UPDATED: Is Tory Candidate Paul Holmes Really "Local"?

Tory Candidate Paul Holmes Pretending He is Local

UPDATED (14th June 2017): We have passed more information to the Police and are awaiting an update from their investigation.

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No, he isn't. He is pretending.

Paul Holmes got selected for the seat, and is now pretending that he has been here for years.

He hasn't.

We have been speaking of "The Cons" by "The Cons" Party and the terrible Theresa May.

The day before polling day, we now turn our attention to the Tory candidate for Southampton Test, Paul Holmes.

The previous candidate for the past two elections was Jeremy Moulton. He was overlooked in favour of Paul Holmes. Why was this?

Was it because Jeremy Moulton lost twice to Alan Whitehead, in 2010 and by a bigger margin in 2015?

Was it because Jeremy Moulton, also Leader of the Conservative Group on the City Council, failed to lead the Conservatives to control the Council, despite Labour being in disarray?

Perhaps it was.

Or was it because Jeremy Moulton was not enough of a "yes man" for the Conservatives, and that as a political careerist working for the Tory Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin, Paul Holmes was suitably malleable to be a "yes man" for Theresa May, as shown on the leaflet above.

Perhaps we shall never know for sure, as these are Conservative Party decisions.

A political careerist is someone who has politics as their career, and has never had a job outside politics.

The Labour Party and Conservative Party are full of them.

It appears that Paul Holmes has all the hallmarks of a political careerist. Careerists will do anything for their political career.

For example, they will produce tens of thousands of letters like the one above, desperately trying to persuade local residents that they are local and understand the local issues.

But how can Paul Holmes claim this, when he has been living and working in London?

And what about the attempts by Paul Holmes and the Tory Party to show he is local and to get him elected as Theresa May's man in Southampton?

Is Mr Holmes trying to con the people of Southampton into thinking he lives at the below address in Southampton, and lived there before he was selected as the Tory Candidate?

The address below is taken from the "Statement of Persons Nominated" issued by Southampton City Council.

Southampton Independents understands that Paul Holmes lived and worked in London, for the Conservative Party including the Party Chairman McLoughlin, and not in Southampton.

Mr Holmes did stand for Parliament. But for a London constituency in 2015, not Southampton.

Mr Holmes has taken this opportunity to try to cleanse his image as a Sotonian. Except it doesn't appear that he grew up in Southampton.

Paul Holmes studied at Southampton University and was a councillor for four years, but then left Southampton, to further his political career. That is the decision of a political careerist.

It appears that he hasn't been a Sotonian for many years.

His political opponent Andrew Pope has tried to get him to answer questions, but Mr Holmes has repeatedly evaded answering them.

Is Paul Holmes emulating Paul Nuttall of UKIP in the Stoke Central by-election?

When did he start living at this address?

If you look at the electoral register for Romsey and Southampton North, you can see that he is a late addition to the register.

Whose address is it really?

We have confirmed that it is the address of a former Southampton City Councillor. It must be some kind of favour, to help Mr Holmes cleanse his image and continue the pretense that he had been living in Southampton, prior to his selection as candidate.

Has he lied on his nomination papers?

We will see. That is a matter for the Police.

We have contacted local journalists and we hope they will do their duty in the public interest.

We will be passing information to the Police and asking for them to investigate.

And we ask Southampton residents to ask the same questions, BEFORE they cast their vote on Thursday 8th June, or on their postal ballot papers beforehand.

Do you trust Paul Holmes? Do you trust the Conservatives? Do you trust Labour?

Labour or Tory - it's a choice between potential disaster and proven failure. And Alan Whitehead has been a failure as your MP for 20 years. People know it's time for him to go.

We ask you to consider voting for Andrew Pope Southampton Independents, because he lives in the community, we are genuine and we are about the local area.

Southampton residents say: "This General Election is One Big Tory Con"

Theresa May trying to tell you what the election is about

Andrew Pope, the Southampton Independents Candidate for Southampton Test, says:

Andrew Pope with one of our supporters' boards and posters in Coxford

"Do you share our annoyance at Theresa May trying to tell you 'What This Election is About'?

Do you agree that the people of our City decide what this election is about?

And that it should not be dictated to us by Theresa May from her party-political pulpit in Downing Street?

We think you will agree, because the people of Southampton are smart.

They know the real reasons Theresa May called the 2017 General Election, when she repeatedly said she wouldn't call one.

1. As Home Secretary for SIX YEARS, Theresa May failed to deliver anything but cuts when Home Secretary. For example, to the Police whose numbers were reduced by around 20,000.
2. Theresa May is weak. She is anything but "strong and stable". As one resident said, when challenged Theresa May is "shrill and squeamish." That is why the Tories are spending so much time and money trying to persuade the British people that she is strong. 
3. On the above leaflet, Theresa May claimed "What This Election Is About" is the national interest. It is not, this Election has been called in the party political interest of the Conservative Party, and the personal political career of Theresa May.
4. Theresa May saw an opportunity to get her way with a massive opinion poll lead over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour. But Theresa May cannot control her own MPs or members of her own Cabinet like Boris Johnson who want to see her fail in order to become Prime Minister himself.

Theresa May thought she could deal with those Tory MPs who are out to get her, and who are out to block what she wants to do. She has tried to replace those former MPs and candidates for Parliament with "yes men" (and in the Tory Party, some "yes women").

This includes the Southampton Test Tory Candidate, Paul Holmes, who is a political careerist and is willing to be a puppet for Theresa May. We will be publishing more on him shortly.

All the while, Theresa May has been trying to blame the Opposition. This itself is laughable because Corbyn's Labour is in disarray - just look at Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott's mistakes and Corbyn's failure to convince the British people that he can protect us.

Theresa May has failed as Prime Minister over the last year. She has also squandered a massive 20-point opinion poll lead over Labour. That is a spectacular failure of leadership.

This is why we predict that if she becomes Prime Minister again, Theresa May will fail to get a good Brexit that works for everyone.

And then we could well have another General Election, when the EU Brexit deal doesn't meet what the people of Southampton voted for.

Why vote Labour or Tory, and get the same old story?

This General Election is One Big Tory Con.

Stop wasting your vote on Labour and the Tories, and Vote Southampton Independents!"

Southampton Schools: The Uncomfortable Truth

Will Brexit fix schools?

We have written about the failures of the Tory Government to provide sufficient school funding, class sizes increasing and pressures being put on school budgets.

We have written about the failures of the Labour Council to provide sufficient school funding, and their removal of funding from schools that they had previously promised.

Sadly like many things, it's yet another case of Labour or Tory, same old story.

Southampton Independents try to be balanced, including in our criticism. We owe it to Southampton's parents and pupils to get to the bottom of the reasons for problems in our schools.

That's because Southampton's pupils deserve the best education possible.

Below is a graph of the number of Year R (Reception) places in Southampton from 2007 to 2016. The source of the data is Southampton City Council.

It shows that the number of places has increased by 46% during a decade.

How can school funding ever keep pace with this massive increase?

The Tories claim that they are putting in more money than ever. But it still isn't enough, because the number of pupils has increased so much.

Is it due to mass immigration?

Is it due to an increase in birth rates in our country?

Is it solely due to Eastern European immigration since 2004?

Labour failed to predict the numbers of migrants, failed to stem mass immigration, and then the Tories and Lib Dems also failed to deal with it. It's been going on for 13 years.

You can see in the graph that the number of "White British" pupils has increased, as well as those who are of "White Other" ethnicity.

If these figures from the Council are correct, it appears that the birth rate has increased overall and not just for Eastern European migrants. But the data could be inaccurate.

If it is accurate, you can see that the number of "White Other" pupils has increased by a massive 318%, whereas the number of "White British" pupils has increased by one-tenth of that, 27%. However, because the "White British" pupils are already a much larger group, there has still been a substantial increase of 432 pupils, whereas the increase of "White Other" has been fewer pupils, 296.

In any case, will Brexit mean that all of these children will leave the UK? It is unlikely. And people who are committed to our country should be able to stay.

A solution needs to be found. It is imperative that the constant and massive flow of new people into our country, so-called net migration, needs to be controlled and reduced. Our schools can't cope.

Labour's Wilted Rose

Andrew Pope, our candidate to be the next MP for Southampton Test, says:

"Immigration needs to be controlled if Southampton is going to get a grip on class sizes and the funding crisis. It isn't an opinion. It is a simple fact. 

All of this time, Alan Whitehead has been the Labour MP for Southampton Test. What has he done about it? Very little and if he has done anything, the schools are still struggling.

People tell us that it is time for Alan Whitehead to go. He has had plenty of opportunities to fix Southampton's schools. But he has flunked the examination over 20 years. Alan Whitehead even voted against Brexit. How is that going to fix our schools? 

The Tory candidate Paul Holmes says he was Cabinet Member for schools, back at the beginning of this decade. Did he fix the crisis? No. Where has he been since then? In London.

Please vote for me to replace Alan Whitehead and be your Southampton Independents MP. I will get to the bottom of the schools problems and fight effectively to sort them out."

We ask you to please Vote Andrew Pope Southampton Independents. He will listen to you. He will work for you. He will stand up for you on schools.

IT'S OFFICIAL! Andrew Pope is Our Southampton Test Candidate

Councillor Andrew Pope

It is now official! Southampton Independents Councillor Andrew Pope has been accepted by the Returning Officer as the official Southampton Independent candidate for the Southampton Test Constituency. 

Here is a brief biography:

Andrew Pope YOUR Southampton Independents Candidate for the 2017 General Election works for YOU. 

Andrew has helped thousands of people all over Southampton as a campaigner. He has been a Southampton City Councillor for 6 years. Andrew has worked in industry, government, defence technology, retail and insurance in the UK and in Australia, so knows how to get things done. He co-owns a small business. Andrew has two degrees in Computer Science and International Politics and a college diploma in IT so has learnt practical skills and how to solve many different problems in a wide range of scenarios.

How can Andrew help you, your family and your area?

On the day Theresa May hinted that the Tories will repeat the same promise on immigration that they have broken every year since 2010, Andrew said:

" I am delighted to have received confirmation that I am the official Southampton Independents candidate. 

Thank you to the residents of Shirley, Coxford, Maybush, Millbrook, Freemantle and Redbridge that nominated me.

Southampton Independents is a new local party registered this year that is about Southampton for the people of Southampton.

Local residents deserve better than Alan Whitehead, who has been the Labour MP for Southampton Test for 20 years.

Residents need to know that he did NOT vote to trigger Article 50, despite Southampton voting by majority to leave the EU.

We in Southampton Independents hear so much criticism of Mr Whitehead on the doorsteps in conversations with local residents. Residents have said that Mr Whitehead should retire.

The Tory candidate that has been chosen, Paul Holmes is a political careerist who last stood in Surrey. Mr Holmes has been parachuted in by the Tories like Labour parachuted London councillor Rowenna Davis into Southampton Itchen in 2015.

Southampton people were smart enough to realise that Davis was not local, and Ms Davis lost to the Tory candidate Royston Smith, who had lived and worked in Southampton for a lot longer than her.

Mr Holmes is a yes man to Theresa May.

And Theresa May knows that she faces opposition to her version of Brexit from Labour, which is split from top from bottom. Mrs May also knows that she faces opposition from MPs and councillors in her own party who want to block Brexit.

The Liberal Democrats also resist Brexit to try to save their party. And let's not forget, they betrayed the country in the Coalition with the Tories.

And UKIP are competing with Labour for the most incompetent national party.

Southampton Independents campaigned for Brexit because the people of Southampton asked us to.

Andrew standing up for Southampton residents in the Daily Echo

Councillor Andrew Pope speaking up for Southampton residents
on local BBC South Today

Southampton Independents listen to local people and fight for them on the issues that matter to them - not jumping to party political instruction from Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May, Tim Farron or Paul Nuttall.

I ask that Southampton people vote for the candidate who already listens to you, works for you and stands up for you.

I put it to you that the coverage on TV and regularly in the Echo shows me already standing up for Southampton on the issues that matter.

So I ask that you kindly lend me your vote at the 8th June General Election so that I can go to Westminster and do the same as your MP."