Dorothy Thornhill from Think About It Films on Vimeo.
As a resident, a mayor, a teacher and a mum, I’ve been involved with our town for nearly 40 years. You know me – I can’t pull the wool over your eyes, but there’s no quick fix and I’m not a miracle worker, but I can be a strong practical passionate woman for Watford in Parliament.
Dorothy is currently in her fourth term as mayor of Watford, having been elected in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. Watford is currently held by the Conservatives and is described as a three-way marginal by UK Polling Report. At the time of writing Dorothy is quoted at 13/8 to gain the seat by William Hill, only slightly behind the Conservative at 6/4 and ahead of Labour at 2/1. A possible gain for the party, bolstered by Dorothy’s strong local record.
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10 Comments
Nice kitchen.
This is an excellent little film Good luck to Dorothy Thornhill on 7th May.
As for kitchens — I assume Dorothy does not have much time to do a lot of her own cooking because she is busy with so many other things. Otherwise how on earth does she keep her kitchen so clean? 🙂
So the odds are:
12/8 Conservative
13/8 Lib Dem
16/8 Labour
Is that what you call a three way marginal?
It looks like a “three way marginal” to me. The Tories hold the seat, the swings across the country from LibDem to Labour should mean they take it, but the LibDems seem to have a very popular mayor standing. I’m an ex-bookie and someone who likes a punt, but you may as well use a pin to pick this one.
Labour doesn’t seem to be treating it as a target, so not a three-way in that sense. There is very little Labour literature going out outside labour wards. The Labour candidate is a complete unknown and isn’t turning up to events. We’re yet to see a labour canvass team outside their wards.
Meanwhile the LDs are running a pretty good ALDC campaign with some novel bits thrown in, and the Tory is spending oodles of cash. I’m getting a “national” royal mail letter from Cameron every day – or at least it sems like it.
Obviously, if there’s a big national swing suddenly towards Labour, all bets are off. But I reckon it’s a scrap between a popular local mayor and massive team of volunteers, and billy nomates harrington and his breast pocket stuffed with donor’s cheques.
If you want to help even things up, you’d be very welcome at the campaign office (it’s a two minute stroll from Watford Junction train station).
Whenever I’ve been in Dorothy’s kitchen it’s been pretty clean and tidy. She’s very well organised on every front 😉
Good video. 4 terms as Mayor is very impressive.
Kate Sinclair 17th Mar ’15 – 12:57pm
Kate, you have quite cheered me up. It is so good to read — “..Meanwhile the LDs are running a pretty good ALDC campaign…”.
In this video, Dorothy does right what the national campaign does wrong. She eschews undeliverable promises. She doesn’t mouth vague PR scribbled platitudes. Nothing about being anchored in the middle of the shipping-lane. She doesn’t even wear the female equivalent of a suit and tie. She tells us in plain language why she is in politics, what motivates her, in particular her own personal experiences, and she links local campaigning to national campaigning simply and effectively. Her key pitch is that she will go to Parliament and fight for her constituents, something that she can prove that she has done for the last 9 years as Mayor. My only criticism is her emphasis on being a woman, which is a tad irritating. So 8 out of 10. Maybe 9 out of 10.
I might just find the time to get round to Watford.
If anyone can win Watford it is Dorothy.
If she can manage not to say “anchored in the centre” for the next 50 days I’ll donate a couple of bottles of wine for their next constituency raffle!