It’s been a difficult year for everyone, but the future is bright, and the Cleethorpes Conservative Association hopes to soon resume face-to-face meetings and events following the easing of lockdown restrictions and the successful vaccination roll-out.
At the association’s recent AGM, chairman David Hornby, giving his annual report, said: “The priority has been to ensure that everyone is staying safe and healthy, but by doing so we have unfortunately been missing our face-to-face meetings and social gatherings.
“In the coming year, we hope to be able to organise some face-to-face events rather than being in the virtual world.”
These opening comments were echoed by Alderman Peter Mills, the association’s president, who thanked members for their continued support and said he is looking forward to meeting in person in happier and more settled times.
Mr Hornby outlined the success of live virtual Q&As with MPs Martin Vickers and Lia Nici. He then went on to give a special vote of thanks to Councillor John Fenty, who has decided not to stand in May’s local elections.
“John has been an outstanding councillor and a terrific supporter of the association,” he said. “His commitment and dedication to the election process both nationally and locally over the years has been brilliant and very much appreciated. We send all our very best wishes to him for the future.”
Mr Hornby also thanked Councillor Ron Shepherd, who is in charge of the Conservatives election campaign, for all his hard work.
“He has been working extremely well with both the Great Grimsby Conservative Association and the Cleethorpes Conservative Association, ensuring our candidates receive the best possible support to win even more Conservative seats,” he said.
In remaining association business, Alderman Mills remained as president, while Mr Hornby confirmed he was standing down as chairman. Councillor Jonathan Evison (Barton) has stepped into the role. Following this, Alderman Mills gave a special vote of thanks to Mr Hornby.
Councillor Evison outlined his past experience in chairmanships, ranging from a police and crime panel to Baysgarth School Governors. He also holds a number of scrutiny roles and is currently the Mayor of North Lincolnshire.
Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers used his address to the AGM to reiterate the challenging year we have all experienced.
“The year has been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has changed the face of politics and all of our lives, and this will have a lasting impact,” he said.
“The pandemic has been a massive challenge for Governments across the world. People often draw comparisons of how the democratic governments have tackled the pandemic compared to us, but of course when you have an authoritarian regime it is easier in many ways to deal with these situations.
“With a government such as ours, along with France, Germany, America etc., it has been a much bigger challenge. Difficulties were experienced early on due to medical and scientific advisors struggling with the unknown, but nevertheless they have now done a sterling job and we owe our thanks not only to those on the front line, but to all those who have contributed in many ways.
“The roll-out of the vaccines has made an enormous difference. The public perception of the Government’s handling of this has changed. I think they will forgive the Government for stumbling at the first fence and recognise that we got over the final hurdle without any difficulty and galloped to the finishing line.
“We will still have challenges ahead as we do not know if new variants will emerge, but on the whole I fully support the Government’s cautious unlocking of the restrictions.”
Although the pandemic has been the dominant feature of the year, Mr Vickers spoke of the recent budget, which has been a massive boost to this area.
A total £75-million has been invested into the final project for the Able Marine Energy Park – a project Mr Vickers fellow MP Andrew Percy have been dealing with over the last 10 years. He also hailed the freeport status granted to the Humber Ports as a huge boost to the area.
In the bidding process, he said, the Humber bid was the only one that scored high in every category.
“Now that we have secured this, we now need to make a success of it,” he said. “I feel that this could potentially be a magnet for investment for this area, along with all the jobs that go with it.”
Finally, he paid tribute to the work done by both North and North East Lincolnshire’s councils during the pandemic, and praised their leadership.
The following officers were re-elected: John Bratton, deputy chairman – political; Ann Sharratt, vice-president and membership secretary (and appointed as the association’s data protection officer); Councillor Bob Callison, deputy chairman – membership and fundraising; Natalie Clarke, treasurer and secretary; Councillor Oliver Freeston, chair of the Young Conservatives; and Georgia Astbury, deputy chair of the Young Conservatives.
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