Ten Reasons to vote for Mike Freer

Earlier this week I posted  ablog highlighting the appalling level of support which local Tory Councillors were giving the general election campaigns of Mike Freer and Matthew Offord.  One of the best of the new intake of Tories took what I said to heart and admitted I had made a valid point. Gabriel Rozenberg who is a Hampstead Garden suburb Tory has impressed me with his willingness to engage in open and sensible debate and to not always simply appear to be a "yes man". I predict he will go on to better things in politics. He certainly seems the most intellgent of the current crop of Barnet Tory Councillors. He also is reasonably robust and doesn't throw his toys out of the pram, even when being cruelly wound up. This is almost a unique charictaristic in the Barnet Tories and one which sets apart the real prospects from the overblown egomaniacs.

Anyway, Gabriel (much to my surprise, if I am honest), posted a tweet saying he agreed with me. He then tweeted ten reasons why he believes Finchley and Golders Green residents should support Mike Freer, the Tory Candidate.

Here are his tweets agreeing with me.

Gabriel Rozenberg @rozgab  ·  Apr 20

I admit it: @Barneteye makes a reasonable point. I haven't been exactly noisy on Twitter recently on behalf of my beloved @Conservatives.

Gabriel Rozenberg @rozgab  ·  Apr 20

So, I thought I would share with the Twitterverse my own Top Ten Reasons why I will be voting for @Freer4FGG on May 7th. #MikeForFinchley

  

Gabriel then tweeted his top ten reasons. As Gabriel had done me the rare honour of a Tory admitting I was right, I thought I'd repay the honour by giving my take on his reasons. For each of them I will give Mike a mark out of ten. So if Gabriel has ten unarguable reasons, Mike will get 100%. If he gives ten completely silly reasons, he will get zero. Of course none of this really matters as it is merely my opinion of Gab's opinion of Mike

1) Gay marriage. Coalition's great social justice win. Mike fought for it, convinced waverers, earned respect on all sides.

Well I was pretty impressed with Mike's speech in Parliament. I was tempted to give Mike 10/10 for this one. However on analysis I will knock him down to 8/10 (still a decent mark). The reason being that there is one big blot on the story. Gabs completely forgot to mention that Mike had completely failed to convince his friend and former deputy at Barnet, Matthew Offord, who is an implacable of opponenent same sex marriage. Not Mike's fault but I felt Gabs post was deficient in implying universal agreement.  - 8/10

2) No MP works as hard as Mike for his constituents. He is on it 24/7. Super fast and helpful replies to residents' emails. 

Sadly this is a big whopper. It is true that Mike worked hard for the Gaddafi family when pro democracy activists squatted in their vacant properties. As someone who has been involved in several popular local campaignsin FGG constituency, the truth is Mike gave his constituents no help and support at all. The CPZ campaign which got CPZ charges overturned in the High Court had no support from Mike. The Save Friern Library had no support from Mike.  The campaign to stop the abolition of pay and display cash parking got no support from Mike (even though he's now admitted the council and Brian Coleman were wrong). I am very sorry to say I have to give Mike 0/10 on this as simply supporting rich and powerful friends is no use at all. Now I am sure Mike has helped some people, but I've seen no evidence of it. 0 /10

3) Henlys Corner. Once a death trap, now transformed. Prosaic but crucial. Mike's legacy to Barnet as Council Leader.

Given that this achievement was not actually anything to do with Mike's role as being an MP, I was tempted to give another zero. It struck me as Gabriel really scraping the barrel. However it was improved, so I will give him 4/10.

4) Mike knows F&GG inside out. He was first elected to the council for Finchley in *1990*. And yes, he actually lives here.

Again not exactly a great reason to vote for someone. Is that really the best reason. I would vote for the person who did the best job whether they lived next door or in a Soho brothel. As to Mike knowing the area inside out, if this was true he'd have supported the CPZ campaign, which was largely run by natural Tories appalled at a huge injustice.  Sorry Gabs, got to be a big fat zero as an excuse to vote for Mike 0/10

5) He resigned his front-bench role on a point of principle.

This is a hard one for me to mark. It is clear that Mike resigned because he knew that to carry on could damage his electoral campaign, in a tight race. Having said that, he was elected to represent his constituents, and in this instance he clearly was. So I think 7/10 is fair. 7/10

6) This very personal and incredibly brave speech. youtu.be/mKUpNj4ukRE

Oh dear, Gabs has started to run out of steam and as started recycling reasons to vote for Mike. Back to his support for Same Sex Marriage. Having given Mike 8/10 for the first occurrance in the list, to give him any more for the same reason would be highly silly. So sorry Gabs, this is 0/10 for being cheeky and not even managing 10 different reasons. 0/10

7) Local priorities: campaigning for a breast screening unit at Finchley M; free schools; and against Labour's Mansion Tax

Ok, so totally agree with the Breast screening unit as an example of a good reason. If Mike had opposed the bedroom tax, which attacks poor people on benefits I may have scored him higher, but he only really seems to care for the well off, so 5/10

8) Mike fights against racism and intolerance. He stands up for the many minority communities who make their home in F&GG

Now it is clear Mike stands up against intolerance, as a long time supporter of LGBT rights (although this is the third time this particular chestnut has been recylced). Not quite so sure I've seen any evidence of leading campaigns against racism locally. He has a decent record on anti semitism, so I will be generous and give him (it would have been higher if Gabs hadnt yet again snuck in the same sex marriage argument by stealth) 5/10

9) Mike lives in the real world. He's worked his way up: Pizza Hut, Barclays Bank, House of Commons. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Freer#Early_life 

If Gabs truly thinks that having had a job in Pizza hut and a bank is a reason to vote for someone, he's off his rocker. He's clearly run out of puff and is floundering 0/10

10) A vote for @Freer4FGG is a vote for the Conservatives: growth, progress & job creation. Don't let Labour-SNP wreck it. 

Gabs has given up. Reason no 10 is not a reason to vote for Mike at all. It is an imploration to vote for the Tories and if Fred Flintstone  was the candidate this would be the same. Gabriel knows Mike well, but clearly cannot find ten good reasons to why anyone should vote for Mike the person, rather than Mike the Candidate. A rather poor reflection oin him 0/10

All in all 29/100. My guess is that there are plenty who would give Mike 100/100 in Finchley and Golders Green and vote for him without hesitation. Sadly it is clear that this only because he has a blue rosette and even his close friends and allies struggle to find five good reasons, let alone ten.