An Anglo-American political activist, author and revolutionary is praised by the MP who now represents the Sussex town where he lived for six years.
Lib Dem Norman Baker cheered Thomas Paine, author of pamphlets including Common Sense, at the start of the American Revolution, said to have inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain.
Full story and video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25141898
Lewes MP Norman Baker was last night unanimously reselected to contest the 2015 General Election at the Annual General Meeting of the Lewes constituency Lib Dem party.
Lewes constituency chair Ann De Vecchi, who chaired the well-attended meeting, at Meeching Hall in Newhaven, says: “The local party is in confident mood. I am delighted by the unanimous vote in favour of Norman standing again. The battle for 2015 is now on.”
Norman says: “I am grateful for the strong support I have received from all the many party members who voted for me. The next election here in the Lewes constituency will, as it always is, be a two-horse race between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives.”
The following table shows the results for the previous election in 2010:
|
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
| Liberal Democrat | Norman Baker |
26,048 |
52.0 |
+0.5 |
|
| Conservative | Jason Sugarman |
18,401 |
36.7 |
+2.1 |
|
| Labour | Hratche Koundarjian |
2,508 |
5.0 |
−4.3 |
|
| UKIP | Peter Charlton |
1,728 |
3.4 |
+1.2 |
|
| Green | Susan Murray |
729 |
1.5 |
−0.8 |
|
| BNP | David Lloyd |
594 |
1.2 |
N/A |
|
| Independent | Ondrej Soucek |
80 |
0.2 |
N/A |
|
|
Majority |
7,647 |
15.3 |
|||
|
50,088 |
72.9 |
+3.1 |
|||
| Liberal Democrat hold | |||||
Local MP Norman Baker is supporting a new initiative which aims to bring 200 of Britain’s High Streets online, a scheme that could breathe new life into Lewes, Newhaven, Polegate & Seaford town centres and combat new business closures.
New research shows that almost half of us are scared of losing our local High Street and that two thirds want a High Street with a good mix of independent and chain stores. Currently one in seven shops across Britain’s High Streets are lying empty, the powerful cross-industry coalition of MyHigh.St, the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) and Play.com, working with Action for Market Towns and the Association of Town and City Management, support the new service and encourage High Streets to go digital.
The MyHigh.St website comprises a new e-commerce network that for the first time gives towns a platform to showcase their High Streets and independent shopkeepers a simple, affordable and effective chance to sell their products online whilst driving in store footfall.
The website seeks to embrace new technologies, using them to rebuild High Streets as destinations to visit and shop – both online and in person.
The MyHigh.St website allows shoppers to visit their local High Street whatever the weather, any time of the day or night. The combination of e-commerce and High Street showcase, coupled with “click and collect” and an independent shops’ loyalty system, enables shoppers to buy online whilst encouraging visits in person.
MyHigh.St was conceived last year by Loaye Agabani, a toy shop owner from Somerset with a big vision. He saw that a network of digital High Streets, showcasing all that Britain’s shopkeepers have on offer, would deliver a compelling shopping experience and a means to attract visitors to towns.
Norman says:
“This scheme offers an opportunity for smaller independent retailers to reach out to a wider online customer base. Shop owners will be able to level the playing field between themselves and the retail giants.
“It is innovative initiatives like this one that will help reverse the trend of high street closures and hopefully breathe new life into town centres. I hope that local towns will sign up for this scheme”
Local MP and Transport Minister Norman Baker’s campaign for shorter journey times from London to Lewes and Polegate is firmly on track.
The official Invitation to Tender for the new combined Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise encourages bidders for the franchise to reduce stopping times and the number of split trains at Haywards Heath, proposals championed by Norman Baker. These changes will assist in decreasing journey times on the busy lines through the station whilst simultaneously releasing more capacity and providing more seats.
Respondents to the consultation commented on the need for improvements in frequency, speed and capacity of the services to several towns along the coast, but to and from Eastbourne in particular, a move that would benefit many people in the local area and help improve transport links across the region.
Norman says:
“I believe it should be possible to reduce journey times to Lewes and Polegate by up to 10 minutes if these proposals and a slightly revised timetable are adopted. I am pleased to see that my recommendations for improvements to the service to Lewes and Polegate are being acted upon. We now have a real opportunity to achieve a decrease in journey times and to improve the overall efficiency of local services”.
The report also includes public responses in favour of major projects including the potential reinstatement of Lewes-Uckfield adding further support for the campaign to reopen the line and improve the local railway network.
