Late to the (Tory) Party, Rob? 🤦‍♂️🙄

When your election campaign leaflet becomes the best argument against you.

May 05, 2025

5 May 2025:

A Crowle, North Lincs resident writes:

“Checking my postbox, earlier today (Bank Holiday Monday) I found an unexpected surprise in my post box: a letter. No stamp, no franking — just a hand-delivered campaign leaflet from North Lincolnshire Council leader Rob Waltham, directly addressed to myself, urging me to vote for him in the mayoral elections.” 🗳️ “Just to add - I did check my postbox yesterday morning (Sunday), and it was empty.”

Oh, Rob. Where do we start? 🙄

Let’s take a stroll through the talking points in his leaflet — and do a little fact checking, shall we? 🔎

📌 “For the last eight years I have served as leader…”

As if that’s a hardship! That’s not a boast — it’s a privilege to serve. And if your record's as stellar as you claim, why do so many residents feel ignored, misled, or outright failed?

🅿️ “Delivering free car parking…”

Really? Those infuriating cashless kiosks, where you’re forced to enter your reg. number, despite being free to park for up to 2 hours, on a barely-working touchpad, with a display screen that’s hard to see in bright sunlight, has forced people to park at supermarkets & retail parks, instead. For many seniors and disabled residents, they’re a barrier — not a benefit. 😡

🏗️ “New funding to build the Elizabeth Quarter…”

That £13.9m redevelopment replaced the town market — a lifeline for many shoppers. Locals like Cllr Yeadon rightly ask: why not invest just a fraction of that in the struggling High Street? (Source: Grimsby Telegraph)

To make it even murkier: The NHS will rent the office space for 15 years
— so taxpayer money goes into council coffers as rent. Hmmm. 🤔

📚 “We’ve protected our libraries…”

Not quite. Epworth and Crowle libraries were closed, down-sized and replaced with so-called "community hubs" that are only open part-time. That’s not protection — it’s consolidation. 😔

🏊‍♂️ “Free swimming for young people…”

A smokescreen. Youth centres, parks, and play areas have been left to rot, then closed due to “lack of use.” Keep young people away long enough, and that “excuse” becomes self-fulfilling. 🤔

🍳 “We gave air fryers to pensioners after Labour took away their winter fuel allowance…”

This is where it gets really insulting.

According to BBC News, just 6,000 air fryers were distributed — in an area with an estimated 37,500–41,000 pensioners. (another article - here)

So only about 15% of pension-age residents actually received one. And as for Labour “taking away” the winter fuel allowance? Not true. They means-tested it — stopping payments to those who didn’t need it.

❗ Don’t believe us? Even some pensioners admitted the allowance just went toward holidays or gifts (BBC News).

Other councils (like Labour-led Rotherham) gave cash support of up to £250 per household (BBC News) — not gimmicky gadgets.

🔢 Do the maths:

6,000 air fryers at ~£25 = £150,000
6,000 x £250 = £1.5 million
So North Lincs spent one-tenth what other councils offered in real support.

☀️ “I’ve fought against huge solar farms…”

Solar farms occupy less than 1% of UK farmland and are fully reversible.

Official data from DESNZ, DEFRA, and independent analyses (e.g., Carbon Brief, University of Sheffield) support the claim that Labour’s solar farm expansion would use less than 1% of UK farmland, with current usage at 0.1%–0.2% and projections for 2030 at 0.5%–0.93%.

Claiming victory against them is just a ploy to push more new builds (for higher council tax) and business units (for higher rates). No mention of retrofitting existing homes. 🤔

🌊 “I’ve invested in protecting rural areas from flooding…”

Do we even need to respond to this one? Just read our previous blog post, for starters. Or better yet, if you live in Windsor Road / Lane / Crescent, in Crowle -
look out of your window! 😖😱😭

⚙️ “I play an active role in British Steel…”

Then why did your party let it get sold off — first to the Dutch (Corus), then to the Indians (Tata), and now the Chinese (Jingye)? "British jobs" in name only. 🙄 🤔

📍 “I’m the only candidate who lives in North Lincolnshire…”

And yet, it didn’t help you win, did it? 👎

💥 Final Thoughts

Cllr Waltham’s letter was supposed to be a campaign boost. Instead, it gave us all the material we needed to show just how out of touch & tone deaf his administration has become.

You don’t get to rewrite history, Rob. Not while residents are still dealing with its consequences — on their streets, in their homes, and under their feet.

Oh, and next time, Rob (if there is a next time) - make sure residents receive their campaign leaflets before voting day! 🗳🤦‍♂️

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