James Wharton MP

I spent all day in the office in Stockton, meeting residents for surgeries and representatives of various local organisation, including the Homes and Communities Agency, Fire Brigade and Royal College of Nursing.

In the evening I took part in a debate at Durham University, speaking against the adoption of the Alternative Vote system.  I am pleased to say that students decided AV was not a good change for the UK and voted the right way in the end, let’s hope the same thing happens in May next year!

When I got back up from London this afternoon I went straight over to BBC Tees for an interview about the new Teesside Local Enterprise Partnership.  This great news for our local area puts us ahead of the game in bidding for the £1.4Bn Regional Growth fund and the payoff for hard work put in by local people across government and business in this area.

This morning I attended a meeting of the Bader and Bassleton Residents Association at the Griffin Pub in Thornaby.  We discussed a range of issues including the future of Thornaby Town Hall, people feel very strongly that it should remain in public hands and it looks like Stockton Council will have a battle on its hands as it pushes ahead with plans to sell.

First thing this morning I attended a  meeting senior offices at Stockton Council to discuss a range of issues.  This was followed by a visit to the Public Lending Right (in Thornaby) and a meeting with Northern Film and Media.  In the afternoon I held a surgery in Thornaby library, meeting a number of residents who raised a range of issues.  In the evening I was guest speaker at the annual dinner of South Tees Conservatives in Saltburn.

I attended the riding of Yarm fair, a tradition dating back many hundreds of years.  Afterwards I went along to lunch with a number of local councillors, representatives of the Showman’s Guild and other invited guests.