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Councillor Peter Hobbins bemoans 'pathetic' candidates and foreign names (From News Shopper)
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Councillor Peter Hobbins bemoans 'pathetic' candidates and foreign names
10:33am Friday 20th November 2009
A COUNCILLOR has been suspended from the Conservative Party after sending emails ranting that prospective parliamentary candidates do not have “normal" English names.
Councillor Peter Hobbins sent several emails in the early hours of yesterday morning (November 19) to fellow councillors and Orpington’s Tory association chairman lamenting the latest list of prospective parliamentary candidates.
The first email to Orpington Conservative Association chairman John Esler reads: “I have been contacted by a Mr Dilon Gumraj and a Zerha Zaidi and others who are all on the approved Conservative Parliamentary Candidates list.
“Not one of them has a ‘normal’ English name.
“They want to be the PPCs for Orpington and asked me for my personal advice on how they would be the best candidates for the Orpington Constituency. My view? For hells sake.
“Why are the Candidates Department so keen on these foreign names?!!!!
“The candidates department are simply rushing these names through.
“They have absolutely no idea about how Associations are organised and have ZERO experience of political campaigning.
“Their emails are PATHETIC.”
He goes on to say: “Maybe I should change my name to something foreign - how does Petrado Indiano Hobbinso sound to you?!”
'No room for racism'
Less than 40 minutes later a second email to John Esler and other Bromley councillors criticised the prospective candidates for asking him questions about how to plan a speech, tips on canvassing and what to do if they can’t answer a question.
Cllr Hobbins also says in the email that prospective candidates have asked him where Orpington is and how to get there.
The email then claims the questions are “ridiculous” before stating: “I really do not want to read another cv about Africa!”
Cllr Hobbins is ward councillor for Orpington and his emails - leaked to News Shopper - have led to the Conservative Party suspending him with a warning about racism.
A Tory spokesman said: “Councillor Hobbins has been immediately suspended from the Conservative Party and from the Conservative group on Bromley Council and he will play no part in the selection of the parliamentary candidate.
“There is no room for racism in the Conservative Party.”
Earlier this year, current Orpington MP John Horam announced he would not be standing at the next general election, paving the way for a new MP in the Tory stronghold.
News Shopper has attempted to contact Cllr Hobbins today (November 20) but were forced to leave several messages.
Management meeting
Mr Esler said the Orpington association would be holding a management meeting within the next few days and would be discussing Mr Hobbins’ emails.
He said: “He shouldn’t have sent them. They were inappropriate.
“I ignored most of it. I decided it was not worth the effort of reading.
“He definitely shouldn’t have sent them.”
Understood to be a politics teacher, Cllr Hobbins tried and failed to win the Rhondda constituency seat in Wales during the 2001 general election.
Duncan Borrowman is the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Old Bexley and Sidcup and was given a copy of the emails yesterday (November 19).
He said: “The question is will David Cameron now intervene? Will he have the guts to grab Cllr Hobbins by the ear and chuck him out of the Conservative Party?”
A special meeting of the association on December 11 will decide which Tory candidate will contest Orpington at the general election, expected next year.
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Your Say YourShopper
derekhope, Sidcup says...
2:57pm Fri 20 Nov 09
Virtual-Monster, London says...
3:06pm Fri 20 Nov 09
I thought Dave Cameron had rid his party of this type of evil, narrow minded thinking.
Looks like we don't just have to fear the BNP.
Beckenhamlady, beckenham says...
3:20pm Fri 20 Nov 09
JuliaM, Essex says...
3:22pm Fri 20 Nov 09
Cllr Hobbins also says in the email that prospective candidates have asked him where Orpington is and how to get there. "
Perhaps one might ask why such woefully ignorant candidates are on the approved Conservative Parliamentary Candidates list in the first place. It clearly isn't because of their keen intelligence, political acumen and sense of self reliance, is it?
Orp Boy, Orpington says...
4:10pm Fri 20 Nov 09
cliff hay, swanley says...
4:19pm Fri 20 Nov 09
JuliaM, Essex says...
5:29pm Fri 20 Nov 09
cliff hay wrote:Yes, everyone does have to learn. You are quite right there.
This is disgusting, on all counts, what is this man doing in the party himself (pack him off to join the BNP where he belongs) and how come they are down to prospective candidates (like the BNP) who don't know how to canvas, don't know where the place is and don't know how to answer questions - My word, everyone has to learn, and being honest about not knowing things at the front door is surely a good policy. Is it really so bad that the Tories are having to sink this low and are so desperate they have to have Racist bigots and people who don't know anything about politics. Can anyone just join up and stand now because they 'haven't got anyone else'. I thought the BNP hadn't got a chance but when the main parties are acting like this it's no small wonder that they are able to gain ground. Suspended, this man should be deported to AFRICA, see how he manages out there!
But these selected candidates can use email but can't locate the TfL website or GoogleMaps to find out where Orpington is? They'd prefer to be spoonfed?
What, exactly, qualifies them to be prospective candidates?
And I fail to see how Peter Hobbins could be 'deported back to Africa' when he didn't come from there in the first place!
Perhaps the candidates aren't the only ones that seemingly lack an education?
kevint1972, Beckenham says...
6:04pm Fri 20 Nov 09
And while it may seem racist to reject candidates based on their origins, Orpington is a white area and how would it be taken if a white candidate were forced on a black or muslim area? Wouldn't the people there be within their rights to prefer a candidate from their own community? Would you be so quick to cry racist?
madras, petts wood says...
7:05pm Fri 20 Nov 09
Orp Boy, Orpington says...
8:09pm Fri 20 Nov 09
kevint1972 wrote:Kevin couldnt agree with you more,
Whether he should have been quite so blunt is questionable but he's right to deplore the way parties' central offices force candidates on local areas. Politicians are supposed to represent their voters and their areas, not David Cameron or Gordon Brown. I would favour a law that says you have to live in an area for at least 5 years before you can represent it. Politics in this country is far too dominated by the major parties and too filled with career politicians. And while it may seem racist to reject candidates based on their origins, Orpington is a white area and how would it be taken if a white candidate were forced on a black or muslim area? Wouldn't the people there be within their rights to prefer a candidate from their own community? Would you be so quick to cry racist?
Peter Hobbins is in his right to ask how these people became seleceted, ( maybe he shouldnt have done it in an email ) all he is asking is how the candidates department has approved these people that know nothing about Orpington. He is concerned and asking why these particular names have been rushed through.
Assume one of these candidates did stand for Orpington , Some people may decide to vote different, So why should him airing his concerns be such a big issue
abmis, says...
12:42am Sat 21 Nov 09
Orp Boy, Orpington says...
10:41am Sat 21 Nov 09
•Councillor Helal Uddin Abbas
•Councillor A M Ohid Ahmed
•Councillor Rajib Ahmed
•Councillor Rofique Uddin Ahmed
•Councillor Anwara Ali
•Councillor Mohammed Shahid Ali
•Councillor Shahed Ali
•Councillor Abdul Asad
•Councillor Lutfa Begum
•Councillor Phil Briscoe
•Councillor Alibor Choudhury
•Councillor Fazlul Haque
•Councillor Shafiqul Haque
•Councillor Carli Harper-Penman
•Councillor Ahmed Hussain
•Councillor Sirajul Islam
•Councillor Waiseul Islam
•Councillor Azizur Rahman Khan
•Councillor Rania Khan
•Councillor Shiria Khatun
•Councillor Abdul Matin
•Councillor Abjol Miah
•Councillor Fozol Miah
•Councillor Harun Miah
•Councillor Mohammed Abdul Munim
•Councillor Ahmed Omer
•Councillor Joshua Peck
•Councillor Lutfur Rahman
•Councillor Oliur Rahman
•Councillor M. Mamun Rashid
•Councillor Muhammad Abdullah Salique
•Councillor Abdul Aziz Sardar
•Councillor Abdal Ullah
•Councillor Salim Ullah
•Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman
If when they got a list of the councillors and all of them were White English Sounding names and someone rasied the issue that the town is very hevily populated by musilms but white sounding names seemed to be being pushed through when they know nothing about the area, Would you all call him a racist for asking this or would you join him and ask why white names are being rushed through.
RedRevolver, Sydenham, Lewisham says...
12:12pm Sat 21 Nov 09
NB: That is meant in a negatively, not positively.
betty hills, swanley says...
12:48pm Sat 21 Nov 09
clive2, swanley says...
12:53pm Sat 21 Nov 09
MB, local says...
6:46am Sun 22 Nov 09
Cllr Hobbins was right to blow the whistle, but he obviously didn't choose his words very well. This shouldn't be about names, but about prospective MPs' fit with their to-be constituency.
Slonik, Bromley says...
10:26pm Sun 22 Nov 09
Orp Boy wrote:An excellent post which explains exactly why so many people don't bother to vote yet the obnoxious BNP are sadly getting more votes than ever! Ordinary decent people are fed up with these blatant double standards and what's fast becoming a form of endemic McCarthyism.
So if you look at Tower Hamelts that is a very heavily poulated musilm area and the Councilers are •Councillor Helal Uddin Abbas •Councillor A M Ohid Ahmed •Councillor Rajib Ahmed •Councillor Rofique Uddin Ahmed •Councillor Anwara Ali •Councillor Mohammed Shahid Ali •Councillor Shahed Ali •Councillor Abdul Asad •Councillor Lutfa Begum •Councillor Phil Briscoe •Councillor Alibor Choudhury •Councillor Fazlul Haque •Councillor Shafiqul Haque •Councillor Carli Harper-Penman •Councillor Ahmed Hussain •Councillor Sirajul Islam •Councillor Waiseul Islam •Councillor Azizur Rahman Khan •Councillor Rania Khan •Councillor Shiria Khatun •Councillor Abdul Matin •Councillor Abjol Miah •Councillor Fozol Miah •Councillor Harun Miah •Councillor Mohammed Abdul Munim •Councillor Ahmed Omer •Councillor Joshua Peck •Councillor Lutfur Rahman •Councillor Oliur Rahman •Councillor M. Mamun Rashid •Councillor Muhammad Abdullah Salique •Councillor Abdul Aziz Sardar •Councillor Abdal Ullah •Councillor Salim Ullah •Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman If when they got a list of the councillors and all of them were White English Sounding names and someone rasied the issue that the town is very hevily populated by musilms but white sounding names seemed to be being pushed through when they know nothing about the area, Would you all call him a racist for asking this or would you join him and ask why white names are being rushed through.
Excalibur, says...
7:54pm Thu 26 Nov 09
.and, dare I say it, so is David Cameron.
Peter Hobbins has rightly been slated by colleagues and the media for his act of stupidity. David Cameron has received no criticism for his act of stupidity, an act which is in fact a far greater act of stupidity than that of his Conservative Party colleague.
Affirmative action does not work. It was a fashionable fad in the late eighties and during the nineties and has since then been totally discredited everywhere it’s been applied. The catastrophic results of its failure are still evident today in many government organisations across the United Kingdom and United States of America.
Indeed, the current disastrous labour government are a prime example of its total failure – Jacqui Smith and Caroline Flint, promoted to top jobs solely due to their gender and yet totally inept and unsuited to the job they were handed on a platter. Predictably, failure, humiliation and the sack followed.
Yet ‘Disastrous’ Dave Cameron appears intent on proving that anything labour can do, he can do better! Imposing shortlists on constituencies won’t work and will only alienate grass root Conservatives and floating voters. In an MP, I look for a person who has knowledge on, and understanding of, local issues combined with common sense. Any person parachuted in by Conservative Central Office will not have the former and will, by virtue of the fact that they have allowed them to be put on an ‘Affirmative Action List’, have shown that they do not possess the latter either.
Time for a rethink, Dave. Don’t let Orpington become your Waterloo!
Juglans regia, Orpington says...
10:03pm Fri 27 Nov 09
I actually think that having an African MP would be appropriate, provided, of course, that he/she knew where Orpington was, and how to get here.
Lman83, Bromley says...
12:19pm Tue 1 Dec 09
Orpington councillor Peter Hobbins
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abmis, says...
11:09am Fri 20 Nov 09
Given the time when these were sent I wonder if the man was drunk and sending obnoxious emails. If not he seems to be just an old fashioned racist.
I have never been a tory but this is sinking to a low we haven't seen from in decades. Perhaps Cllr Hobbins will do the honest defect to the BNP if he hates all these foreign names so much that he writes people off on the basis of them.