From the Ludlow & Tenbury Wells Advertiser comes the news that Christopher Gill, who was Conservative MP for Ludlow between 1987 and 2001, is to fight the seat for UKIP at the general election.Given how much I love the Shropshire hills, it is tempting to say that this will help the Liberal Democrats regain the seat. It's just that Gill's unpopularity with the voters was one of the reasons for Matthew Green's victory in 2001.
Anyway, it's an excuse for another photo of Bishop's Castle.
He didn't stand in 2001 though...
ReplyDeleteI am aware of that, thanks.
ReplyDeleteBut Gill had contaminated the Tory brand in that part of the world in the years before 2001.
Actually the reason for the Liberal Democrat victory was that the Conservatives picked a candidate who lived in Kent.
ReplyDeleteGill was quite popular - he campaigned against the closure of the local hospital and got on well with both town and country folk.
If Gill contaminated the Conservative brand surely Philip Dunne would also have been affected or are peoples memories too short for that?
If Gill was more popular locally than my sources suggest then that can only be good news for Heather Kidd and the Liberal Democrats.
ReplyDeleteChris Gill was very popular in the Ludlow constituency and has been sorely missed. A lot of people are very excited about his return.
ReplyDeleteThe Tories lost the seat to the None of the Above Party in 2001 because they parachuted in a candidate from south east England. Chris Gill had a decent majority when he retired, the Tories squandered it. Now he's going to be one of the first batch of UKIP MPs.