Here is the text of my letter to postal voters in Ashton:
You will shortly receive your postal voting papers for the forthcoming local elections. I am the UKIP candidate for Ashton, in the City Council by-election. Please vote for me. My friend and colleague Jim Bradley is standing for Preston South West in the County Council elections. Please vote for him, too.
I joined UKIP shortly after the Brexit referendum. I had volunteered for Vote Leave, and was impressed by the enthusiasm of the young UKIP members who led the successful Vote Leave campaign in Preston. On referendum day itself I spent the day delivering leaflets and speaking to voters on the street, mostly in Ashton, Larches and Lea. I also spoke to non-voters, intelligent and well-informed people for the most part but disengaged from politics, thinking that voting wouldn’t change anything. I learned that the legacy parties were out of touch with ordinary people, and I wanted to do my bit. So I looked more closely at UKIP, and was impressed with what I saw. And although I had no plans to stand for election, when the Ashton by-election came up unexpectedly, as a long-term Ashton resident, I decided to take the opportunity to do so.
It was only after I joined that I discovered just how impressive was the UKIP manifesto for local elections. It was full of common-sense policies for local people. Of course, it’s not surprising that a party that stands for self-determination at the national level also stands for the interests of local communities in local elections. UKIP stands for bottom-up democracy, and that’s the platform on which I am standing for Ashton: prioritising services for local people, moving government and decision making closer to the people, and more; too much more for this short letter. If you would like to know more about UKIP in Ashton, please visit our blog, ukipashtononribble.wordpress.com. If you would like a printed copy of our local election manifesto, please contact me either via the blog or at my address.
Please vote UKIP in the local elections: Simon Platt for Ashton, James Bradley for Preston South West.
Standing Up 