Local Conservatives are treating St Ives voters as fools

Local Conservatives? You'd be hard pressed to find any on the St Ives Town Council election ballot papers for Thursday 3 May 2018. That's because most of them don't have the courage to stand under the Conservative banner. St Ives Town Council has been successfully run by independent candidates ever since the local Tories attempted to sell off the much-loved Corn Exchange. At election time these independents come together under the banner of 'Independent for St Ives' to get their message across. At all other times they follow their individual consciences. Their strap line is 'Town not Party', indicating that unlike political candidates, they don't have to toe a party line.

Attempting to deceive St Ives voters in the Town Council election, all but two of the local Conservatives are also standing as 'Independent for St Ives'. Make no mistake, there's nothing independent about them. They even acted like sheep when completing their nomination papers to stand as candidates. Just filling in personal details such as name and address, the rest of the forms were finished off by Ryan Fuller.

That's Ryan Fuller, Independent for St Ives candidate for St Ives Town Council, Conservative District Councillor, deputy chairman of the local Conservative constituency association and parliamentary researcher for local Tory MP Jonathan Djanogly. It appears Fuller is the 'brains' behind the deception, if 'brains' can be applied to someone standing as an independent in the St Ives Town Council election whilst their name is plastered around the town under the blue Conservative banner for the District Council election. It is believed at least one candidate wasn't aware they would be standing as Independent for St Ives and was most unhappy when they found out.

The deception goes even further. A number of the Conservatives are standing on the condition they will NOT be elected. A waste of time and public resources? Not in local Conservatives' eyes. These 'paper' nominations sow more confusion for St Ives voters and dilute votes for true Independent for St Ives candidates.

Even 'honest' Conservatives standing for election (i.e. the two standing as Conservative in the St Ives Town Council election, and those standing as Conservative in the District Council election) are not innocent. John Davies, Jason Ablewhite and Angie Dickinson were all involved in proposing or seconding the candidates attempting to deceive.

And in this week's Hunts Post letter page Angela Bush sunk to new depths by claiming she is not a Conservative supporter and is standing as a truly independent candidate. Unfortunately not independent enough to fill in her own nomination form. It's one of those where she's filled in her personal details, the rest being completed by Ryan Fuller. Fuller also witnessed the nomination and proposed Bush. She was seconded by John Davies, one of the few brave enough to stand as a Conservative for both St Ives Town Council and District Council elections.

How toxic can the Conservative brand become? Maybe it's time to teach the local Conservatives to stop treating St Ives voters as fools. It's easy to avoid voting for them in the District Council election. Just don't put a cross against anyone that describes themselves as Conservative. They are John Davies, Jason Ablewhite, Angie Dickinson, Richard Bellamy and Ryan Fuller.

But they've made it much harder in the St Ives Town Council election to vote for what you want. Take the Independent for St Ives leaflet posted through your letterbox with you when voting to ensure you put a cross against the right candidates. Or print out the two lists below showing who are truly standing as Independent for St Ives candidates, and who should be avoided at all costs.

True Independent for St Ives candidates	Conservatives attempting to deceive voters
AYERS-WILSON, Angela DIBBEN, Nick DRYE, Tim D'SOUZA, Rianna HUSSAIN, Paco KING, Margaret KUCH, Roger Nicholas LUTER, Brian Cecil PALLANT, Jonathan Graham PEGORARO, Carla POPE, Philip ROWE, Daniel John SETCHELL, Mathew Craig TIDDY, John VALERO-SANCHEZ, Irene WESTRIP, Ron	AHMED, Mokbul BELLAMY, Richard Ernest BUSH, Angela Elizabeth CAMPBELL, Susan Margaret COOK, Patricia DAVIES, Lynn Margaret FULLER, Ryan HEWITT, Kathleen Avis HEWITT, Peter John LACE, David John Granville MOKBUL, Shariqa SMITH, Craig Thomas