TORY HQ have spoken and we now know who their prospective Conservative candidates for Macclesfield are: a 30-year-old female barrister living in London, a Warrington based solicitor, William Hague’s best mate, a Cambridge historian, an Asda director and the former chief executive of the Millennium Arts Festival. Brilliant, absolutely bloody brilliant.
Now, all you have to do is decide which one has the life experience and local knowledge to represent you and your town. Forget Bob Stewart the former UN commander who lived in Macclesfield before he joined up, or Councillor Gaddum whose family have been in business in the town for decades or bright young Cheshire East Councillor Beckford who has immersed himself in the town’s problems, these are the rejects.
Personally, my money is on the lady barrister from London. She has all the right credentials i.e. young, ambitious and perfect symmetry for Gorgeous George. Our dog knows more about real life than these two but…and it’s a big but… neither will embarrass the leadership. They may embarrass us with their strident naivety but they will never embarrass Tory HQ.
I can’t wait for polling day it’ll be an achievement if the Conservative candidate can find the town hall.
God help us, what did we do to deserve this selection of misfits? There were more than enough good local candidates who know and love Macclesfield. Whatever anyone says about Councillor Gaddum she has guts and cares passionately about the town. Darryl Beckford is still learning but he’s making a damn good job of it. He’s young and ambitious and knows Macclesfield but he’s nobody’s fool and therein lies the rub…he doesn’t fit the profile. As for Commander Bob Stewart I can’t see him kowtowing to anyone. He’s experienced far too much of life and that’s his downfall.
What Tory Central want are nodding dogs. Pedigrees mind you, not mongrels like us.
Macclesfield is undergoing a sea change with one of the best know aeronautics plants in Europe closing down, a town centre plan going nowhere, a Health Trust that can’t balance its budget and the highest level of unemployment for decades.
The town needs an MP with local knowledge and enough real life experience to know what it’s like to have a home repossessed, lose a business or deal with lengthy unemployment.
What it doesn’t need is a well-healed party climber who couldn’t find Duke Street with a compass.
The views on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express
