My involvement with the campaign to retain Melksham's train service at present or improved levels was always going to be a tough one. The threat to the service came to our attention late in the day, and the Government's political decision (for that's what it is) to slash trains in areas they don't hold any/many seats meant that we were up against an entrenched position with few party insiders who could scream that they might loose their seats over such things. So my initially modest aspirations were to get the service noticed, get it considered and reconsidered more fairly.

Well - we've certainly got more notice than I would have thought possible for a campaign started with a 2 pound domain. You'll see pictured here Mr Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, who's standing for the Conservative Party at the next general election in the new Chippenham seat. You may have heard of him or seen him on TV as "The Black Farmer". Yes, the other person in the picture is me, and we're at Melksham Station, this morning. Wilfred is bright, charismatic figure well in tune with media and publicity - indeed, he was there on a fact finding and photo opportunity, and we should find that some of the pictures and train information are spread further by him - including links back to the web site, and the rest.

It's good to see that we've got two strong, but very different, candidates standing at the next election, in our newly marginal seat. Both Wilfred and Duncan Hames for the Lib-Dems have been taking an interest in the train service and other local issues (the train is a bit of a no-brainer really!). Purely as individuals, I really like them both and they've impressed. On party lines, well, please don't let me get into reviewing party policies!

(written 2006-09-22, updated 2006-09-23)

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  [216] Cheap purchase - votes paid for with selfish promises - (2005-02-15)

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