Joel Smalley, Official Spokesperson for Reform UK Saffron Walden.

An introduction.

This is Reform UK Saffron Walden and I am Joel Smalley, the official spokesperson.

My background

From left to right, Dr Clare Craig, Prof Norman Fenton, Joel Smalley

I was born and grew up in and around the Herts/Essex border so I have a half century of first-hand experience of the people and places of Saffron Walden and the neighbouring constituencies. I have three young children at school in Bishop’s Stortford, where I also currently live, having very recently moved from Dunmow.

I have have been completely disinterested in politics until March 2020 when I realised British politics was no longer fair, independent and frankly democratic. This, in itself, is instructive. In my opinion, if you can get on with your life, largely unaware of political interference, that for me, is good politics.

Although historically a “lazy” Conservative voter, I would no longer consider myself right or left wing, or even somewhere in between. For me, the political choice is between authoritarianism/collectivism on the one hand and liberty/autonomy on the other. Clearly, I am on the latter.

I voted leave for Brexit for one single reason - that I could already see that devolving power to a larger, more distant political entity was not in the interests of British citizens. At that time, in my opinion, it seemed that the arguments in favour of remaining were narratives made by those in power to retain that power. European bureaucrats have never acted in the interests of the people of the individual countries.

One of many things that I have learnt during the “COVID era” is that UK politicians do not represent the interests of their constituents. As a member of the public, I have lived in both Hertford and Stortford and Saffron Walden with Julie Marson and Kemi Badenoch, respectively as my MPs.

I have written to both of them many times asking questions and requesting honest and forthright debate on important issues. Every time, I have been fobbed off with PR statements from central office. I know many others find themselves in the same boat.

This is not my idea of democracy. I feel so let down that, in spite of numerous other responsibilities, I have decided to make an effort to do what my local MPs have failed to do - represent those who democratically elect me.

If you want to know more about the real me, you will get a very good idea by looking at my other Substack publication - Dead Man Talking. I’m not afraid of telling it how it is in spite of the occasional ad hominem attacks that come with it.

My manifesto

I am a single issue candidate - representation of the people.

I have given you an inkling of my limited political position. However, I do not think this is particularly relevant when it comes to asking for your vote because I am not looking for your support for my agenda or endorsement of me as a person.

I believe the integrity of the system is far more important than the furtherance of my views, no matter how well researched and evidenced they might be. I am only interested in restoring democratic authority to the people of my country and out of the hands of the political elite, democratically elected or their unelected paymasters.

So, my pledge to the members of Saffron Walden constituency is simply to listen to you so that I can learn what are the most important local and national issues and then represent you in Parliament. But, otherwise, to ensure that you can live your life freely, safely and in prosperity.

It’s as simple as that.

My strategy

I am an expert technologist and plan to use those skills to give all Saffron Walden constituents an opportunity to have their voice heard.

Initially, I will use this platform (Substack) to canvass and share information on key issues that concern Saffron Walden and the nation. This can serve as a public forum for candid, transparent discussion.

If elected, there are better systems that I can implement to more robustly record constituents’ proposals and support for them from other members.

I pledge to bring the issues that gather the most support to Parliament for the attention of the relevant Ministers or wider debate. I will always hold issues brought by other MPs to account in accordance with the interests of my constituents.

Why Reform UK?

I am standing for Reform UK for the following reason alone -

There is no whip. This means I can vote in accordance with the wishes of my constituents, not in favour of the Party whose interests may differ.

As it happens, I do actually agree with many of the Party’s core policies and principles because they are all compatible with my manifesto as outlined above:

THE NEED TO CHANGE POLITICS FOR GOOD CONTINUES.

How we recover as a nation from the pandemic will be critical to the future success of the UK. We must reform the way our country is run and managed so that it works properly for the people.

Reform is essential in three key areas:

Reform our Economy: to succeed, we must become a low tax, smartly regulated, high growth economy. Faster growth is the only way to better wages and more tax revenues to invest in better healthcare and other public services. Our bold economic vision frees up over 6 million people from paying income tax and over 1.2 million small businesses/self-employed from paying corporation tax. We would also remove a raft of stifling taxes. This will generate much faster growth.

Reform our Public Sector: we must be ambitious, seeking faster, more efficient public services that work better for us all, with better results. For example, in health, we should demand zero waiting lists. Our police need to focus on preventing crime, catching criminals, not woke nonsense.

Reform our Institutions: major change is needed to the bodies that impact our lives, the unelected cronyism of the House of Lords, the outdated civil service, the bloated BBC. Reform is essential to our voting system so it is fairer, more representative; the two-party system embeds the status quo and prevents real change.

A real agenda for bold reform. We restate our core values: We must return all our liberties to the people. We must preserve freedom of speech. We must control our borders properly. We must protect our proud heritage from the woke folk and celebrate our nation’s incredible successes.

---

Thank you for your time getting this far! If this resonates with you, please do join in hopefully many important discussions that will be held here, even if you’re not a member of Saffron Walden constituency. Reform UK is now very well represented across the country with independent candidates all with the same objective of reforming UK politics in favour of the people.

And if you’re already motivated to join the reformation, please click here!