LETTER: Electorate can decide

I really am getting fed up seeing Norman Baker's face on the front page of the Sussex Express (May 12 edition) as well as reading his ill-informed letter to the residents of Lewes on the Opinion page.

He sings the praises of the Lewes Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Kelly-Marie Blundell; a girl who was parachuted into the area from Guildford after losing badly in the 2015 General Election there where she only managed to poll 8,354 votes against the Conservative vote of 30,802.

Prior to that she failed to get a seat on Ashford Borough Council in their local elections in May 2011. Not a brilliant track record so far. (She says in her campaign literature she was born on the Kent/Sussex borders but that could be anywhere and certainly does not make her “local”).

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Mr Baker goes on to criticise Maria Caulfield for “not living in the constituency” – she lives on the cusp of Lewes and Brighton near Falmer which I would think is close enough to the constituency – probably about five miles! He also criticises Maria for voting for Brexit “against the wishes of the majority of local people”. As Mr Baker well knows, all MP’s who voted in the Referendum did so as private people – not as members of parliament carrying out the wishes of their constituents. How Mr Baker thinks Maria should have known the wishes of the majority of local people before the Referendum is a mystery to me – she is not a mind reader Norman.

It is always easy to jump on the bandwagon of someone who has done well in the constituency over the last two years and try to claim the credit for it as Ms Blundell appears to be doing. Maria has worked incredibly hard over major issues such as the railway strikes that have blighted our area for so long and the securing of £75m for improvements to the A27, whilst working with neighbouring MP’s to secure further funding to start the much-needed duelling. I seem to recall Mr Baker’s response to this major problem when he was an MP was to put up signs on the A27 saying “Its quicker by train”. In addition Maria has worked very hard to get more funding for our local schools, raising the issue directly with the Prime Minister during a recent session of Prime Minster’s Questions. Mr Baker has the gall to say Ms Blundell “is actually already doing the casework that the present MP has neglected”. I do wonder what that “casework” actually is?

Really, Mr Baker should stick to what he knows best; playing in a band, writing books and campaigning to legalise drugs whilst leaving the local electorate to decide for themselves on June the 8th.

Cllr Wendy Alexander (Con)

Old Drive, Polegate

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