AvenueQ

Avenue Q is not the most upmarket of New York streets, and is about as far away from Park Avenue as you can get, but it is home to some lively and off the wall characters performed by an unholy comedic alliance of humans and puppets!

Princeton, a bright-eyed college graduate, has just moved to this neighbourhood as he desperately tries to follow his dreams and discover his ever-elusive purpose in life. A tiny bank balance, the distraction of a busty blonde and a variety of weird and wonderful friends and neighbours lead Princeton on a hilarious journey of self-discovery.

HCF are off to see this teriffic muscial in London on the 21st April and we've scored a fantastic deal! £30 for dinner nearby (La Tasca) and balcony seats at the show - what a steal!

The first phase of HCF tickets have all been sold, but if you're interested in coming along, we'll do out best to get some more! Let GK know NOW on events@haveringconservativefuture.com

Monday (Tuesday) poll - Question 5

Apologies for the delay! Slight technical hitch!

It was annouced that Prince Harry would be joining his regiment in Iraq later this year. But will having the person third in line to the throne in a combat zone be a help or a hinderance?

Some argue that he knew what the job involved when he signed up to serve and that he should be treated like any other soldier. However, others say that his presence would increase the risk to his fellow soldiers and if anything terrible where to happen to him then it would be too greater a propaganda victory for the insurgents.

Should Prince Harry serve with the Army in Iraq?
	Yes
	No
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Ilford North CF is Inaugurated

On Friday, young members of the Conservative Party in Ilford North formed a new Conservative Future branch. This is the result of a sustained effort from London North East CF Area Chairman Gareth Thompson who has worked closely with the Ilford North executive, Lee Scott MP and the young members of the party.

The Havering Conservative Future committee has already offered advice and support during the development stage and will continue to assist this fledgling branch in anyway we can. In the meantime, we would like to congratulate Samia and her new committee and wish them good luck for the future!

Campaigning in South Hornchurch

On Saturday morning Havering CF supported James Brokenshire MP, Cllr Roger Evans AM and the new Dagenham & Rainham Conservatives with their campaigning efforts in the South Hornchurch ward. The campaign concerned the proposal to build a new prison in Rainham. In order find out more about this campaign visit www.stoprainhamjaim.com.

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If you are interested in campaigning with Havering Conservative Future then let us know at campaigns@haveringconservativefuture.com in order to receive campaign update emails.

Comedy Night a Fantastic Success

Last Friday, HCF members went to Lee Hurst's backyard comedy club. The tickets were a steal at half-price and the night was nothing short of hilarious!

The former 'They Think It's All Over' presenter compered between the three acts, all of which, with their own style brought the house down. This was helped of course with the odd plastic jug of Carling served up in the intervals!

Comedy is something we definitely want to do more of, particularly with the brilliant time we had seeing Jimmy Carr and Little Britain Live late last year. If you know of any places we could try, please get in touch!

Our next social event is the Boris Johnson Dinner on Friday 2nd March from 7.30pm at the Palms Hotel, Hornchurch. To attend or to start getting our event emails contact us at events@haveringconservativefuture.com

Mayoral Candidate Q&A Update

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We now have Winston McKenzie and Warwick Lightfoot attending to present to you all and be quizzed!

The campaign sites for all the candidates are:
Winston McKenzie - www.myspace.com/winstonmckenzieuk
Warwick Lightfoot - http://www.lightfootforlondon.com/
Lurline Champagnie - www.lurlineforlondon.com
Nick Boles - www.nickboles.com
Richard Barnes AM - www.richardbarnes.info
Cllr Simon Fawthrop - www.fawthropformayor.co.uk
Lee Rotherham - http://www.newstartforlondon.com
Victoria Borwick - www.mayor-for-london.co.uk

I haven't yet got details of Andrew Boffs campaign website address - as soon as I do, I will publish it here.

Red Ken Advert

This Advert about 'Red' Ken Livingstone's record as Mayor of London is from the 18 Doughty Street website. We thought that it was so good that we would added it to our blog. If you want to find out more about 18 Doughty Street follow the link at the side.

Monday Poll - Question 4

Tony Blair wants to lower the age to 17 at which young people can receive long prison sentences for possessing a gun.
Announcing a firearms law review, he said he was considering lowering the age from 21 for a mandatory five-year jail term for carrying a gun.
The Independent - like a number of other papers - is unimpressed with Prime Minister Tony Blair's plans to tackle gun crime.
It questions plans to lower the minimum age offenders can be jailed for having guns in light of prison overcrowding.
The Daily Mail says supposed "new gun laws are already in place".
The Daily Telegraph says courts do not enforce current laws and the Sun says the PM's government "spawned the crisis of armed teenagers" in the first place.

Is increasing armed police in London the best way to combat gun crime?
	Yes
	No
Free polls from Pollhost.com

The Result: 62% support armed police on the streets fo London and 38% against

Bowlarama

Last night's event followed in the long tradition of HCF Bowlaramas and was a great success! This despite the staff of the bowling alley losing our lane reservation so that we did not start playing until 9.30pm. However using the HCF spirit we turn this into a positive and continued to have a good time in the bar (after all alcohol is one of life's great levellers).

It was also good to see a couple of new faces at this event!

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Our next social event is the Comedy Night at the Lee Hurst's Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green on Friday 23rd February from 7.30pm. In order to attend this event or to start receiving our regular social event emails contact us at events@haveringconservativefuture.com

Q&A Session - update

For our event on 20 April at St Micheal's Hall, Andrew Boff will also be joining us. He will present to us along with the other 6 candidates, and then be available for any questions you wish to ask him about why he wants to be Mayor of London.

We are hoping a few others will also be there to present and question on the night. As they come on board I will update you here!

Question and Answer Session with the Conservative Mayor of London Nominees

The details are here!

Invites are going out around London now....

What is it?
We have invited individuals who are Nominees to become the Conservative Mayor of London Candidate to run against Red Ken over for a Q&A session.

When and where?
Friday - 20 April 2007, 7:30pm-10:30pm
St Michael’s Hall, Main Road, Romford, Essex, RM2

Why?
It is your chance to ask them:
Why do they want to become Mayor of London?
Why should you vote for them to be our candidate?
Ask the questions you want answered!

Confirmed Mayoral Nominations who will be attending:
Lurline Champagnie
Nick Boles
Richard Barnes AM
Cllr Simon Fawthrop
Lee Rotherham
Victoria Borwick

Chair for the evening:
Cllr Roger Evans AM

This event is free to attend and tea & coffee will be provided during the evening.

Events in the pipeline

The poll in relation to what events should we run has now closed. To update, the Committee has already started putting dates and plans in place to support what you voted for.

Political events - very soon we will start publicising a Conservative London Mayoral Candidate question and answer session. It is going to be held in Romford, and the date for your diary is 20 April. Further details will be announced shortly, but we have secured the services of Roger Evans AM to be our Chairperson for the evening and we have 6 of the Nominees agreeing to attend so far!

Curry nights - I am sure GK has a date in mind in the near future for this and confirmation will be through soon.

Local drinks - no date for this has yet been set, but there will be plenty of drinking going on at Bowlarama on Saturday...

Speaker events - not much interest for this one, but for those that voted for it, I hope the Mayoral Q&A session that we have arranged will be an event you will attend as it is the perfect opportunity for you to ask the candidates questions and find out why they want you to vote for them!

Dinners - the Annual Presidents dinner is booked for 7 September. We have secured the Coach House again as our venue and we hope it will be a sell out. Further details will be released nearer the time.

Quiz nights - we will continue to support the Wards and Associations that run these. the next that we are aware of is the Romford Town Quiz night, 24 March @ 85 Western Road. Please email events@haveringconservativefuture.com if you wish to join the HCF team that we will be putting in!

Visits - a few suggestions have been thrown in such as Duxford in May for an Airshow.....we will look into further suitable venues like the Secret Nuclear Bunker and post details here.

Comedy Clubs - an evening of fun is already booked in for 23 February - so please book up asap if you wish to attend.

If you have any further ideas or any queries, please let us know!

Mark Clarke Selected for Tooting

Last night Mark Clarke (CF National Chairman) was selected as the Conservative candidate for the Tooting Seat at the next General Election. Although it currently has a Labour majority of over 5,000 we are confident that with a hard-working candidate like Mark the Conservatives can give them a run for their money.
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In his role as CF National Chairman, Mark has been a valuable supporter of Havering Conservative Future. He always on hand to offer advice and has attended our social events, such as the last President's Dinner and the Christmas Meal.
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Congratulations Mark! From everyone in HCF.

Monday Poll - Question 3

Today's topical poll is based around the online petition that people are signing up to. Douglas Alexander, the transport secretary has pledged to listen to opponents of the introduction of UK road charging.

More than one million people have signed an online petition against plans to introduce road charging in the UK.

The petition, which is the most popular on the Downing Street website, calls for the scrapping of "planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy".

So what do you think? Should we pay for usage, or not?

Do you support the Government's proposals to charge by usage for journeys in your car?
	Yes
	No
Free polls from Pollhost.com

The Result: 100% against the Government road pricing policy. Who said the Conservatives are a divided party.

Drinks In Brentwood

Last Night Havering Conservative Future had a successful event in the O'Neills Bar in Brentwood. Although it was just a simple plan - to have a few drinks and talk - it was an extremely enjoyable evening. It was also great to celebrate the Birthday of one of our members, Graham Simmons.

Many Happy Returns, Graham!

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Our next social event will be a 'Bowlarama' at the Number Ten in the Brewery from 7.30pm. In order to start receiving our regular event emails contact us at events@haveringconservativefuture.com

Deliveries in Chadwell Heath

This morning in the rain a couple of us went out to Chadwell Heath to help deliver some leaflets in the area. There are still more to deliver in the Chadwell Heath area, and future details will be posted on the blogspot if you wish to join us.

Don't forget tonights drinks in Brentwood....I hope you have all read your emails!

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If you are interested in campaigning with Havering Conservative Future then let us know at campaigns@haveringconservativefuture.com in order to receive campaign update emails.

Monday Poll - Question 2

This week's question concerns the awarding of Britain's first super-casino to Manchester. Ministers say the casino will regeneration the area and boost the local economy, but opponents argue it will lead to an increase in problem gambling. Do you think that people should be able to spend their leisure time as they see fit or should the government act to protect the vulnerable in our society?

In winning the bid to host the super-casino, has Manchester hit the jackpot or drawn the short straw?
	Jackpot
	Short straw
Free polls from Pollhost.com

The Result: A Tie! It seems that we just can't decide whether we like the Supercasino or not.

England v Scotland 6 Nations Rugby

Yesterday's HCF trip to Twickenham to see England's opening game of the 6 Nations Tournament was nothing less than fantastic! The day began with a relatively early start (for a Saturday morning!) and a journey down to Richmond in South West London. There, many a burger and pint were enjoyed as we sat back to watch France v Italy on the big screens. A couple of hours later, we were crammed into a train and on our way to the Stadium!

After some hearty renditions of Swing Lo and God Save the Queen, the game began. England's performance was simply brilliant with a special mention going to England hero, Jonny Wilkinson. With the final score 42-20, England hoisted the Calcutta Cup and off we went, back to Central London. The day concluded with a very tasty Curry and several more lemonades in Brick Lane!

Mayor of Haverings Charity Dinner - Update

I have picked a few of the best photos out. The evening was a great success as we raised over the £1,000 target...the final total was just over £1,100!

The first photo here is of the "Chain Gang", with our Mayor of Havering, Cllr Wendy Brice-Thompson.

Next up is Billy being serenaded by Katie Milton, our singer for the evening from Queens Theatre, Hornchurch.

Most of the HCF Committee with the 3 Havering MP's, from left to right Angela Watkinson MP (Vice President), Cllr GK Adams (Deputy Chairman Membership and Social Secretary), Sarah Mackintosh (Chairman), Amy Phythian (Secretary and Acting Treasurer), Andrew Rosindell MP (Vice President), James Brokenshire MP (President) and Gareth Thompson (Website Officer).

Wendy with the Mayor of Waltham Forest (and yes, Wendy did go for the furry handcufts when they were offered to her!), Michael and his lovely assistant Linda.

HCF member Chris "Get involved" Ryan collecting his bottle of Bubbly that he won in the raffle.

Again, most of the HCF Committee with the 3 Romford Town Councillors, from left to right, Cllr Andrew Curtin, Cllr GK Adams, Sarah Mackintosh, Cllr Frederick Thompson (Consort to the Mayor of Havering), Cllr Wendy Brice-Thompson (Mayor of Havering), Gareth Thompson and Amy Phythian.

Gareth chatting to Angela Watkinson MP.

From left to right Angela Watkinson MP, Lurline Champagnie (Nominee for the Conservative Mayor of London Candidate), David Ramsey (a HCF Vice President), Cllr Roger Evans AM (HCF Vice President) and Sarah Mackintosh.

Many of the HCF members who attended and a couple of friends thrown in!

Left to right, back row Connie Bennett, Sean Graham, Andrew Mackintosh, Sarah Mackintosh, Amy Phythian, front row Karen Jensen, Chris Ryan, Beth Huggins, Billy Taylor and Gabrielle Burne.

A very happy James Brokenshire MP collecting his prize from the raffle with the Mayor of Havering.

A special "Thank you" is to go to the photographer, Mario Yanez (www.instantimaging.net) during the evening as he was fantastic!