General Election

[Balotelli]

That's the number of hustings events held so far and the number that Stephen Picton has sidestepped.

There were some interesting reports back from the 6th Form event yesterday and I'm looking forward to hearing about the EMS one today.

[Land Phil]

Does Iain Wright keep taking him up on the taxi for Iain offer ?

[fred c]

The Hustings at Eskdale Academy was cancelled for some reason.

[Paul Thompson]

James, you will see that I have mentioned on your Facebook forum that we never received the invitation to H6FC and EMS for both hustings.  I am currently investigating as to why the emails were never received.

However, what does concern me a little is the one sided nature of your post.  For example, neither the Lib Dem candidate, Mrs Allison nor Mr Hobbs have attended either, yet you and your associates appear to be fixated on Mr Picton.  Just ask yourself, how many times has the word Picton been mentioned on your forum?

Is there a particular reason for this ?

Is it because you hear the word on the street that people are voting for Mr Picton and there is a chance that he may just cause an upset here or at least come a very good and strong second ?

I am all for having scrutiny on those who put themselves up for office, scrutiny of ALL.

[steveL]

I've long since suspected that the Hartlepool Politics Facebook page was set-up as some sort of recommended, remedial therapy for certain people; somewhere where they could play out their OCD after being banned from just about every other social media channel.

Long-term readers of this site will know that it all started with Blackwood and Campbell's unhealthy obsession with David Riddle and, in my view, it was Riddle's declared open support for Picton that caused that obsession to transfer to Picton.

I am totally convinced that if Riddle announced that he was a fan of black pudding then Blackwood and Campbell would soon be all over the internet targeting any butcher's that sell it. 

[Lord Elpus]

I like blackpudding, especially the ones with large chunks of white fat in them.  I also like white pudding.  I'm also partial to a warm savory duck with pease pudding, however, I've never liked faggots in gravy.

[dowager]

The word on the street that people are voting for Mr Picton and there is a chance that he may just cause an upset here or at least come a very good and strong second ?


That may have been the word on the street yesterday, the word on the street today is that Picton is about to bail.

The word on the street is that he now realises he has been conned by 'a few good men' working for their own aims and used him as a patsy. The word on the street is that he is talking with real friends and actually listening. The word on the street is that he now realises and understands and wants to make sure that his supporters totally understand why he will quit with less than 2 weeks to go, and that his real integrity remains.

I really hope that is the decision he is able to take. He is a good man, a very good man, but the toll on his heart and his mind and his character this last 3/4 months has been difficult to see

[Paul Thompson]

Never heard such rubbish in my life.  Mr Picton is in this for the long haul and putting every effort in.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Hmm - his so-called withdrawal sounds like a bit of wishful thinking on the part of the opposition to me; wonder if the source is the same people who comment on his non-appearance at events he wasn't invited to in the first place?

[steveL]

"That may have been the word on the street yesterday, the word on the street today is that Picton is about to bail."

Actually, people have been trying hard to MAKE this rubbish 'the word on the street' for about 3 weeks. Picton is being trolled by the usual suspects on various Facebook sites and he's decided that its distracting people from the real purpose of individual sites - particularly the TOHC site which is heavily focussed on the Hospital Issue as anyone can see in today's Mail.

I think it says a lot about the guy that he's willing to opt out of sites rather than allow the trolls who are stalking him around the internet to disrupt the campaigning efforts of others.
 

[Land Phil]

Some people have just not woke up to the world of social media.

It is 100 times more difficult to lie and get away with it than it used to be.

I can see social media being the downfall of the Labour-Con coalition as they are living in the dark ages, thinking they can still get away with it.

1000s of people talking like to each other inside and outside of groups.
It has got to add up to some big vote shifts.

[DRiddle]

Some people have just not woke up to the world of social media.

It is 100 times more difficult to lie and get away with it than it used to be.

I can see social media being the downfall of the Labour-Con coalition as they are living in the dark ages, thinking they can still get away with it.

1000s of people talking like to each other inside and outside of groups.
It has got to add up to some big vote shifts.

I agree with all of that. There are Labour councillors who literally do not use (or cannot use) e-mail, let alone find their way around a facebook page or twitter. Interesting times.

[DRiddle]

I've long since suspected that the Hartlepool Politics Facebook page was set-up as some sort of recommended, remedial therapy for certain people; somewhere where they could play out their OCD after being banned from just about every other social media channel.

Long-term readers of this site will know that it all started with Blackwood and Campbell's unhealthy obsession with David Riddle and, in my view, it was Riddle's declared open support for Picton that caused that obsession to transfer to Picton.

I am totally convinced that if Riddle announced that he was a fan of black pudding then Blackwood and Campbell would soon be all over the internet targeting any butcher's that sell it.

I find the obsessive trolling/interaction I 'suffer' from the local suspects mildly amusing. It's weird, odd, potentially worrying behaviour in many respects, but I just find it funny that I appear to be on the mind of certain people so much. Especially given they haven't even met me and know little or nothing about me.

If I ever do actually meet Mr Blackwood in person, in many respects I'd like to THANK him. His relentless preoccupation with me in the run up to last years election just made me all the more determined to win. I also know for a fact it galvanised a lot of PHF supporters and they made damn sure they made the effort to get to the ballot box partly to wind him up.

However, overall, as well as my gratitude he mostly has my pity and empathy. 

[mk1]

If I ever do actually meet Mr Blackwood in person, in many respects I'd like to THANK him. His relentless preoccupation with me in the run up to last years election just made me all the more determined to win.

Yes he busted a gut on his Twitter feed when you won. He never recovered from this drubbing. It was a mercy killing when he finally  got  kicked off Twitter.
Has anyone got a full list of the sites where Harry has been banned?

[Balotelli]

Paul,

Fair comment re: Allison and Hobbs, however neither are serious candidates (Hobbs is a single issue anti-vaccination campaigner) and both announced too late to be invited to the PRA hustings so it's hardly fair to level the three out of three accusation at them, especially as I understand Mr Hobbs actually attended EMS today.

'I am currently investigating as to why the emails were never received.'

Both the 6th Form and and EMS hustings have been public knowledge for awhile, if I were Stephen's agent I'd have checked well beforehand that he'd received an invite and had his diary cleared to ensure that he could put all the rumoours of his weakness for public speaking to bed.  If he hadn't received an invite, I'd have been busting a gut to contact the organisers to get him involved.

Steve

'Long-term readers of this site will know that it all started with Blackwood and Campbell's unhealthy obsession with David Riddle and, in my view, it was Riddle's declared open support for Picton that caused that obsession to transfer to Picton.'

Not at all.  I didn't know David Riddle was anything to do with Stephen Picton when I first made contact with Stephen and had formed opinions of his potential and actual candidacy.

'I think it says a lot about the guy that he's willing to opt out of sites rather than allow the trolls who are stalking him around the internet to disrupt the campaigning efforts of others.'

Funny that a huge percentage of the people you accuse of trolling Mr Picton were founder members of the TOHC group and were subsequently banned without explanation from that group before he even announced.  Since those people are banned, there's little trolling or disruption going on on TOHC that I am aware of anyway.

Lord Elpus

'I've long since suspected that the Hartlepool Politics Facebook page was set-up as some sort of recommended, remedial therapy for certain people; somewhere where they could play out their OCD after being banned from just about every other social media channel.'

That group was set up by award winning journalist and son of Mary Fleet, John Fleet to discuss politics with the ethos of total free speech within legal boundaries.  It was a fresh idea since many other such groups are heavily moderated to ensure that only the 'correct' opinions are aired. He asked me to be admin and I agreed.

As far as I am aware, very few of the 450+ members are banned from any social media channels.  Several are contributors here.

A certain leader of a Hartlepool Political group did like to use it as a place to troll and sling mental health slurs around though.

MK1

'It was a mercy killing when he finally  got  kicked off Twitter.'

Err he hasn't been kicked off Twitter.  He has stopped using Twitter, but he hasn't been kicked off.