Well done Sandra!

First off I must say it has been a pleasure to campaign for and alongside Sandra Gage. There is no doubt in my mind that Rushmere will now be far better represented than previously now we have Sandra as our County Councillor.



She lives in the ward, her children went to local schools and she cares passionately for the community she lives in. Her previous experience at Suffolk County Council will also be a great asset as she starts to work for us - her constituents. Working alongside Tracy Grant and myself she will make sure we have a strong Labour team in Rushmere, she will also bring a number of skills (plus passion) to our North East Ipswich team.

There certainly is no love lost between myself and Tory Judy Terry so I am glad that she is no longer representing us on the County Council, her disastrous handling of the Library service and more locally her involvement in the dispute over a the provision of a lollipop person outside Sidegate Primary School means she will not be missed by many residents. She has certainly let down many Rushmere residents with her ill thought out statements about the prefabs in Inverness Road but it does mean we have plenty of work to do to repair the trust between those residents in the prefabs and their elected representative's.

We also can't just ignore the number of votes that UKIP gained in the ward, we must listen to their concerns - was it just a protest vote? It is understandable that many residents have concerns about immigration and debate on the matter is needed but it is not helped by the inflammatory leaflets put out by UKIP (highlighting the number of Bulgarians that could enter the UK) or some of the very right wing press reports written by the likes of the Mail and the Express.

We will soon be delivering a leaflet to all Rushmere residents giving our contact details. But for now it is just to say 'well done' Sandra and 'thank you' to the Rushmere residents who voted for Labour.

Candidate Name Party Name Votes
GAGE, Sandra Labour 1117
TERRY, Judy Conservative 628
ELLIS, Peter UK Independence Party 401
WILMOT, Kirsty Green 94
JONES, Gareth Liberal Democrat 90
JACKSON, Dale Independent 34

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?