Viewpoint: Free parking and election candidates' local credentials

Free parking needed to bring people to town

I was appalled when I read the article on the front page of last week’s Advertiser (June 7) that the Auditors for the council are suggesting that parking fees should be raised and all free parking done away with altogether.

I have always advocated that ALL parking in the town should be FREE, we should be encouraging people to come into the town, not discouraging them.

Free parking also ensures that side roads do not get clogged up with cars when people are trying to avoid parking charges.

Maidenhead already does not have as much to offer as it used to in the way of shops, let's not push people away even more.

Let's compensate for the lack of revenue from parking charges out of the rates.

It is surely better to increase the rates slightly and thereby encourage people into the town.

Mrs V N BLANEY

Lightlands Lane

Cookham

Election and the value of lived experience

As a floating voter, am I the only Maidonian very disappointed that the Conservatives appear to be ‘parachuting-in’ an ex-Twickenham MP to stand for our town in the General Election on July 4, 2024?

Was it really the case that no aspiring local ‘long-residency' person (or ex-councillor) wanted to give it a go for the Tories?

No matter what their worthy skills are, what will a recent ‘blow-in’ really understand about our place and its history?

I worry that our Parliament may become less representative of the people it should serve if locale is not well appreciated.

The candidates offered by the Liberal Democrats, The Labour Party, The Green Party and the Social Democratic Party are all long-standing residents from around here.

At least like Theresa May, their connection to our area and their lived experience of our communities is clear.

CLIVE BOWMAN

Fielding Road

Maidenhead

Twickenham address and local credentials

If residents feel it is important for them to vote for a local candidate as their new MP for the Maidenhead constituency on July 4, they may be interested to know that in the confirmed candidates list available on the RBWM website, the Conservative candidate, Dr Tania Mathias, has stated that her address is ‘in the Twickenham constituency’.

Having ‘relocated’ to accommodation in Maidenhead (Cox Green) a few weeks ago, her connection to the constituency appears to be her childhood visits to her grandfather in Cookham, where she learnt to swim in the Thames.

Residents will use their own judgement to assess her local credentials, but this contrasts with both the Lib Dem and Labour candidates who have lived in Maidenhead for over 20 years having gained a wide and long-standing knowledge of the area during that time.

SALLY HALFACRE

Moneyrow Green

Seven set to stand but is it a two-horse race?

Having seen the list of candidates who are running in the General Election here in Maidenhead, I was intrigued – seven names of people, five with political parties, two without, and one of them is going to be our next MP.

I studied the voting history in Maidenhead, how many votes each of the parties gained at each general and local election, and I have come to the conclusion that there are only two candidates that could actually win – Joshua Reynolds from the Liberal Democrats and Tania Mathias from the Conservative party.

The other candidates made up of the SDP, Green Party, Labour and both of the independents should be commended for putting down their £500 deposit and running in the election.

But it’s clear that none of them can win. I say this for the following reasons:

• Polling by YouGov & Electoral Calculus shows the Lib Dems only a few points behind the Tories
• The Lib Dems have finished second to the Conservatives in all General Elections in Maidenhead apart from two
• Lib Dems run the council, with the Tories in position. Labour has no councillors.

The choice between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives is an interesting one.

Joshua Reynolds is known to us in Maidenhead having been a councillor for Furze Platt for the past few years, and is regularly featured in the Advertiser in photos of new projects and schemes.

Whereas Tania Mathias isn’t very well known to us at all, having declared a few weeks ago in the paper she has moved to Cox Green but as it shows on the ‘statement of persons nominated’ published by RBWM her home address is in Twickenham.

Tania does have more experience than Joshua does, having been the MP for Twickenham between 2015-2017 – however, I worry about her local knowledge and her passion for the area.

According to his leaflets, Joshua has lived in Maidenhead all of his life, attended local schools, worked at a shop in town during his A-levels and is passionate about Maidenhead.

I think my vote is going to go to the Lib Dems in this election, they work hard locally delivering informative leaflets about the town all year round.

Their candidate cares about the area, and it’s clear that they are the only ones who can beat the Conservatives.

DOUGLAS WATTS

Maidenhead

Political debate should be civil and respectful

This is a non-party political letter which I hope readers will understand is important.

It’s about doing politics the right way and what I mean by that is following the Jo Cox Foundation’s work on civility in politics.

Even just this week I have been subject to what appears to be misogynistic comments.

I hope fellow Parliamentary candidates in Maidenhead have not had similar experiences but if they have I categorically condemn this and I hope they would reach out to me if they think I can help or assist in any investigations resulting thereof.

I have signed up to the 2024 General Election Civility Pledge which has been set up by the Jo Cox Foundation and Compassion in Politics.

I urge all election candidates – if they have not already signed up – to do so.

Our democracy is precious.

Personal attacks and personal intimidation should never be part of free democracy.

Online abuse, throwing liquids – whether a milkshake or other substance – should never be tolerated.

Our tradition in this country is for debate, civil debate.

I thank each and every person who has come up to me, shared their opinions and engaged with me in a respectful way.

I welcome this and look forward to many more such conversations.

All those people are in the majority.

But nevertheless I am asking us all to call out the minority of people who mistakenly believe politics can be a place for abuse or violence.

The anniversary of Jo Cox’s murder is this month.

We belonged to different political parties but we both shared a passion for good debate and sharing ideas. Her legacy at least lives on.

My wish, over the next few weeks, is for Maidenhead to experience respectful and safe politics.

Dr TANIA MATHIAS

Conservative candidate for Maidenhead

Promise to campaign for democratic reform

One day, at the tender age of 10, I heard a knock at the door and saw the famous leopard-skin shoes of my local MP and the then-Home Secretary, Theresa May, on the drive.

Theresa was polite and – respect to her – willing to engage seriously with a young person’s views.

But though I was frustrated with the representational distortions of our two-party first-past-the-post electoral system, childish reverence to authority denied me a full debate with her on the pros and cons of reform.Surely the foremost benefit of the constituency-based model is that the winner should represent their constituents as a duty?

And surely the main benefit of a party system is to allow pollers to express their ideological inclinations, the general direction they wish the country to take?

Unfortunately, under our current mishmash of a set-up, the two are often brought into conflict, to the extent that it is easy to question how representative our democracy really is.

Though I feel we should re-democratise our bicameral system, I stand neither for ideology nor narrow single-issue politics.

Rather, my promise is to represent constituents not only nominally but practically and in so doing advocate nationally for representational democratic reform. #wrightformaidenhead

GEORGE WRIGHT

Independent candidate for Maidenhead

An excellent idea – but not with smart phones

Just when I thought common sense was going to prevail (silly me) with the campaign to ban smart phones for under sixteens, along comes Street Tag to seduce RBWM to team up with them to offer a treasure hunt using smart phones involving under sixteens among others (‘Pupils go on a treasure hunt’, June. 7)

The picture alongside Anaka Nair's article confirms the age group in question.

A walking treasure hunt to become more familiar with the town in which the children live is an excellent idea but not using smart phones!

DIANE HAYES

Hearne Drive

Holyport

No point comparing apples with oranges

Mr Mervyn Buston responded to my previous letter (Viewpoint, May 31) by quoting increases in the prices of various goods and services, eg energy, confectionery etc.

These are spurious comparisons as I was reviewing the prices of newspapers vis-a-vis the Advertiser.

So I was comparing apples with apples.

If you want an apples with oranges comparison, I would point to the costs of household and consumer electronics, eg colour TVs, airline flights and many other items and services, which have come down in price significantly over the period.

SAL PINTO

Pinkneys Road

Maidenhead