Publicity that Esther McVey and the Conservatives would have rather avoided
Tory high command has high hopes for Esther McVey, and last week she appeared in a top 30 list of candidates to watch.
But just hours before Insight Public Affairs published its 'ones to watch' report an incident happened that has ended up bringing the Conservative parliamentary candidate publicity of a very different kind.
It was revealed on Friday that a warehouse which had partially collapsed and closed a Liverpool street was owned by Ms McVey.
This is what she told our reporter Kevin Core: "My dad has been working on the site and the project was under way.
"We are looking at the development of an education centre in an area that badly needs regeneration, the planning application has been in for some time, it's a great project.
"When it was bought the structural surveys were all done for insurance purposes and it was given an absolutely clean bill of health.
"Everything was done correctly.
"As soon as this happened my dad was right there and we are still checking the situation."
The Scribblings, Jottings & Musings blog has asked whether there has been a dereliction of duty.
In city like Liverpool, where there is a big problem with derelict properties, this is the type of publicity parliamentary candidates of any party are likely to want to avoid.
It is the type of incident that could (and quite possibly will) be used against on leaflets by her political rivals for the Wirral West seat.
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Dale Street Associates
David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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Thanks for the mention, David. Esther McVey's statement is a curious mix of spin & contradiction; the apparent intention to build "an education centre" might be seen by some as part of a hastily-assembled damage limitation press release. The contradiction, & it is one which could well provide ammunition for her opponents, lies in her insistence that the structural surveys gave "an absolutely clean bill of health" to a building which later folded like a pack of cards.
Something tells me this story has legs.
Very nice indeed that Correspondents excellent work should get a deserved mention. Esther McVities crumble may indeed educate a few people.
I'm always plugging you trying to keep the readers interested so how come I didn't get a mention when I did my article on the 08 spider? Now if that wasn't a story with legs, I don't know what is.
When do you want me to do your guest blog then? I have an old article about the demise of string vests that I could update. Something Liverpool One could look into. See if the Duke wears one.
I like the sound of Esther McVey. It's a shame she won't get elected.
Myself and many of my friends will be voting UKIP as the Conservative response to 'Europe' is so wet.
I think she is a shoo-in at the next election, sadly. She only lost out by a small margin last time round, despite being all style and no substance, a chancer and a political lightweight IMHO. She jumps on every bandwagon going (as long as it guarantees her publicity) and whenever I have seen her she has always been looking past the person she is talking to for the next person to collar. I find it appalling that some of the local media have given her profile purely because she is a former TV star. Name me another PPC that has had a column in the ECHO, or a radio programme? When she was at City Talk the producer of the programme even allowed her to interview David Cameron! Unsurprisingly he got a very easy ride.
I passed what's left of the building on Saturday (http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/08/esthers-eyesore-embarrassment-as.html ).