28th April 2010

General Election News 2010

by Harry Walton

SIX candidates will compete against each other in the May 6th general election for the right to be South Dorset’s MP.

Leading the candidates will be Jim Knight who is defending the seat he won for Labour in 2001.

Among other parties with candidates are the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the United Kingdom Independence Party and the Movement for Active Democracy which is also referred to as the Go MAD And Vote For Yourself Party.

Voting ends at 10pm on May 6th after which votes will be counted and the result announced at Weymouth Pavilion Ocean Room.

The following are candidates for the South Dorset general election seat.

Jim Knight - Labour

LABOUR candidate Jim Knight is married with two children and has been MP for South Dorset since 2001.

He is Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions, he attends meetings of the Cabinet and is also Minister for the South West.

He has also been Minister of State for Schools and Minister for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity.

Other work has involved the digital transformation of public services, the Department of Health, the Defence Select Committee, leisure, minerals, fire safety and the World Heritage Coast Trust.

His special interests include foreign policy, defence, international development, rural affairs, arts and sport.

Mr Knight, who has a BA honours degree from Cambridge University, also runs a consultation panel of constituents who he talks to about policy issues as they arise.

Richard Drax - Conservative

CONSERVATIVE candidate Richard Drax was a soldier for nine years and a journalist for 17 years, ten of them with the BBC, before pursuing a political career.

He lives in Dorset with his wife and four children and their cocker spaniel, Aston.

His favourite mode of transport is the trail bike which he says is especially useful in beating South Dorset’s congestion particularly during the tourism season.

He is patron of a mental health charity and helps several other charities and has established a Kids to Farm project where children from local schools spend a day on his farm. It has proved a huge hit with hundreds of youngsters and their teachers.

Mr Drax said: “There’s so much to learn about the countryside and where our food comes from and the more we educate the better for us all.”

Ros Kayes - Liberal Democrats

LIBERAL Democrat candidate Ros Kayes is a secondary school teacher and lecturer, a psychotherapist and cognitive behavioural therapist who is married with two children.

She has a BA honours degree in English literature and language from Oxford and an MA from Essex and she trained to teach at London University Institute of Education

Dorset has been her home for 16 years and she is deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats at West Dorset District Council where her interests include economic regeneration and affordable housing.

Among her many other interests is successful work as a singer-song writer and she really enjoys playing in local pubs and clubs.

She is also a keen football fan who supports Birmingham City while she also used to play herself as a member of Crystal Palace women’s team.

Brian Heatley - Green Party

GREEN Party candidate Brian Heatley, who lives in Weymouth, is a former senior civil servant who worked in government departments responsible for trade, industry and employment.

He is treasurer of Weymouth and Portland Transition Towns and from 2004-2009 was a member of the Green Party national executive responsible for policy, being the main author of their 2009 Euro election manifesto.

He is keenly interested in economics and he said: “My particular mission in the Green Party has been to develop realistic costed policies that add up to a coherent whole and build the reputation of the Party as being more realistic and down to earth on economic issues than other parties.”

He has a Masters degree in Maths and History and his interests include cooking, keeping fit, growing vegetables and walking his dog.

Mike Hobson - UK Independence Party

UNITED Kingdom Independence Party candidate Mike Hobson lives at Worth Matravers and was educated at Fair Oak Secondary Modern School in Hampshire.

He served an apprenticeship for plumbing and heating before completing two years national service with the Royal Air Force.

He married and decided to start his own plumbing and heating business, but he also found time to tackle the job of building his own home.

Running his business occupied him for more than 50 years and he still works at the age of 75, building homes in Southampton.

He has three children and his varied interests include his family, swimming and doing landscape work in his garden.

Mr Hobson is a former Swanage UKIP chairman and he has also been Worshipful Master of two freemasonry lodges in Southampton.

Andy Kirkwood - Movement for Active Democracy

THE Movement for Active Democracy (MAD) is represented by Andy Kirkwood who registered for the South Dorset election as the candidate for Go MAD and Vote For Yourself.

He has lived at Swanage for ten years where he has an 18-hole pitch and putt course at Kirkwood Park.

Mr Kirkwood said: “Previously I qualified as an electronics engineer and worked in the computer industry in Reading before taking a few years out to travel the world.

“I love to sail, surf and walk the fantastic Dorset countryside.

“In between, my passion is quaffing too much real ale when vigorous environmental and political debates normally follow.”