Politics, King’s Lynn Festival and football
It’s independent councillor Jo Rust’s turn to write our weekly Friday Politics column…
Well, what a few weeks it’s been and, what a change our country has seen. Both of last week’s political commentators wrote about the low number of votes that had managed to secure such a huge majority of seats in Westminster. Neither was too pleased, but that is the democratic process.
I would question how our MP, who retained his seat despite the majority of those who voted in North West Norfolk voting against him (28,469 v 16,097) feels justified in commenting on the state of play. I would also like to point out that although the Reform Party pushed the Lib Dems into fourth position, it doesn’t necessarily demonstrate a rise in the far-right element.
Back in 2015 when UKIP stood, they gained 8,416 votes compared to Reform’s 8,697 in 2024. That number hasn’t increased dramatically despite a boundary change meaning areas of South West Norfolk have now moved into this constituency.
There is always an element of our society who have overriding concerns about immigration that they believe only a far right party can change, but they haven’t increased as much as that last vote may make one think. Particularly as in the past two elections no far right candidate stood at all.
I expect there are many people who are tired of politics, I’m just not one of them! Politics is a part of every single aspect of our lives, whether we can see it obviously or not. Many of the stresses and mental health challenges that more and more people are suffering from today are caused by years of political decisions which impact on the daily lives of many people in our communities.
If you’ve been worried about rising utility costs, increased food bills, a lack of affordable childcare, rents that are out of reach, combined with a lack of social housing, these worries have been caused by political decisions. We all remain concerned about the state of our QEH. I’m glad that James Wild wrote to Wes Streeting about it in the same way that I did. I first wrote to the, then, Shadow Health Minister back in June 2022 and was pleased to get a prompt response from him.
So I knew he was already well aware of the situation with our local hospital and I was reassured to hear, prior to the election, that the now ruling party, had committed to prioritising the RAAC hospitals for rebuilding. I look forward to the prompt release of funding to enable the Hospital Trust to make a start on this.
Focussing on our local political landscape, I think there is much that we can look forward to with ambition and enthusiasm, most of which has little to do with what’s happening at central government. Perhaps that’s why I am more sanguine about things than I might have been otherwise. Not least because Terry Jermy has taken South West Norfolk from the former PM, Liz Truss. It was a privilege to have been there and seen the occasion, although it would have been far more enjoyable had all those present not been kept waiting for so long.
On Sunday I went from Festival to football, although I started off with the junior parkrun at 9am. It was my first ever parkrun and despite the fact it was “just” 2km and I was running (following, or even trailing) behind my granddaughter, I loved it.
Jemima loved it too and got a PB of 16 minutes. Events like this, which run all over the country, give young people the chance to try a physical activity, at no cost, and see how they like it. Jemima is a bit of a park run veteran as she runs in Norwich. But her first run was at mini GEAR in Lynn which really gave her the running bug. Her little brother can’t wait to be able to join her.
Both Jemima and I can’t thank all the volunteers enough. I like to showcase our town, especially to those who live in or around Norwich and think that the city is the main focus of the culture and events offer. We know that Lynn has been judged to be one of the most stylish places to live in Furnitureboxe’s list. We’ve not just got two medieval Guildhalls and market places, but have more Graded buildings than York.
We have 481 Listed Buildings Grades l, ll, & lll. And our culture offer is excellent. Hence me and my husband being in the Minster on the Saturday Market Place on Sunday (with the grandchildren of course) to celebrate the moving on from our amazing Festival Too offer, to Festival.
After a lovely service and returning the grandchildren to their parents, we waited for the football with bated breath… but remember, it was brought home a couple of years ago, by the Lionesses. Still, I share the disappointment that we didn’t get it over the line, but have pride that the team took it right to the end. Well done England.
