THE REBELLION BEGINS! March 2, 2010

After a series of meetings during the last weekend in February we have agreed to endorse our first candidate for election to Bolton Council. NEVILLE MERCER, aged 56, of Oldhams Estate is to stand as an Independent in the ASTLEY BRIDGE ward, and will hopefully defeat the Conservative incumbent John Walsh who has featured several times on this website for all the wrong reasons.

Walsh, who is not a resident of Astley Bridge but was “parachuted” into the ward after losing his previous seat in Halliwell, is currently the leader of the Conservative group on the Council. Given his track record it is difficult to imagine a more fitting target for eviction from the “Big Brother House” known as the Bolton Council chamber.

Having said that, his prominence in the local Tory hierarchy will mean that the Conservatives will be pouring funds and volunteers into Astley Bridge to try and maintain his position. Both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats have repeatedly failed to defeat him, so it is essential that Mr Mercer receive your support, your assistance, and your vote on May the 6^th to remove this “carpet-bagger” from the Astley Bridge political landscape.

We are now eager to endorse more Independent candidates who agree with the basic principles of The People’s Rebellion and this website. None of these should prove to be a problem for those with a genuine commitment to local democracy.

We expect the candidates we endorse to be entirely non-racist in their outlook, to listen to the residents in their area, to hold regular public meetings to gauge the opinions of those residents, and to follow the instructions of their constituents when voting in the Council chamber.

If you want to stand for election as a councillor in any ward other than Astley Bridge (only one seat is available in each ward at this year’s election) please get in touch so that we can organise a meeting and get things underway. Time is running out to make your mind up as nominations have to be filed at the Town Hall between March the 29^th and 12 noon on April the 8^th.

Fortunately it is surprisingly easy to throw your hat in the ring. The nomination forms can be obtained by ringing the Elections Manager, Mr Steven Blyth, on 01204 331247. After that all you need is 10 supporters who are registered to vote in the ward where you want to stand. Isn’t it strange that they don’t publicise this to encourage people to run? Well, given the present councillors’ attitude to the public, probably not!

Over the next three weeks the website team will be adding a series of features to the “Fight Back” section, suggesting tactics and strategies which could help to defeat the sitting candidates from the three main political parties. Remember that voter turnout in local elections has traditionally been very low (and membership in political parties even lower), so the name of the game is letting people know that they have a real choice for the first time in years.

If you live in Astley Bridge ward please lend your wholehearted support to Neville Mercer’s campaign. He can be reached via email (neville.mercer@ntlworld.com) or by telephone (07866 871859 between 12 noon and 7pm each day) and will be delighted to hear from you.

If you live elsewhere in Bolton why not make this the year when you get involved in making things better? We deserve councillors who will listen to the people and then do as they are told BY the people, not the present bunch of over-paid and under-performing political party apparatchiks!

“Spartacus Bloggs”

On behalf of

The People’s Rebellion