April « 2010 « Charlotte Leslie

David Cameron visits Bristol pub after leaders debate

Posted by mainuser on April 29, 2010 | Comments Off

David Cameron joins Charlotte Leslie for a pint of Guinness after the Sky News leaders' debate.

What does the leader of the Conservative Party do after taking part in a live debate in front of millions of television viewers? David Cameron chose to visit a popular Bristol pub after the Sky News leaders’ debate at the Arnolfini, where he shared a pint with Charlotte Leslie, prospective Conservative MP for Bristol North West.

Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha joined Charlotte and several Conservative supporters who had watched the debate in the Three Sugar Loaves at the bottom of the Christmas Steps.

Mr Cameron had a pint of Guinness and he bought a sparkling mineral water for his wife Samantha, who earlier that day had helped paint a fence at the Avon Riding Centre for the Disabled in Henbury (story here).

Charlotte Leslie said: “It was great that David Cameron could take time out from his busy schedule to join us in the pub. We had just seen him put in a fantastic performance in the leaders’ debate and we were all quite surprised when he walked in through the door.

“He spoke to many people and it is clear that he is very knowledgable about the issues that affect people here in Bristol.”

Ken Clarke meets voters in Westbury-on-Trym

Posted by mainuser on April 28, 2010 | Comments Off

Veteran Tory politician Ken Clarke joins Charlotte Leslie in Westbury-on-Trym

Veteran Conservative politician Ken Clarke has visited Westbury-on-Trym to join Charlotte Leslie and her supporters on the campaign trail.

The popular and gregarious former Chancellor, now Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Education and Skills, stopped to talk to voters in the village which now forms part of the Bristol North West constituency, in which Charlotte Leslie is the prospective Conservative MP.

Mr Clarke said that he always enjoys engaging in old-fashioned high street campaigning at election time.

“I like to get out in the high street whenever I can in my own constituency, where I can afford to spend more time talking to people. And I’m sure that’s what Charlotte Leslie, our parliamentary candidate here in Bristol North West, also enjoys.

“I like the fact that during an election, people feel they can come up to you and talk politics in the street. As a politician, you can always pick up interesting ideas when you’re out there conversing with the public.”

Samantha Cameron visits Henbury riding centre

Posted by mainuser on April 23, 2010 | Comments Off

Charlotte Leslie greets Samantha Cameron as she arrives at the Avon Riding Centre for the Disabled

Samantha Cameron rolled her sleeves up on Thursday to join a team of volunteers at the Avon Riding Centre for the Disabled in Henbury. While her husband David was busy preparing for the Sky News leaders’ debate at the Arnolfini in Bristol city centre, Mrs Cameron was helping to paint a new fence.

Mrs Cameron was greeted as she arrived at the centre on Kings Weston Road by Charlotte Leslie, the prospective Conservative MP for Bristol North West.

The pregnant Mrs Cameron was then given a tour of the complex, which is located in 60 acres of beautiful pasture and woodland opposite Blaise Castle Estate.

After the brief tour, she next got to work helping a group of volunteers as they painted a fence around one of the stables as two curious horses looked on.

The volunteers were part of a Conservative party Social Action project. These projects attempt to create social change, with individuals across the country making fantastic contributions to their communities through small-scale, local voluntary action. For more information on the Social Action project, click here.

Charlotte Leslie is a keen advocate of the Social Action project. She said: “It was a real privilege to welcome Samantha Cameron to Henbury and show her some of the great work that the Avon Riding Centre does.

“The Conservative party’s Social Action project is something that I really feel passionate about and it was brilliant to see Sam roll her sleeves up and support the volunteers.”

BBC Radio Bristol spend the day in Southmead

Posted by mainuser on April 19, 2010 | Comments Off

Charlotte Leslie was interviewed on BBC Radio Bristol at Southmead police station

BBC Radio Bristol is today broadcasting 13 hours of live programmes from Southmead. Today is six months to the day since a Panorama documentary portrayed the estate in a very unflattering light, as two undercover Asian reporters were subjected to several incidents of racism and anti-social behaviour.

Although the problems cannot be ignored, many Southmead residents interviewed on the radio such as Corinne Nesbit from Nez Cafe on Southmead Road said that there is a strong community spirit on the estate.

This morning, the Breakfast with Steve Le Fevre show came from Southmead police station. Charlotte Leslie, prospective Conservative MP for Bristol North West, joined her fellow candidates in the constituency, which encompasses Southmead, to debate specifically about the issue of law and order.

If the Conservative party gets elected, a key priority would be to introduce elected police commissioners, following the American model, which would see one person responsible for setting key priorities.

Speaking to Steve Le Fevre, Charlotte Leslie said: “There is currently a huge amount of confusion about who people go to, who is setting their targets. A single figurehead would do an awful lot to simplify who is setting the figures.

“We need an individual to make sure that the reality is getting better, not just the statistics and targets. That’s what an individual would do.”

She also raised concerns about misleading people with uncosted promises, questioning how the Liberal Democrat promise to spend money spent on ID cards could fund more frontline police, if it was also allocated in other policy documents to be spent on rehabilitation centres and probation services.

For the rest of today, BBC Radio Bristol will be broadcasting from Southmead Community Centre, Southmead Youth Centre, Nez Cafe and the Bear & Rugged Staff.

Greenpeace hustings in Horfield

Posted by mainuser on April 18, 2010 | Comments Off

Greenpeace logo The four main candidates contesting the Bristol North West parliamentary seat took part in a hustings on Friday organised by Greenpeace. It was held at the Quaker Meeting Room on the Gloucester Road in Horfield and was hosted by Professor Chris Wilmore from the law department at the University of Bristol.

The hustings was attended by about 70 people interested to see what the prospective MPs had to say on environmental issues. The Horfield hustings was part of the national Ask The Climate Question campaign.

Charlotte Leslie, the prospective Conservative MP for Bristol North West, said that the hustings was an ideal opportunity for the main political parties to show that there is a consensus on some of the most important issues of our times.

“The consensus was extremely encouraging,” Charlotte said. “Climate change is an issue which supersedes political affiliations and we need a long term answer for. The consensus was that climate change is a vitally important issue which needs to be taken very seriously indeed.”

Charlotte and the other candidates were all in favour of a lagoon system for the Severn barrage. Charlotte said: “This would particularly help jobs in Avonmouth and I would like it to happen quickly. In seeking new solutions to the energy crisis, we have to make sure that our version of sustainability is sustainable.”

Charlotte has already shown her strong green credentials, actively campaigning against possible development on both the Daisy Field and Lamplighters land in Shirehampton, the Crow Lane open space in Henbury and the Purdown open space in Lockleaze.

Charlotte said: “I strongly hope that the warm words of the council regarding these open spaces will actually lead to a real solution, in order to preserve all our wonderful and valuable green spaces in north west Bristol.”

She added: “I would like to thank Greenpeace for organising this hustings, and for the knowledgeable audience for raising some very important issues.”

For more information on the Bristol Greenpeace group, visit here.

Avonmouth boxing club’s six months in new gym

Posted by mainuser on April 14, 2010 | Comments Off

Smeltings Amateur Boxing Club head coach Garry Cave in the club's new gym, which Charlotte Leslie, Conservative prospective MP for Bristol North West, helped secure funding for

Smeltings Amateur Boxing Club head coach Garry Cave in the club's new gym in Avonmouth, which Charlotte Leslie, Conservative prospective MP for Bristol North West, helped secure vital funding for.

An amateur boxing club in Avonmouth is celebrating six months in a new purpose-built gym and training facility.

For more than 30 years, young boxers at the National Smelting Amateur Boxing Club on Barrack’s Lane trained in what was no more than a glorified shed. It was rat-infested and taller fighters had to duck while in the small practise ring to avoid the low beams. Coaches even had to turn some keen youngsters away as there was space inside was very limited.

Nevertheless, over the years the club did punch above its weight, especially when Nick Wiltshire represented the UK in the Moscow Olympics.

Now, however, the club has got a training facility to be proud of. This is thanks in no small part to the efforts of club President and Bristol North West prospective Conservative MP Charlotte Leslie, who helped raise part of the £68,000 needed to pay for the new building.

Up to 40 young boxers from aged 10 and up train three times a week at the club under the watchful gaze of head coach Garry Cave and his team.

Garry, 40, from Thornbury, whose 12-year-old son Tom boxes for the club, said that the new building has made an enormous difference.

He said: “We simply could not carry on as we were doing. We were turning people away at the door as we didn’t have the space.

“Now we’ve got the space, it’s great. It feels like we’ve won the lottery. It feels like a different club now we have got this purpose-built facility that will hopefully last another 30 or 40 years.

“I have been coach here for 10 years now. Somebody helped coach me when I was younger, and now it feels right and well worth it me doing it for somebody else, especially now in our new gym.

Club President and Bristol North West prospective Conservative MP Charlotte Leslie added: “I’ve seen first-hand how boxing can transform the lives of young people – some of whom could otherwise veer off onto the wrong path in life.

“Amateur boxing clubs like this, that transform lives and get fantastic results, are only possible thanks to the dedication and efforts of people like Garry Cave. What Garry’s done here with boxing is superb and I’m very proud to be President of the National Smelting Amateur Boxing Club.”

The National Smelting Amateur Boxing Club is holding their next boxing show on Thursday, May 20 at the Pill Memorial Club. All money raised will go directly back to the club.

Tickets cost £10 for over-18s and £5 for under-18s. Doors are at 7pm and the first bell is at 8pm. For tickets and more information, telephone 01275 372176 or visit www.smeltersboxing.com

Conservatives launch election manifesto in Bristol

Posted by mainuser on April 13, 2010 | Comments Off

A Conservative government will unleash people’s energy, ideas and passion to get Great Britain moving again.

Charlotte Leslie, Bristol North West’s prospective Conservative MP, today welcomed Andrew Lansley, David Cameron’s shadow Secretary of State for Health, as he unveiled the Conservative Party manifesto on College Green.

The manifesto, officially launched this morning in London, invites everybody in the UK to form the next government by giving real people real power. Government should be there as a safety net to support and a spring-board to enable -not to micromanage and interfere with every part of people’s lives. A Conservative government will unleash people’s energy, ideas and passion to get this country moving again.

For residents of north west Bristol, a Conservative government will bring real change. Charlotte has a special interest in health issues. Her father is an NHS Bristol surgeon and she strongly supports plans to transform Southmead into a new state-of-the-art acute hospital. Under a Conservative government, not only will doctors be empowered to prioritise patient care over targets, but patients will be able to rate hospitals and doctors, and anyone will have the power to choose any healthcare provider that meets NHS standards.

Andrew Lansley, Shadow Secretary of State for Health, was greeted with cheers as he arrived on College Green soon after 4.30pm and gave Bristol residents their first look at the Conservative manifesto launched only a few hours earlier.

Priorities include radically improving our school system to make opportunities more equal. There will be extra funding for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and Keystage 2 tests and league tables will be overhauled. First-time buyers will be helped to get on the property ladder and new businesses will not have to pay National Insurance contributions for their first 10 employees.

Bristol already has a strong culture of recycling, but under a Conservative government there will be even more incentives to encourage recycling and working towards zero waste. And railways will be improved and local transport made greener.

After speaking to Mr Lansley, Charlotte said: “It’s great to hear a Shadow Minister understanding and reiterating what I am hearingon the doorsteps of north west Bristol every day- power to the people! People have had enough of an over-bearing, inefficient Government squashing their ambitions, but at the same time, failing the most vulnerable who most need Government’s support. Its time to overhaul our politics and our Government. ”

Local parents meet with Shadow Education Secretary

Posted by mainuser on April 13, 2010 | Comments Off

Michael Gove and Charlotte Leslie listen as parents speak to them about their education concerns. One thing that Mr Gove promised was to fully support St Ursula's bid to become an academy.

Local parents met the Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove on Saturday when he visited north west Bristol and promised that a Conservative government will help meet the need for an additional secondary school in the area.

If the Conservative party wins the General Election on May 6, they will support parents who want a new school and will ensure that funding will be found for it. Mr Gove and Charlotte, who went to school in Westbury-on-Trym, listened with interest as parents spoke to them about their concerns over both primary and secondary school places for their children.

A Conservative government will seek to end the current confusion over this issue, which sometimes sees children have to travel to schools many miles away from their homes. It will also put forward vital measures to help existing schools improve, giving teachers more power to discipline pupils; classes will be setted, giving better support to both the most able and least able pupils; and there will be better and more specialised special educational needs support in every school. A Conservative government would also support St Ursula’s bid to become an academy. Charlotte is a governor at the Brecon Road, Westbury-on-Trym school and was instrumental in the decision to turn the independent school into an academy, something which may happen as early as September 2011.

Charlotte said that Mr Gove’s visit to Bristol was a great chance for local parents to quiz the man who could soon be the Government Minister responsible for education, making a real difference to education policy in the city.

She said: “Michael was able to see the difficulties facing local parents. I spoke to a lot of parents and they were reassured to hear that we share their aspirations.

“It was great to hear that Michael Gove is also passionately dedicated to improve existing schools as well as being committed to creating an additional school for north west Bristol. I have already been working with educationalists across the city to bring the nation’s most promising teachers to the city’s challenged schools, and I’m delighted that Michael Gove is supportive of us.”

The meeting was organised by Charlotte Leslie, the prospective Conservative MP for Bristol North West, who also founded the Parents Voice campaign group. Charlotte formed the group with local parents concerned about the lack of school places to serve the BS9 area.

Stoke Bishop home’s innovative method of care

Posted by mainuser on April 9, 2010 | Comments Off

An old people’s home in Stoke Bishop is revolutionising a new method in ensuring that medication is delivered appropriately to their residents.

Charlotte Leslie, the Conservative party’s prospective MP for Bristol North West, today visited Stokeleigh on Stoke Hill to see for herself the innovative method.

Charlotte was told that the method helps improve quality of life for residents. It also means that no medication is wasted as exactly the right quantity is ordered depending on the individual needs of residents, thus saving money. Staff at Stokeleigh have a small handheld device that tells them to administer the correct drugs to the correct person at the correct time. Staff explained how this is a much better system than the traditional paper method as patient needs can be updated on a daily basis from a central computer.

Stokeleigh deputy manager Bill Van Nuil told Charlotte that the Proactive Care System had made a big difference at the home. Bill, who moved to Bristol from Edinburgh four years ago, said that it is a failsafe method of delivering drugs.

Charlotte, whose father has been a Bristol NHS surgeon for almost 30 years, has a special interest in health issues. She said: “It was really good to see innovation at work here that not only saves money but improves patient care at the same time. Patient care must be the most important aspect of any health service.”

Finally… The General Election is called for May 6th!

Posted by mainuser on April 6, 2010 | Comments Off

Finally, after false starts and keeping the public waiting, Gordon Brown has gone to the palace and called a General Election. Here in Bristol North West, the electorate will be voting not only for a local MP to serve them, but their choice of MP could also determine which Government runs the country.

That is because Bristol North West is a key Labour seat that Gordon Brown will want to win to cling onto power, and that the Conservatives must win to form a new Government and herald a fresh start.

Bristol North West is currently held by Labour MP Doug Naysmith, and notional results from the last General Election show that Labour are ahead of the Conservatives by only 1000 votes, with the Liberal Democrats trailing around 4,000 votes behind. These are the figures being used by the independent media – BBC, ITV, and SKY as well as academics.

Confused by different election graphs?

Although the local election results from this summer show the Conservatives ahead, these are not a good indication for the General Election, since many people who may vote for minority parties locally, vote Labour or Conservative at the General Election.

Comparing a local election to a General Election is like comparing apples and pears – which is why we use the results that the independent media, the bookies and the academics all use – showing a tight two horse race between Labour and Conservative.

Local woman, Charlotte Leslie, has been working in Bristol North West as the prospective MP for over three years. Charlotte has marked herself out by her energetic campaigning, her focus on action over words, and by her pledge to begin cleaning up politics by refusing to respond in kind to negative, personal, smears made against her.

It promises to be a closely fought, exciting campaign. Commenting, Charlotte said,

” I believe this country desperately needs a change. I have been doing all I can to be the kind of change we want to see – clean, positive campaigning, with a focus on action, integrity and service.

Thank you to everyone who has been such a support over the last three years – especially to all those of you who have never voted Conservative before, but who have rallied behind our work so strongly.

I know we can not only win Bristol North West, but also begin to make the change we need to see in politics, and in our country.”

You can read more about Charlotte’s pledge about positive campaigning HERE

And you can read about her pledge on honesty and expenses HERE

Archive for April, 2010