Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Best Wishes to....

Over breakfast this morning I've been reading the election leaflet which Penny Vingoe sent to my mother-in-law this week. She wants to be elected to represent my village of Berriew on Powys County Council. She is standing as a Liberal Democrat candidate. There are three Independent candidates as well, all good friends of mine. So Like Jimmy Carter, I will not be offering any specific public endorsement, or going beyond saying that I will be voting 'Independent'.

On Penny Vingoe's leaflet. there is a photograph of Mick Bates, local Lib Dem AM, of Richard White and Richard Noyce, two Lib Dem Council candidates in Newtown, William Powell, another Lib Dem Councillor from Radnorshire, and Jenny Randerson, another Lib Dem AM from Cardiff - quite an extensive galaxy of 'celebrity' endorsement. But strangely there is not the merest glimpse or mention of the local Member of Parliament. There was me, chewing on my muesli, thinking how unfair it was that my local MP was not receiving his due attention, when he appeared on the BBC's morning programme - the UK BBC that is. The reason being that he has 'let slip' to Hello magazine that he has just asked his girlfriend to marry him.

I'm trying to work out what this says about Penny Vingoe's view of her local MP, about the MP himself, and about the priorities of the BBC. I do want to extend the best wishes of this blog to the soon to be married MP and his girlfriend.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a Montgomeryshire constituent, back in January or Feb, I contacted Lembit Opik asking him to sign an Early Day Motion. Unfortunately I never got a reply. So I don't have the support or even something to explain my MPs stance.

This experience has totally put me off contacting him about another issue, which goes through the Commons in the next month. An issue I have serious concerns about.

Lembit could spend less time at celebrity antics, and more on the job he gets paid to do. Gabriela going to live in Newtown, will Cheeky Momma allow it? Is she moving too? Somehow the work of Dan Brown sounds more believable.

To show its not a bunch of total sour grapes, congrats to the couple. You truly deserve each other, and I hope you will be happy together.

Anonymous said...

Yes, they do rather deserve one another! And congrats to LO on his THIRD engagement. We note with interst that the wedding is due to take place in a couple of years time. Hmmm.............Now a cynic might put it down to a money making exercise with Hello. But that WOULD be cynical. As for the wedding in a few years, echoes of what he did with Sian Lloyd........Alison, you didn't get a reply from him. This I'm afriad is par for the course nowdays - let's face it, he has parties and premieres to attend in London. The thing I find unforgivable, is the fact he missed the Post Office vote. And hasn't even apologised to us the constituents about it.....

Anonymous said...

tell us more about the third engagement LO is a serial engager and like all libdems all promise and no delivery

Paul said...

Anon 1:39 - why should he appologies, if you read the County Times the week after you will see he was at a much more important meeting in Llandodd. To sugest the Lembit (and Master Bates) are not leading the fight to Save Post Offices in rural Wales is nonsence

Anonymous said...

To suggest that Lembit Grtope-it is doing anything for rural Wales is nonsense. Take a look at how he's been everywhere but Mid Wales in recent weeks and it becomes clearer and clearer that this celebrity addict couldn't give a damn about us up here. The one good thing coming from his car crash existence is that he'll be gone come the next election. Why the Liberals back him is beyond everyone in the area.....I have voted Liberal for over 40 years, but as long as this fool represents Mont, I shall refuse to do so. And I am one of many. Anon is absolutely spot on as regards the Post Office vote. He is there to represent us and not to turn up for that vote was criminal.

Glyn Davies said...

No response from me except to Paul - where I fundamentally disagree. The meeting in Llandrindod was for Post Office Ltd to outline its plans to councillors. This could have been done for MPs at any time - and there were several Liberal Democrat councoillors present anyway to make whatever point the MPs wanted made. Only MPs were the only ones who could vote at Westminster. Roger Williams excuses for missing the vote have been reprehensible in that he has been saying that David Cameron also missed the vote - despite knowing that David was commited to a serious family issue, and had arranged a 'pair'. To his credit Lembit hasn't done that.

And anon - the third engagement was to Samantha. When Lembit first came to Montgomeryshire in 1996, he was engaged to Sam, and she was his constant companion until sometime after the '97 General Election. I met her several times and she was a very pleasant young woman. I do not know if there were any engagements before he moved to Montgomeryshire.

Glyn Davies said...

Sorry anons, but I've had to reject several comments on this post. Better move on perhaps.

Anonymous said...

Better safe than sorry eh?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if he uses the same engagement ring?
Gabriella should take note from Sian Lloyd ,she constantly tried to pin him down on a wedding date.
But maybe the Cheeky one doesnt really want a wedding either.
The twice I have seen ger withhim,on the Apprentice and Mr and Mrs she didnt agree r seem to support him at all.In fact there was no sense of connection between them.She may be wiser than we think.
Mt Opik should be focusing on his job not his hobbies

Anonymous said...

I love the way Mr Opik turned up in Rome for the proposal with a photographer from Hello. This for one of th emost intimate moments of his life! If only we could get him to turn up for votes that have a huge bearing on rural Wales, like the Post Office one.....