Jeremy Hunt Constituency Update 20th June 2024

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GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my update no.275.

It is exactly two weeks until the election - and the biggest puzzle about this election is how many people are undecided. Postal votes for Guildford Borough residents have started landing and from today we expect those in Waverley to start landing. If you are undecided, come along to one of my lively public meetings! The next one is in Victoria Hall, Ash on Monday at 1930.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

THERE IS SOME GOOD NEWS Really important news came through yesterday, namely that for the first time in three years inflation is at the Bank of England’s 2% target. When I became Chancellor we had the highest inflation of any major economy – now it is lower than the US, France, Germany or Italy. That has been made possible by difficult decisions both by the government and the Bank of England – as I say in this video. For local residents, one of the biggest consequences will be that interest rates - and therefore the cost of mortgages - can start to fall. Alongside cuts in National Insurance, the £900 increase in state pension and more generous exemptions on child benefit there is the prospect of cost of living pressures finally starting to ease.

ARE LABOUR AND THE CONSERVATIVES FOLLOWING THE SAME POLICIES? Just one of the questions I was asked by George Parker, a very respected FT journalist from Guildford (and Shalford cricket team) who interviewed me this week in Roost in Godalming. You can read his very thoughtful interview here in which he also asks me about my chances locally and Liz Truss’s mini-budget.

WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY

ALFOLD AND GODALMING PUBLIC MEETINGS Thank you to all who packed two great public meetings this week…with terrific questions! In Godalming, we covered nearly every topic under the sun in just one hour. We finished on a discussion about Ukraine prompted by a question from the wonderful Cherry Gay who two years ago came to me for help setting up schooling and help for local Ukrainians. The welcome Godalming and other communities have given to Ukrainians has been so inspiring - and in a funny way very British. In Alfold we had some great questions on development, education, the NHS, flytipping, and of course my specialist subject at the moment – Thames Water! Thank you to all who came for two great evenings. If you still have not made it to one and would like to do so, I have two more coming up:

Victoria Hall Ash Mon 24th (7.30pm)
Hambledon Village Hall Sun 30th (7pm).

My last public meeting in Alfold

HUSTINGS I have done lots of hustings over the years. They can descend into point scoring but some people like them because you can see all the candidates side by side. I am doing three this time - see times below although I sometimes find that they can end up being more about point-scoring than a properly thoughtful discussion (as the ongoing public meetings series has been), I am doing the three below:

Cranleigh Village Hall Thursday 27th (7pm)– link here.
St Mary’s Church in Shalford Fri 28th (7pm).
Baptist Church in Godalming Sun 30th (3pm).

BRAMLEY FUEL LEAK UPDATE I am really concerned about the lack of information being provided to Bramley residents about the plan for the clean up of the fuel that is still in the ground. As I understand it there is a map which shows the plume indicating where water flows and where it is at risk of being contaminated but this has never been shared with the public. Let’s see it please. Without a proper clean up operation, there could be repercussions felt of the pollution for some time. Here’s the email I wrote on behalf of residents which you can read here.

PHONE RECEPTION One of my big projects for the next parliament, if elected, will be to improve mobile phone reception in our villages (and Godalming for that matter). The government has done a good job of rolling out broadband, something me and my team helped lots of people with over the last decade (some of you may remember the brilliant Morwenna from my Hindhead office who has now retired but did a lot on this). But we now need to SORT lousy coverage - particularly in Cranleigh high street! Also in Shamley Green, Rowly, Bramley and several other places…so I will have my work cut out. I worked hard to get a phone mast for Hascombe so it can be done.

What I will do to improve phone reception if elected on July 4th

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANS Today you can vote on both Cranleigh and Elstead & Weyburn Neighbourhood plans - watch my video below to see why I am so proud of these and why Neighbourhood Plans are so important to local communities

JOIN THE FUN! Team Jeremy has lots of volunteers and we are enjoying the campaign! Indoors, outdoors, whatever takes your fancy – if you would like to help our effort we would love to see you! Just email [email protected]. If you would like more regular updates of my work locally and nationally, do follow me on Facebook, X (Twitter), WhatsApp or Instagram. Our posters are also starting to go up all over the patch. If you would be happy to put one up in your garden or indeed in your window, please do email me – any help is so appreciated.

AND FINALLY… A huge thank you must go to the coffee shops of Godalming and Ash for keeping me suitably energised during the campaign! Thank you for the flat whites in One 40 in Cranleigh, in Secretts Milford and in Roost in Godalming. Did you know flat whites were invented in Australia? Well done the Aussies…

As always, if you know anyone (a friend or neighbour perhaps?) who might like to receive this email, please do forward it on. Anyone can sign up here to receive them and can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the box below or emailing me.

Out and about canvassing with a brilliant team

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Promoted by Sean Donovan-Smith on behalf of Jeremy Hunt and Godalming & Ash Conservatives, all at 2 Royal Parade, Tilford Road, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6TD.

Godalming and Ash Conservative Association

2 Royal Parade, Tilford Road

Hindhead

Surrey, GU26 6TD

United Kingdom

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