A story reaches me about the small business hustings at the General Election.
A questioner asked whether the General Election candidates lived in the Ipswich Constituency. Chris Mole answered that he had been around for thirty years. Ben Gummer said that he was living in the constituency and had been in Suffolk all his life. Mark Dyson (who’s now left the scene) came out with some waffle about Battersea being like Bristol being like Ipswich.
An interesting question, and I wasn’t at the hustings so it wasn’t my particular obsession coming out again. Or was it?
The questioner was Susan Smart, who runs a successful design agency Double S Designs. She’s probably better known to readers as Mrs Philip Smart, the wife of the youngest mayor of Ipswich, Labour transport spokesman, former chairman of Ipswich Buses and proud resident of Holywells Ward. Oh, and a councillor for Bridge Ward, I suppose he needs a platform and Bridge was as good a safe seat as any when he started.
So is this a guilty conscience, or a nagging fear?
Whoever the Conservative candidate for Bridge is at the next borough election I’m going to move heaven and earth to make sure he or she lives in the ward. Can Labour promise the same?
As it’s Philip Smart’s turn to be up for re-election, that will be an interesting question.
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