UKIP takes its first ever seat on Thurrock Council (From Thurrock Gazette)
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UKIP takes its first ever seat on Thurrock Council
11:09am Friday 4th May 2012 in News
Robert Ray.
AVELEY and Uplands has elected Thurrock’s first ever UKIP councillor.
Robert Ray took the seat for the UK Independence Party with a majority of 47, ousting the Conservatives.
Mr Ray said: "I'm pleased, we had put a lot of hard work in.
"The previous candidate put in a lot of the ground work in the last campaign and built us a base.”
Mr Ray aknowledged the recent People’s Pledge vote, in which more than 13,000 residents in Thurrock were in favour of a referendum on the UK’s EU membership, helped his campaign gain momentum.
He said: "It's clear there are concerns towards Europe.
“The big parties deride the Europe vote, but Europe does count.
"I didn't really use the People's Pledge result in my campaign.
“The results just showed what was generally known everywhere, but we knew that there was a momentum that we could build on."
Comments(3)
P Church
says...
7:53pm Fri 4 May 12
I've seen no manifesto for him, he talks only about Europe and People's Pledge and nothing's been put through my door and I only live up the road from him! So where has this "hard work campaign" been as I've seen none.
So far, disappointed!
Dave_
says...
10:25am Sat 5 May 12
As for local issues he's one of your local democratically elected representatives, ensure that he and the others fight the local corner.
How can you be disappointed less than 12 hrs after being confirmed as a councillor? He doesn't look like a fairy godmother so unlikely to have a wand to make it all better for you straight away.
Marcus P says...
1:31pm Fri 4 May 12