Category Archives: Politics

Norman Baker re-selected as Lib Dem candidate for 2015

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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

Turnout

50,088

72.9

+3.1
Liberal Democrat hold

Swing

 

 

 

Brighton and Hove to be considered for City Deals powers

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Brighton and Hove City Council will have the opportunity to bid to get a raft of new powers to unleash its full economic potential under the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s City Deals, it has been announced.

The City Deals, established by Nick Clegg, have seen a radical redistribution of power to England’s eight largest cities and this week 20 more cities have been invited to make a bid to be given greater powers.  Amongst the 20 cities named is Brighton and Hove.

If successful, Brighton and Hove will be freed from Whitehall and can take more control of local transportation, including trains, can plug skills gaps, set up local investment funds and get powers to “earn back” tax.  It will also mean that there will be no longer a need to appeal to central government for investment in big projects – a process that can take years. Instead, City Deals allow cities to make their own decisions and have the money to follow them through. For example Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Sheffield have agreed devolved transport budgets, and Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Nottingham are setting up their own apprenticeship hubs.

It also follows on Norman Baker MP announcing £3,480,000, for Brighton and Hove for the Better Bus Fund to improve local bus services, and over £800,000 for the city to provide greener buses and improve air quality.

Lewes’s Lib Dem MP, Norman Baker, says:

“This is about recognising the key role that cities play in providing economic growth and that in the rights circumstances, with the right powers, that growth can be truly unleashed.

“Brighton and Hove is a great forward thinking city and what Nick Clegg is saying is show us your ideas, produce a successful bid and then we believe that you, as city, should be freed to just get on with it.

“This is yet another example of the Lib Dems delivering for Brighton and Hove.”

Revised constituency boundaries announced

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Lewes MP Norman Baker has called the revised boundaries released by the Boundary Commission “ swapping one bad proposal for another” as Newhaven will be split in two and Seaford will end up at the tail end of a stretched out coastal constituency.

However, with the Conservatives breaking the coalition contract by failing to support Lords Reform, the Lib Dems have made it clear that they will be opposing the proposed boundary changes.

Last year the Boundary Commission announced new boundaries for the entire country, but its proposals for this area were broadly condemned, not least by the local MP.  The initial proposals left Seaford and Newhaven at the tail end of a new Uckfield constituency which ran all the way up to Surrey.

Despite being in the same constituency as Seaford and Newhaven since 1918, the County Town of Lewes was dumped on the far eastern side of a new Brighton East and Lewes constituency, with Norman calling the proposals “an affront to the County Town which could affect jobs and prosperity”.

After Norman’s appearance in front of the Boundary Commission and hundreds of letters of objections from concerned constituents, the Boundary Commission agreed to review its proposals and this week the new boundaries were revealed.

Under the revised proposals, Lewes will now fall into a new Lewes and Uckfield constituency which will be mostly rural and take in the rural north of Newhaven.  However, Newhaven Town and Seaford will find themselves stuck in the far eastern corner of a stretched out coastal constituency which will run from just west of Ovingdean all the way to encompass Blatchington.

Norman says:

“While there are improvements for Lewes, I am very concerned for my constituents in Newhaven and Seaford for which, once again, the Commission has failed to recognise the historical link between the towns and Lewes.  I also do not believe, and they would be quite right in feeling this, that Seaford residents will be happy being stuck at the far end of a Brighton constituency, and Newhaven residents will have their town cut in half.  Frankly, the Commission has swapped one set of bad proposals for another.

“Notwithstanding that, the simple fact remains that the Conservatives broke the coalition contract by not voting for Lords Reform, so we in the Lib Dems will not be supporting these proposals.”

Local MP celebrates 25 years in elected office

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The 7th of May will mark the 25th anniversary of the local MP, Norman Baker, being elected to office.

Norman was first elected to both Lewes District Council and Beddingham Parish Council in 1987 and two years later, in 1989, became a county councillor at East Sussex.  In 1991 he became leader of the district council and held that position until he was elected as MP in 1997, becoming Lewes’s first non-Conservative MP since 1874.

In Parliament, he became a member of the Lib Dem shadow cabinet in 2002 as Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment and Transport, and from 2005 as Shadow Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Secretary, stepping down for a year in May 2006 to investigate the death of Dr Kelly.  He rejoined the Shadow Cabinet in 2007 and became the Shadow Transport Secretary.

In 2010, Norman became a minister at the Department for Transport, the first Liberal transport minister since 1945.  His responsibilities include rail performance, buses, taxis, light rail, 98% of roads, and the environmental aspects of transport.

Norman says:

“It has been a real privilege to have served in public office for 25 years, 15 as the local MP.  The town of Lewes and the wider constituency are unique and their diversity has made every day interesting and thoroughly enjoyable.”