With the General Election called, the question that each Huntingdon constituency elector should ask themselves is: Who do I want to represent me in Parliament? Now I'm a bit of a right winger. I don't like Brown and Labour. I want rid of this rotten government. What I cannot do is bring myself to vote for Jonathan Djanogly as the person whom I want to represent this constituency in Parliament.
Why do I feel this way?
Because Djanogly should be held to account by the electors of the Huntingdon constituency. Djanogly is quite happy to call for others to be transparent (example here), but when it comes to himself these rules seem to change with transparency becoming opaque. What do I mean by opaque? Well, I feel Djanogly tells us the information he allows us to know. I give a couple of examples below:
Where does Djanogly live? - He and his family do live in the constituency - at the weekend. They also live in London in an exclusive part of Westminster where his children go to school. His family lives in and around London. For much of the time, Djanogly worked as a Partner in SJ Berwin LLP. He and his wife, Rebecca, donated a seat at The Hampstead Theatre. Much of their lives are based in London. Other than being the MP how much of Djanogly's life is based in the Huntingdon constituency? Not much!
Is Djanogly a hard working MP? - Depends on what you mean by hard working! During much of the time he has been representing Huntingdon he was a working partner in SJ Berwin LLP. So much so that he was on the electoral roll for this firm in the City of London. Jonathan was a director on his wife's firm Canalside Studios Management Ltd based in Finchley, North London. Obviously, Jonathan is hard working. When it comes to Parliamentary/Constituency business much is undertaken by staff employed through Parliamentary Allowances in both Parliament and the Constituency. Djanogly also has an intern and has had solicitors seconded from SJ Berwin LLP. So much of the Parliamentary day-to-day business is completed by his staff.
What got my ire? - Normally, I would be voting for Djanogly. But his attitude to his expenses claims and the electors ability to hold him to account changed my voting intention. When Djanogly was caught out, his leader was urging his MPs to hold a public meeting. This Djanogly didn't do. Instead Djanogly held a meeting of the Conservative Association which wasn't open to the public.
The problem is the modern politician is expected to have the facade of being LOCAL. In Djanogly's case this facade hides a good family life in London.
What to do? - This is a defining election for Djanogly. When Djanogly wins the election on 6th May 2010 he will wipe the slate clean of his expenses scandal. The reason is the people have spoken and have re-elected him with the full knowledge of these claims and his actions afterwards. As a convention this has to be respected and I will. What I will do until the close of polls on 6th May is show up what I feel is wrong with having Djanogly as our MP and find an alternative to Djanogly.
The General Election will pass the Huntingdon Constituency by. The only real question for this constituency is:
Do you want Djanogly to represent this constituency? If the answer is YES, then vote for Djanogly. If the answer is NO then vote for an opponent. Originally I was voting UKIP.
But having seen Jonathan Salt's website I might change my mind!
