St Albans Conservative Association voted last night to keep Anne Main MP as its candidate – despite criticism of her Commons expense claims.
From the BBC:
St Albans MP Anne Main allowed her daughter to live rent-free in a taxpayer-funded flat, which she said was cleared by Commons authorities.
Her constituency party has voted to keep her as its candidate for the marginal seat and she was “delighted”.
Claims against Ms Main, an MP since 2005, are still being investigated by the parliamentary sleaze watchdog.
The Telegraph reported back in May that Anne Main claimed mortgage interest of £1095.68 a month on the flat, as well as service charges, utility bills and furnishing costs. Her main home is 25 miles away in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. Neighbours of the St Albans flat were more familiar with Anne Main’s daughter while saying they had scarcely met the MP herself.
Earlier this week, the local association’s deputy chairman Matt Peck wrote to members to rally support for her deselection, calling Ms Main “a ‘lame duck’ MP” (Source: St Albans and Harpenden Review)
Tim Montgomerie writes at conservativehome:
“Local supporters of Main will be urging CCHQ to raise the threshold for triggering these kind of contests. They worry that the negative publicity surrounding the internal dissent has been a massive gift to the St Albans Liberal Democrats.”
Ms Main was elected in 2005 with a majority of 1361 over Labour; the Liberal Democrats came a close third.
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14 Comments
Heseltine was wrong. Turkeys do vote for Xmas. It makes our job easier in St Albans. Expect a Lib Dem firecracker.
Not convinced. Tories might think this will blow over. People have short memories and the MP knows she can put in nine months of solid work meanwhile. What did Blair say to his troops? Never, ever, ever underestimate the Tories.
I would send St. Albans a donation, but their website doesnt list the Chairman, Treasurer or even an address of where to post the cheque…. ho hum.
You could be right. Ladbrokes think Anne Main is strapped on for the win now.
ladbrokes
Con 4/9
LD 2/1
Lab 14/1
@ Meandyew – But gives very good odds for us too.
@Dominic – Good point, I think the odds would be less favourable for us had Main stood down. I see it very much as game on here and Main will have to work very hard in the seat to keep it.
I am the organiser and agent for St Albans Lib Dems. I noticed Phillip Young’s comment and thought I would clear up the donation problem should anyone be kind enough to want to make one.
Please make cheques payable to St Albans Liberal Democrats and send them to Liberal Democrats, 9 Hatfield Road, St Albans, AL1 3RR.
Thanks for all your support.
In terms of support for the campaign,excellent rail connections from London,less than an hour for Lord Rennard to get there from his second home a bit longer if he’s travelling from his main (holiday flat) residence in Eastbourne.
.
I had this strange compulsion, staring at Liberal Democrat Voice, reading this news, and with the cheque book on the desk… a sort of sudden impulsive urge, to write out a large cheque. Doctor and no doubt the bank manager will be relieved to hear the feeling soon passed, and not finding an address certainly helped.
The thinking went along the lines of “what do St. Albans Liberals need most of all right now – what could someone totally outside the scene do to help…. Ah, lets post ’em a wedge.”
However, if whoever cares to do a make-over of the website could overcome the oversight of the lack of basic information, and include the address of Basecamp for other donors, it might prove rather beneficial. Meanwhile, Im posting something – its going to cover more than the train fare for the likes of Chris Rennard to venture northwards, but given the past success, locals might be fully entitled to the view that would run along the lines of: “given we can’t have done much better of late, what do we need him for…send him somewhere else.” Personally, I rather hope Chris stays in Eastbourne, and does something about the lack of press-officers at the top of the party who have past full hands-on news-room experience, rather than day trips to St. Albans to tell people who are winning how they, er, might like to try out the experience of winning.
Cheque is in the post.
p.y.
Perhaps Michael Brown (convicted felon) can help out in “good faith (sic)” with the campaign? (not)
What are you saying Mr John Zims…..is Chris Rennard ‘at it’ too with his second home???
And are all Libdems ‘whiter than white’ when it comes to the expenses scandal? I don’t think so and wonder when Nick is going to sort all that out with expensive rocking chairs (Alison Goldsworthy) and lots of make-up (Jo Swinson).
Haven’t seen too many tories being deselecteed by Cameron (he’s all talk and no action) and none by Clegg. Mixed messages from GB.
The country still thinks they are all in it for themselves!
Libdem Guru, those claims against Jo Swinson were monstrously unfair and I do not think they bear repeating even if it is done in a tongue in cheek manner.
Cameron has been deselecting Tories, mainly the old guard who stand in his way. Douglas Hogg, Christopher Fraser, Sir Peter Viggers all gone. Yet the likes of Anne Main, Stephen Crabb, Michael Gove etc etc nothing. He is simply using this scandal to get rid of those who do not fit with his new model army. He did his level best to keep trougher Andrew Mackay in parliament. Cameron has been purging the old guard and doing nothing about newer members and the gullible press have not seen through it. However he has done more than that idiot Gordon Brown.
Rennard has a case to answer. One of the few of our party who do but he still has a case to answer.
BTW it is Julia Goldsworthy not Alison, personally I prefer Gormless Goldsworthy. It seems to suit her more.
Given that Central Office, and Ashcroft, will be pouring very significant sums into St. Albans to ensure its kept afloat in the Great Tory Tide, should’nt we all be writing out a cheqaue to the address thats now been revealed above? Odd that the St. Albans website doesnt have a “send us a tenner” financial appeal, a bit like the Nick Clegg leadership election website that helped to raise a decent slug of money from very small donations.
There is no way St. Albans Lib Dems can mount a counter-challenge without an equal amount of money. Whistling in the dark to think otherwise. The Tories have a war-chest of 50 million quid, and will spend it…we are about to see the biggest spend ever on a general election campaign. Liberal Democrat campaigns used to be a catapult and a pea-shooter against Exocet and Patriot missiles…its not even that, now…the old ratio of “they spend ten times more than us” is in the past, now the gap is vastly worse.
Geru: get this. No Liberal Democrat MP has been involved in flippin’ homes to avoid capital gains tax. Cameron is a multi-multi-millionaire – what is it, 30 million, or is it 40 million….and gets a special payment for being Leader of the Opposition, on top of his MPs pay (Nick Clegg doesnt get anything above the standard MPs pay, but like Cameron has to run a considerably bigger staff). Yet Cameron thought he ought to charge the tax payers for the removal of wisteria that was choking his chimney. I would have climbed up there and tore it down for half what he charged. George Osbourne, and the prattish Ed Vaizey who put antique furniture on his exes, committed far worse examles of abusing the system than Peter Viggars, who didnt actually claim for that notorious duck house…double standards indeed, because the cynical public who are now even more cynical realise that the “tough action talk” was indeed only about dealing with those whose faces didnt fit, and who once ousted, could free up a safe-seat for more Cameron place-men and time-servers.
Philip
‘ “tough action talk” was indeed only about dealing with those whose faces didnt fit, ‘
But that’s exactly what Clegg did with his ‘ton of bricks’ TV interview,so why no action?
‘ George Osbourne, and the prattish Ed Vaizey who put antique furniture on his exes, committed far worse examles of abusing the system than Peter Viggars, who didnt actually claim for that notorious duck house’
So did any of those claims reach £41,000?…