There is to be a by-election in Norwich North. I shall be standing as an independent, anti-sleaze candidate.
Dr Ian Gibson was a good MP, and has done the honorable thing – unlike so many others – by standing down as an MP now. As it happens, my lifelong friend and best man, Marcus Armes, used to work as Ian Gibson’s assistant.
Norwich North is very much home ground for me. I come from just outside the constituency. I am one of the Norfolk Scots! (My father was posted to Norfolk in the RAF, married a local Shannock girl, and stayed). I was born in West Runton and went to school at Sheringham Primary and Paston. I was on the executive of the North Norfolk Liberal party in the days when that constituency stretched into Norwich, including Hellesdon. I am a lifelong Canaries fan.
I believe that parliament needs people of independent mind who try to do what is right, and who are not in it for the money. I sacrificed an extremely lucrative career as a British Ambassador, for the princiiple of opposing British government collusion with torture. I have a proven record of putting principle before money or party.
I know Norwich and its people and will always work honestly for their good.
I will live in the constituency. I will take only take the barest necessary travel expenses to help me do the job, and publish instantly any claim. I will guarantee to keep my expenses to less than 50% of the average, and hopefully still less.
The sleaze of the expenses scam is not the problem. It is just a symptom of the situation, where we have very low quality MPs who are just hacks to party machines. These MPs were sleeping into the economic disaster of the unregulated casino economy and the banking crash. These MPs have voted through the wholesale erosion of our civil liberties. These MPs voted us in to an illegal and disastrous war that has increased the fundamentalist threat.
I will be genuinely independent of any party, and work only for the interests of the people of Norwich. I will be a thinking MP.
I rather doubt that an honest man can get elected. But I think the voters deserve a choice beyond the tired old parties. So we will give it a try!
Good luck!
Excellent news, Craig. Let’s hope that you can get the message out and are not drowned out by the party machinery that will be wheeled out against you.
If you’re elected I may even start to read Hansard online.
Nice one Craig.
You’d get my vote dude.
Dear Craig. If you go on the stump without fully recovering from malaria, Cameron could be looking for a new father. I admire your enthusiasm, but you now have a responsibility of Fatherhood. Please take care.
Good luck Craig – I am sure the good people of Norwich North would be proud to have you represent them. Do let us know how we can support you in your campaign. Best wishes
I just used “out” three times in a single sentence. The only sentence I can think of offhand that also has “out” three times is “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out, out, OUT!”. Let’s hope that’s a good omen for the election.
The people of Norwich North would be very fortunate to have you as their MP – I hope they come to realise this.
And you are a ‘Scot’ who believes in Scottish ‘independence’.
Utter vanity.
Good luck!
I’m from Norfolk and my family is, too. We intend to spread around the anti-English comments you made recently, you nasty little prick. If you think you’ll win a seat here, you’ve got another think coming!!
Good news. Good luck.
So you expect the people who you described as the “stupid English”to vote for you?wont any one in Scotland want you to stand there?………no thought not.
Given the current climate, I’d say it’s good as in the bag, Craig. Well done. Your “content” is already excellent – imagine if you had the House of Commons as a platform!
@Craig
” I am a lifelong Canaries fan.”
Oh, now the dirty little secrets come out…
But, seriously, good luck!
R
I hope you won’t be as crassly insensitive as your predecessor, Ian Gibson, who saw nothing wrong with proudly flying his country’s flag – the Scottish flag – in his English constituency and moaning that he wished he’d never left Scotland.
I have some fervent opposition already. Great fun. For the record, the only English people I said were stupid were the journalists at the Telegraph, for their lack of knowledge of Scots geography. But anyone who wants to try to whip up anti-Scots sentiment in Norwich is very welcome to try!
Bonne chance!
Ron
Yes. I told the good folk of Blackburn I was a Canaries fan. They were unimpressed. Jack Straw comes from Essex, but on becoming candidate for Blackburn many years ago immediately started wearing their colours. I despise anyone who does that. You can’t change your team as if it were a pair of socks.
“I shall be standing as an independent, anti-sleaze candidate.”
I think your civil libertarian credentials would also go down well in this part of the world. But good luck, and yeah, do get well before you hit the campaign trail.
Looking at Norwich North 2005 General Election Results – and Gibson (Labour) having a 5,000 majority and the General hatred of all the mainstream parties – I think you stand an excellent chance of getting elected – if you can get the message across.
If Martin Bell can do it, so can you. You will probably need some help from the National Press – but in the current mood that should not be too difficult.
Good Luck,
Tony
You have an interesting readership – the Norwich knockers didn’t take long to emerge from under their stones.
I see that Ms Flint has just flounced out from what is laughingly called ‘the Government’.
Good luck!
Hope you’ve recovered from your recent Plasmodic experience.
Strange, my new novel, ‘Joseph’s Box’ features a Scot in the RAF who is posted to Lincolnshire during WWII and marries a local WAAF girl there. http://www.josephsbox.co.uk
The voters of Norwich North are going to get the chance to vote for a TOP DRAW,QUALITY candidate in you Craig.
Funds must be low?.Hope your going to put an address up where we can send in donations?. We unlike some don’t expect anything back.We know what we will be getting in return…Somebody that cares about us the people.
Would be nice to see you and George Galloway together fighting EVIL.
Brown is speaking at about 120 words a minute at his press conference. Is he on speed or some sort of drug similar to the one described here?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6083840.stm
I believe it’s customary to have a campaign team. Do you have one? You can’t trudge round all those housing estates on you own. Can you?
MJ
I turned up in Blackburn, and a campaign team magically appeared around me! Volunteers are extremely welcome.
you are an impetuous man.
had you waited a while there would have been any number of seats to choose from.
Gordon isn’t going to have a general election; he’s going to have a series of bye-elections from now till the end of the year.
Oh good lad, get your arse on the green leather, and keep the light shining in all the nooks and crannies.
Goodness me, the Nu Liar Bores are here already. On that basis alone you must being doing something right, Craig! Well done, again.
@Black Country Ethnic – you recently remarked you were a proud Labour voter. Surely you must have some view on the morality of torture, and compliance with the spirit of UN-CAT?
Oh look, all the idiots (or stooges) who thought (or at least say so) Craig was slagging off all of England have spontaneously come out of the woodwork.
Get a clue, you morons.