How does everyone think Andy Preston has done?

Andy_W said:
Town centre has got worse, but it's going to, it can't fight the internet, and that's who it's fighting against, for the shops at least.

I'm not sure how we can measure how much worse its got, compared to how much worse we could have expected it to get? Throwing money at it won't solve the problem either, you can't force shops to open and fail, and the council can't really put money in peoples pockets to spend in them. Same applies to pubs, and we can't force them to to stay open and force people to get boozed up in them etc. The town centre is often a reflection of what makes up the rest of the town, and we're not in an affluent place.

There should be another edge to that sword mind, where some areas fail, other areas improve, but they really haven't in Teesside, the other areas have stayed about the same I think, overall it's a big loss.

How we've sold off land and given away assets absolutely stinks.

Preston is like many, starts off as Labour but when they get a bit of cash in their back pocket or see the dark side they slowly transition into a Tory (don't be fooled by the "independent" tag). He is well on his way with his transition from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader and he's just as bad as Ben Airport.

Hopefully if we can get shot of him, and Mr Airport and get some Labour guys in, and with a labour government to help them, then we may actually start to see some real positives, not just publicity stunts.
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Labour doesn’t mean a thing now. We just need good people who can be competent at the role and have the best interests of the people of Middlesbrough as their priority.

I don’t want a fame hungry property shyster as a mayor.
 
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I have no trust in the man whatsoever. I've posted a number of likes and positive comments on his twitter. The first time I tried to debate with him about how stack should be next to hit the bar and further how he should have supported base camp if he wants footfall around the station he deleted my comments. That to me is a man with things to hide and is not in it for the town but himself and his friends.
 
newyddion said:
Labour doesn’t mean a thing now. We just need good people who can be competent at the role and have the best interests of the people of Middlesbrough as their priority.

I don’t want a game hungry property shyster as a mayor.
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Why doesn't it? Labour are against the Tories, and they're against them a lot more than supposed "independents" like Preston are. They might not be the Labour you want but it doesn't mean that's even possible and it doesn't mean they're not (and won't be) better than these clowns in blue. I think they certainly deserve a couple of terms to see if they can do better, and I think they will. Who else will do better, another independent or a Tory?

Don't blame Labour MP's or Mayors etc, when we have Tory governments though, they get absolutely zero support. Jees, even the Tory MP's and Mayor don't get much support from Tory governments, up here anyway.

Also, don't blame local Labour MP's for failings which are UK wide, there's normally a good reason out of their control.

By the time of the general election, we won't have had a Labour MP, coupled with a Labour government for 15 years.

Most would say that things from 1997-2010 were either good overall, or not ideal (nothing ever is), but things certainly got better or maintained good standards, whereas in the last 15 years things have got much worse.
 
Andy_W said:
Why doesn't it? Labour are against the Tories, and they're against them a lot more than supposed "independents" like Preston are. They might not be the Labour you want but it doesn't mean that's even possible and it doesn't mean they're not (and won't be) better than these clowns in blue. I think they certainly deserve a couple of terms to see if they can do better, and I think they will. Who else will do better, another independent or a Tory?

Don't blame Labour MP's or Mayors etc, when we have Tory governments though, they get absolutely zero support. Jees, even the Tory MP's and Mayor don't get much support from Tory governments, up here anyway.

Also, don't blame local Labour MP's for failings which are UK wide, there's normally a good reason out of their control.

By the time of the general election, we won't have had a Labour MP, coupled with a Labour government for 15 years.

Most would say that things from 1997-2010 were either good overall, or not ideal (nothing ever is), but things certainly got better or maintained good standards, whereas in the last 15 years things have got much worse.
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I have to agree. The progress in the two lots of 13 years are clearly easy to differentiate.
 
Andy_W said:
Why doesn't it? Labour are against the Tories, and they're against them a lot more than supposed "independents" like Preston are.
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They haven’t been.
Andy_W said:
They might not be the Labour you want
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They are not. I want them to be much better.
Andy_W said:
but it doesn't mean that's even possible and it doesn't mean they're not (and won't be) better than these clowns in blue.
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Clowns in blue, clowns in red. They need to be a bit more than a smug rosette for me.
Andy_W said:
I think they certainly deserve a couple of terms to see if they can do better
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No, nobody deserves a couple of terms just to see if they can be less aweful. They need to stand for something and be good at it.
Andy_W said:
and I think they will. Who else will do better, another independent or a Tory?
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A genuine independent might do (we don’t have any)
Andy_W said:
Don't blame Labour MP's or Mayors etc, when we have Tory governments though,
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I defo can, Tories being crap is no excuse for Labour being crap.
Andy_W said:
they get absolutely zero support. Jees, even the Tory MP's and Mayor don't get much support from Tory governments, up here anyway.
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Ahh bless em
Andy_W said:
Also, don't blame local Labour MP's for failings which are UK wide, there's normally a good reason out of their control.
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Andy McDonald comes across as being half decent.. that’s about it.
Andy_W said:
By the time of the general election, we won't have had a Labour MP, coupled with a Labour government for 15 years.
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and we need something better got people to vote for.
Andy_W said:
Most would say that things from 1997-2010 were either good overall, or not ideal (nothing ever is), but things certainly got better or maintained good standards, whereas in the last 15 years things have got much worse.
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Labour lurched too far to the right and payed the price. Their answer? To purge the left, destroy any progress and support then stand on a well failed platform.
 
HarryVegas said:
Well, well, well ...

northeastbylines.co.uk

Toxic Teesside: sadly another bullying story about Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston (updated)

Why was a Cease and Desist letter sent to a charity worker? Further bullying claims about Mayor Andy Preston.
northeastbylines.co.uk northeastbylines.co.uk
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Quite atrocious abuse of power, even if the actual events of the meeting cannot be proven.
Preston is as mad as his Linthorpe Rd cycle lane. Yes, the great idea he led the way on, only to later cite the failed project as "the councils work".

Seems to be doing very well for himself but nobody else. You know those properties in the development zone- that he doesn't own. Yeah but, no, but.

A mayor of a town that he doesn't even live in. Get him in the bin on May 4.
 
Obviously caveated with the fact that town centres are struggling all over the country, but given that's all I have to judge him on, I'd say he's been a failure.

If it wasn't for Primark and the football club, I'd have absolutely no reason to go in to Middlesbrough anymore.

The Primark in Teesside Park will probably put a lot of strain on what's left too.
 
Not much support for Preston on here then. I guess most of his support will come from his social media clan and those he is connected with who have a vested interest or want something from him. But he'll need a significant amount of your average voter as well. Some of these will have worked out what he's about by now, but how many? It should be quite a lot.

Preston was always going to be a bad operator as mayor. A big part of this is how he sees himself and other people. He thinks because he once made a few quid breaking the economy that he knows best and people should do as he says. You can tell by the way he goes on that he would never live in the town. He thinks it is beneath him, and that goes for the people in it as well.

What Preston is effectively doing is attempting to establish a dictatorship within the Town Hall. He wants his own party of independents who will serve him. A party with no rules or regulations with no democratic process. With that taken care of he can concentrate on self-marketing and social media duties. That's why there's currently no vision or progress happening, just a town in decline.
 
ThePrisoner said:
I see the Gazette has today published an 'interview' with Preston. No comments allowed.

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/qa-andy-preston-what-second-26795846

Have they done similar for the other candidates or do they intend to?
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I hope they follow it with the other candidates - but running out of time and Friday was traditionally the biggest day of the week for the Gazette - probably the same for online.
Ah just googled and Chris Cooke was in the Gazette giving his views 5 days ago.
I wonder if I should try and get hold of Chris Cooke to expand on his vision for Middlesbrough - what do people think?
Personally, although I have known Andy Preston a long time I am absolutely heart broken at what is happening at present in the town that I love. WE NEED CHANGE.
 
""I have managed huge teams of people and I can tell you Middlesbrough Council has been an absolute mess for years. I have brought all of that to a head and forced it to improve."

What improvements would they be then?
 
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