This entry was posted on
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 at
6:16 pm and is filed
under Anne Milton.
Anne Milton, Conservative candidate for the marginal seat of Guildford, has decided that now a general election looms, there is no room for negative campaigning:
Some people might see a clever smear against her opponents when they read the above, but I’m going to take Anne Milton at her word (just for a moment) and instead ask ;”What’s changed?”
Back in 2005/2006, Anne Milton was repeatedly turning a blind eye to the disgraceful antics of two of her most vocal supporters; Dennis Paul and Mike Chambers:
– Anne Milton avoided any meaningful comment on Dennis Paul’s pandering to racism in a scaremongering immigration/housing leaflet released in aid of her 2005 campaign.
– Both Mike Chambers and Dennis Paul were connected to an anonymous ‘revenge’ attack that responded to my criticism of Anne Milton by implying I was a homosexual (to them; a sick perversion), claiming I was a bad father, suggesting that I had falsified evidence against Milton, and attempting to blackmail/bully me into silence through my clients and place of work. Later, these attacks evolved into repeated anonymous claims that I had stalked Anne Milton. Anne Milton now claims privately that she said/did nothing to encourage this, but the fact is that she allowed it to carry on for years without correction, clarification or any kind of apology, even long after both Chambers and Paul were given their marching orders.
– I still have to hand the evidence that proves Mike Chambers and Dennis Paul created/promoted a weblog claiming a political opponent was a paedophile. The matter was reported to CCHQ, but referred back to Anne Milton and the local association for action. None was taken. In fact, Anne Milton and the Conservatives went on to endorse both Mike Chambers and Dennis Paul in the 2007 council elections. The Guildford Conservative Association still hold the position that they took no action at the time because the victim chose not to complain and (hilariously) that I had only complained via email and “not in writing”. Despite my proving Mike Chambers to be the primary author/promoter of the smear, he wasn’t even compelled by his fellow Conservatives to remove the single-purpose website hosting it.
I just called the Guildford Conservative Association for comment on the latter especially. They demurred, but I can report that Anne Milton’s staff do think that she deserves credit because (one hopes) she wasn’t directly involved in any of the actual typing.
I suspect it is here that we finally edge closer to the truth of Anne Milton’s recent statement…
“I am making a commitment from the outset not to resort to personal attacks on my opponents.”
… because she doesn’t need to resort to personal attacks if she sits back and lets her underlings do her dirty work for her, just as she has done repeatedly in the past.
That said, it is possible that I’ve misjudged Anne Milton; perhaps she really has changed and her recent commitment to positive campaigning is sincere.
If this is the case, she will have no problem (finally) publicly disowning Dennis Paul and Mike Chambers, and every smear they published. Perhaps she might even find the time to apologise for not acting earlier to stop the smears published on her behalf.
But I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for any of that if I were you.
