Bournemouth Independent Alliance - Candidate - David Ross

The founders of Bournemouth Independent Alliance have set up this group to allow the residents of Bournemouth to vote for independence from the ruling national political parties. A vote for BIA is a vote for Bournemouth rather than a vote for a political ideology. BIA opposes the way Bournemouth as a town has been developed by the council over recent years. We demand a more democratic form of local government, where decision making rests in the hands of the electorate.
Our proposal is that the people of Bournemouth present a united front at the election in May. We aim to move beyond the protest vote, to a vote for real change. BIA is not a party that plans to exist alongside other parties; rather it is a political tool, the political wing of a town-wide movement for change. BIA allows the people of this town, perhaps for the first time, to actually govern themselves.
Large numbers of people today are aware that many aspects of town or city government can be vastly improved. The whole system under which we are operating is broken. We now have the opportunity to set about fixing this. BIA is presently working with the people of Bournemouth to develop a shared vision for the future of the town. When we come to power, we will continue to develop this vision, and begin to lay out plans to accomplish our goals. As such we do not at this stage have an agreed manifesto. Instead we propose a new way of working.

• We propose that the role of councillor is radically reviewed to reflect what the people expect of those who they choose to represent them.
• We propose that the power of council officers is curtailed; they are our servants not our masters.
• We propose that our town is run on the basis of an agreed set of moral values and principles.
• We propose that as a city we adopt a solutions approach, applying cutting-edge thinking to the challenges we face.

http://bia.voting/

http://www.elect-david-ross-mp.org.uk/

Dear Bournemouth East Voters

On 7 May I am standing as an Independent candidate, aiming to take the seat away from the present Conservative incumbent. I have thought very hard about this and am aiming to win, not to waste my time.

I realise what a tough proposition this is - I will need to get 100 times more votes than the independent at the last election, but I think it is possible and well worth the attempt. Enough people have said to me "we ought to have MPs who have done a real job" and I also believe that Bournemouth should be represented by a local person, not someone parachuted in by Central Office.

I live and work in the Constituency and was born in Poole, educated at Poole Grammar. If elected I will stay living and working here, and travel up to London to attend Parliament when it is sitting.

I have been looking at how we have been represented and I am shocked at how little involvement the present incumbent has with the community. In my business as an accountant over the last 30 years I have innovated and used technology and I propose the same. Using a website Forum, backed up by social media, I would like to access the talents we have in our town so that my 'special advisors' would not be junior members of the Political Class, but local teachers, retired railwaymen, business owners etc. People who really ‘know what's what’ would have, through me, a voice in Parliament.

My first action was to set up this website and to write a potted history of myself and my experience, which you can download for free. Please look and see whether you think I am worth supporting.

Then I banded together with like-minded others to form Bournemouth Independent Alliance. BIA will give me and candidates for Council some of the logistical advantages otherwise just enjoyed by the big parties.

This website has a Forum where you can join in discussions. At the moment, of course, it is mostly about getting me elected, but once elected, this would be the place where I would ask you for advice and keep you informed.

I started off by posing some problems including whether we could get the trains to run faster to London, controlling Pay Day Loan companies, and whether the Police should clear roads quicker after accidents. This experiment proved that we have the resources to find solutions for ourselves, not put up with what we are given.

As recent events in the Ukraine and Hong Kong have reminded us, our Democracy is so very precious. Please join me - let us claim the representation in Parliament that our ancestors struggled for.