James Wharton MP

Last night I attended the annual general meeting of Stockton Conservatives. It was well attended and I was particularly pleased to see a large number of younger members who are keen to start a new Conservative Future (CF) branch.

The local Party has not been in such good health for a long time and it bodes well for our campaign whenever a general election is called.

I met the manager of Thornaby Town Centre today to discuss a number of concerns on behalf of residents.  There are still some teething problems and hopefully by working together we will be able to resolve the more serious issues shortly.

Last night I took part in a Schools’ Question Time event at SRC Bede Sixth Form in Billingham.  I was hugely impressed by the work that the students had put into the evening, which ran smoothly apart from some rather challenging questions!  I was joined on the pannel by a mix of people, including Suzanne Fletcher, a local Liberal Democrat Councillor.  True to form Suzanne and I managed to disagree on most things, but in a friendly way.  Afterwards all the panelists agreed that it was a superbly well run event, the only criticism being that we were perhaps not mean enough to one another when answering the questions!  I wish the college the best of luck with winning the competition, they have certainly set the bar high for their competitors.

The Gazette have covered Theresa’s visit to Five Lamps last week:

http://ts17.gazettelive.co.uk/2009/03/minister-backs-five-lampss-work.html

I met Simon Mortf or coffee in Darlington,  hi is one of the candidates standing for Chairman of the National Convention (the body representing volunteers in the Conservative Party and on the Party Board).  I have known Simon for years and it is great to see so many good quality people putting themselves forward for election within the Party.