Alison Child, new Conservative Vice Chairman; Island MP Andrew Turner; new Conservative Chairman, Cllr Ian Ward; and new Deputy Chairman, Joe Robertson.

New chairman for Isle of Wight Conservatives

This from Chris Whitehouse, in his own words. Ed


Members of the Island Conservative Association turned out in force last Saturday for their Annual General Meeting and unanimously voted in a new Chairman, Councillor Ian Ward, a Retired Army Officer.

The meeting held at the Newport Parish Rooms, Town Lane, on Saturday 14th March was attended by over 80 members of the Association and saw a completely new set of officers elected as follows:

Keith Gordon – President
Cllr Ian Ward – Chairman
Alison Child – Vice Chairman
George Cameron – Deputy Chairman Political.
Joe Robertson – Deputy Chairman Fund Raising and Membership.

Speaking after the vote, Cllr Ward said:

“With the general election just a few weeks away, Island Conservatives have come together to unite behind Andrew Turner as our candidate. Our new team of officers will have to hit the ground running to drive forward the campaign with real momentum, but we are ready to do just that.”

Welcoming the new officers, Island MP Andrew Turner says:

“New officers will bring new vigour to our campaign. I’m grateful to all those who have stepped up to the mark and volunteered to serve in this way. The new team will have my full and active support not just up until the general election, but afterwards as well. We want to make the Association much more inclusive and active, engaging not just existing members, but reaching out to new ones, too.”

The new chairman set the Association an additional challenge.

Cllr Ward said,

“We must reach out to younger people, the next generation of voters. It is their futures that are at stake and we want them to play an active role in shaping the politics of our nation.”

Left to right: Alison Child, new Conservative Vice Chairman; Island MP Andrew Turner; new Conservative Chairman, Cllr Ian Ward; and new Deputy Chairman, Joe Robertson.

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Colin
6, February 2017 9:45 am

You couldn’t make it up. The councillor for Christ The King has spoken. I remember one friend and head teacher of a primary school from years ago who was there for about six years and that co-incided with her sons education through that school. He never got to go to the following middle school as they left the Island with the comment, “you didn’t think I was… Read more »

Colin
6, February 2017 10:08 am

I note that Carisbrooke has now got planning permission to build a 600 pupil school to replace the existing buildings. That’s good, I’m pleased for them. When I suggested having smaller schools I was roundly condemned by the last council who said that schools on a smaller scale couldn’t possibly work. I also questioned why you would want to build/rebuild a school in a town that was… Read more »

Luisa Hillard
Reply to  Colin
6, February 2017 11:03 am

I am personally in favour of having a school dedicated to the West Wight area because long bus journeys at each end of the school day must be very difficult for young people who want to do extracurricular activities, socialise and maybe even homework. I also agree with your assertion that it could reduce traffic congestion in Newport. Although I guess it depends on where those parents… Read more »

John
Reply to  Luisa Hillard
6, February 2017 1:23 pm

Hi Luisa. You may wish to check whether 2 miles is the correct figure for secondary schools, and whether a Newport parent would be eligilbe for LA funded transport if they elected for any West Wight school… If you wished to make a valid point you could attend on Thursday and challenge section 13 of the report which claims there is no financial impact. Clearly these criteria… Read more »

Luisa Hillard
Reply to  John
6, February 2017 10:04 pm

I have now checked. Nothing I could find on the Council website so I went to government policy. All children between 5 and 16 qualify for free school transport if they go to their nearest suitable school and live at least: * 2 miles from the school if they’re under eight * 3 miles from the school if they’re eight or older. So three miles for high… Read more »

John
Reply to  Luisa Hillard
7, February 2017 12:53 am

Hi Luisa, The council’s Home to School Transport Policy is linked from the schools’ admissions policies page (fifth paragraph) here: https://www.iwight.com/Residents/Schools-and-Learning/School-Admissions/Admissions-Policies (also available via the covert A-Z of services, under the letter S, disguised as ‘School Bus Passes (School Transport Eligibility)’ Section 4 covers secondary schools – not the case that “any child travelling more than 2 miles is eligible for bus transport and we might see… Read more »

Colin
Reply to  Luisa Hillard
7, February 2017 10:07 am

Hi Luisa, Not that West Wight is ever going to get a senior school because politics would get in the way of common sense. Luckily, someone WITH an ounce of common sense saw fit to open the Free School at Ventnor filling the void left by the LEA. And it is oversubscibed too. And just 125 pupil intake. I wonder why? I wonder why pupils with uniform… Read more »

electrickery
6, February 2017 10:43 am

Colin’s points are well made, but here’s a question: why does it cost £20K a day to bus pupils to school and back on an island this small? Apparently IWC’s internal bus service couldn’t be made to pay so was shut down in favour of … guess who? If Carisbrooke (my alma mater so forgive some partisanship) is too big, how about sub-letting part of it (U3A,… Read more »

Robert Jones
6, February 2017 4:35 pm

Always used to be a high school in West Wight (electrickery)? There was a Secondary Modern, with attached farm at which pre-agricultural college students were trained, and that’s all gone now; but I lived in the West Wight 50 and more years ago, and that’s all there was, apart of course from the primary schools in each village. There was talk of building a high school in… Read more »

davimel
6, February 2017 6:33 pm

Oh dear.. only a few days in and already we have cuts, sackings, doom & gloom and now we have interference in the schools again! I know they learned nothing from the past,, but just thank god the don’t have the power to destroy what has taken many years to get almost back on track! They REALLY hate kids don’t they?

milliard
8, February 2017 10:55 pm

‘Criteria’ is plural, not singular.

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