is Salford is gripped by a dreaded bug apathy.You can lead a horse to water but you can;t make it vote:] |
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Salford Star wrote
at 06:27:59 on 22 April 2016 |
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| See Wendy Olsen's comment below...So there's no live debates or Question Time style events where the public can ask questions? It's a joke! |
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wendy Olsen wrote
at 06:17:28 on 22 April 2016 |
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| Salford Star
Finger on the pulse
With no business backers , we Greens are doing the canvassing in oerson and we wrote to many Postal Voters.
We have radio debates on Thursday 28 April at 9 am Bbc mcr radio and at 11 am Salford Radio.
Mcr radio is 95.1 fm and salford city is 94.4 but those who had floods know this.
Then on May 3rd the live Manchester Community TV CHANNEL Freeview channel 8 debate at 9 pm.
Experienced presenters
I am looking forward to it.
Greens for the Common Good.
Wendy Olsen
Green candidate |
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salfordjc wrote
at 21:12:55 on 21 April 2016 |
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| Salfordjc....
l had a request off Paul Dennett on Facebook to become one of my friends....l thought why or what is he up to.....well l have never met the fellow in my life , l am choosy who l have as friends on FB , l want to know their politics before l agree,,,,,,,,,,,,,l dont know where he stands on Fracking ( l am an Anti Fracker ) whats his stance on Devolution for Greater Manchester ,l want a referendum on the matter ,,what does he intend to change about the way Salford City council has destroyed the fabric of our community , denies the Trade Unionists representing council workers , cuts essential services to the most needy........the list goes on,,,,,,as regards the rest with the exception of the GREENS Wendy Olsen ,,,,the rest are all lumped together as " in it for themselves " when did you last hear of "any of them " being involved in local campaigns......When the " man of the people " was elected Mayor he promised the earth ,,,,,we got the air that surrounds the earth , and we wouldnt have got that if his cohorts and henchmen could have found a way to cut it off........The Greens will get my vote....... |
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Michael J Felse wrote
at 21:11:52 on 21 April 2016 |
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| Allow me to explain why scientifically UKiP will win Salford's Mayor election. Begin talking Tory candidate; less popular than his wife who stood last time meaning him not polling more that her 8055 votes. The Green Party can reflect on its local results and its total at the last Mayoral election, generously giving Greens 3200 votes. We need to remember that the Mayoral system uses a transferable voting system. Taking UKiP results at the last General Election across Salford they got 15494 votes. This puts them into the run off with Labour. BUT, all the independents, liberals, community action, english democarts and BNP votes at last Mayor election will not vote Labour. That is a total of 11,515 voters. And with 1.4million nationally having not registered to vote in the new system this in Salford will see Labour shed over 4000 voters. Finally please do not expect Tory voters to put Labour as their second choice. Clearly the run off will see UKiP and Labour in the final run off. Labour getting second place at 18700 votes. UKiP taking first place with 22300 votes. Scientifically UKiP win in Salford due to a well teamed anti Salford-Labour strategy. |
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