Lurline Champagnie held a reception in Parliament yesterday to formally launch her campaign to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor. Her leaflets and manifesto never really mention the Conservative Party but she is known as a regular attendee and occasional speaker at party conference, and if there was any doubt at the launch - she had blue fingernails.
After reading out a very positive letter sent to her from Lord Tebbit she spoke about the failure of multiculturalism (and her Cosmopolitan Community vision), and her personal profile:
"I came to Britain
from Jamaica in my late teens. I did not expect patronizing handouts
or any unfair advantage. I worked; I worked and learnt; I developed
skills as a specialist nurse; I succeeded and took on significant
responsibility; I brought up my family; I started a highly successful
business; and I have served my local community as a councillor for 20
years. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have lived a real life and, more to the
point, I have succeeded – not only in accordance with Tory values, but
because I embodied Tory values. I have a life path and career that is
real – I am not some plastic “inside the beltway” apparatchik. Believe
me, this is a distinction that is not lost on the public."
Download the speech here.
Andrew Rosindell MP sponsored the event as one of her high profile supporters, saying:
“I’m delighted that someone that has such clear Conservative views and is prepared to stand up for them is running for Mayor of London. I have known Lurline for 25 years. She’s got guts, determination and beliefs in all the right things. She’s told me that her first act as Mayor of London will be to raise the Union Jack above City Hall – something that Ken Livingstone has not been prepared to do and I think that she deserves the chance."
Nicholas Winterton MP, apparently spontaneously, was full of praise for the speech and strongly endorsed her campaign as a result of it. Lords, councillors, and MPs Brian Binley, Julian Lewis and Roger Gale also spoke in support of Lurline.
There was a photo-op afterwards on College Green:
She's certainly one of the strongest declared contenders for the Conservative nomination.
Deputy Editor
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