Two weeks as a Councillor- and haven't stopped running yet!

I knew it would be hard work as a Councillor but the pace of the last few weeks has even surprised me! But I am sure as I learn the ropes (and I have some great Labour colleagues helping me already) I will be able to get into a routine that will enable me to give my constituents a good service.
So far I have been to a Councillor induction meeting, a Full Council meeting (which included Mayor making) and have already started on three pieces of case work in the ward. This week I have my first Planning Meeting, a second session of induction plus a meeting at Sidegate School.
It has not all been hard work as on Friday we had a victory party which was combined with a retirement party for Donny Edwards. Donny gave a moving speech, which really emphasised the reasons why many of us join the Labour Party- the wish for everyone to get a fair chance, equality and justice- it was also great to hear the names again of all those greats in the Ipswich party that Don has worked with- especially pleasing for me as both my late father and mother got a mention.
Peter Wheeler from the National Executive was also there and he also congratulated me on my win and also spoke fondly of my parents- it is obvious now that I have a lot to live up to, following in there footsteps!
The Full Council meeting should have been the highlight but was turned into a farce by the Tories and Lib Dems- and then they had the gall to blame us. The fact is that we were the victors on May 1st, we have the most Councillors but still the Tory/Fib Dem coalition will not even give us a seat on the executive- so denying a large majority of the population of Ipswich to represented where the real decisions are made. All that council meeting has done to me, is to make me moire determined that we continue to campaign hard to make sure we win an outright majority in 2010.

A visit to the National Memorial Arboretum

Last weekend, my wife and myself travelled to Staffordshire, a nice day in Lichfield was followed on the Sunday to a visit to the National Memorial aaboretum at Alrewas in Staffordshire. the occasion was the dedication service of the Royal Green Jackets Memorial, which was to be unveiled by Field Marshall Bramall, over 1,000 most ex members of the Green Jackets were there, and we finished off with a march past by "us" veterans- then to the beet tent to meet mates and rekindle lost friendships.

Field Marshal Bramall

I would recommend a visit to the Arboretum to anyone- not just Green Jackets or ex servicemen- the layout is fantastic and the National Memorial to all servicemen who have died since 1945 is a fantastic monument- a real valuable legacy of the millennium.- go and see for yourselves- you will not be disappointed.

General Balfour leads the Green Jacket veterans on the march past

Labour Athletic FC- 1919/20 (Ipswich)

John Cook at the Ipswich office passed on this picture of Labour Athletic FC, who played in the the B section of the second division of the Ipswich and District Football league in 1919/20, this was the first season after World War I, the team managed a third place against the likes of Great Eastern Railway, Manningtree United, Old Nactonians Reserves and Zoar Athletic!

Not all bad news! And a big thank you.

Well after 4 years of campaigning, even with the national disaster I managed to win the Rushmere ward seat for Labour,
I have been away since the election and it will take me a few more days to get over the fact that I can now represent the people of this ward with far more effect.
I will blog later in the week with my thoughts on the poor national results, the brilliant results we had in Ipswich (3 gains) and my own victory in Rushmere.
I must thank most of the constituents who voted for me , and the support I have had from all Labour colleagues, especially those from the North East branch- John Mowles, Sandy Martin and Neil McDonald.
I must admit I did have a tear in my eye when I was declared the Ward Councillor for Rushmere, all I could think of was my late mother and father- Peter and Annie Ross - if I can be half as good a Councillor as they were the people of Rushmere will be happy.
Thank you for putting- "A cross for Ross for Rushmere".

Result:
Alasdair Ross- Labour- 1,026 votes
Paul Carter- Conservative- 1,013 votes
Leslie Nicholls- Lib Dem - 294 votes
Turnout- 39.04%
A majority of just 13- but the Tories had a majority of 104 last year!

Proud day for The Ross family (and then back to delivering 2,000 leaflets!)

We are now into the full flow of campaigning- I actually enjoy it- the meeting people, delivering all over the town and the camaraderie of a team working together for a cause.

Saturday saw an early start as I have 2,000 Rushmere Rose leaflets to deliver.

The afternoon saw a short break for a very proud moment for the Ross family, my nephew Tom - was in goal for the Suffolk Under 18 Football team that won the FA County Cup against Cambridgeshire at Portman Road. Tom was (not only in my eyes) also the man of the match as he pulled off some fantastic saves to keep Cambridgeshire out.

It was great that the final was at Portman Road as the ashes of both my parents are buried at the ground.

We stayed to see the trophy given then it was home, fish and chips and 2 more hours delivering!

Sunday- saw 6 more hours delivering with just a short break to have a lunchtime pint with other Labour members and then to catch a few overs of Suffolk Cricket's first game against an Essex 2nd XI.

All in all a busy but enjoyable weekend- slightly dampened by seeing Tory leaflets in Rushmere- they have gone for Fib Dem method of the big bar chart- and I believe the usual paid delivery- a shortage of workers in the Tory Party?

Tories campaining for Labour in Ipswich?

The Tories seem to want to help us win back Ipswich- and I must thank them for all the help they are giving us:

• Paying the new Suffolk Chief Executive almost a quarter of a million pounds a year
• Spending half a million pounds on buying and improving a small private road in Kesgrave
• Keeping the Ipswich buses empty and our car parks full by charging £1.70 to get to town on the bus!

So thank you very much to the Ipswich and Suffolk Tory Party- and we are not just sitting around laughing, we are getting out on the streets of Ipswich, door knocking, leafleting, phoning- over 20 of us on the Racecourse Estate yesterday- the only blue win in Ipswich this year will have been at dinner time today when Ipswich Town beat Norwich- 2-1- All in all a good weekend.

Lions of Basra- Nothing wrong with the youth of today.

Last week I managed a break from campaigning to go to London for a lecture by one of my former Army commanders. the was by Lt Colonel Patrick Sanders.

Patrick gave a fascinating lecture which gave those who were present a real insight to the difficulties the 4th Battalion The Rifles (2 RGJ) had encountered during those 6 difficult months in Basra last year. the lecture was even more relevant due to recent incidents in Basra where there Iraq Government has had a crack down on the Iranian backed militias.

What it id bring out to me was how much the Iranians are involved in the Basra power struggle and the very different problems that face the British compared to the Americans in Baghdad.

It was strange when Patrick described the many acts of courage undertaken by Rifleman, as many of those he mentioned, I had served with.

Election campaigning can often get you down, especially when you often face so much apathy- house after house of non voters and often young people who have never voted and are unlikely to vote ever, it was a real boost then when Patrick said forget all this criticism of the "play station" generation, what he had witnessed in Basra last years was young people performing immense acts of bravery under very trying conditions- As Patrick said - "There is nothing wrong with the youth of today".