Caroline goes shopping

Caroline talking to staff Caroline talking to staff

On the afternoon of Friday 23rd July Caroline visited Morrisons Supermarket in Gosport.    She met the Manager of the Store Andy Wood and Public Affairs Manager Guy Mason.    Caroline was given a tour of the store where she met many of the staff and some of the customers.   

Baycroft School's Market Day

On Friday 16 July Caroline visited Baycroft School's Market Day. The photo shows Caroline being welcomed.  Afterwards Caroline visited all the stalls and met many of the staff, children and visitors. 

Caroline visits Rowner Rectory

On 16 July Caroline visited Rowner Rectory and met with the Gosport Church of England Clergy led by The Revd John Draper, Rector of Rowner and Area Dean of Gosport.   Over lunch Caroline was briefed on various local issues and was able to listen to various concerns.     Everyone agreed it was a very useful meeting and something that will become a regular occurrence.

Caroline visits the Citizen's Advice Bureau

On 16 July 2010 Caroline visited the Citizen's Advice Bureau in Gosport to be briefed on the excellent work they undertake on behalf of the local population.  Caroline viewed the facilities at Martin Snape House and met with the Trustees before meeting some of the staff.  Caroline accompanied by CAB Centre Manager Paul Simmonds received a briefing by one of the CAB's Financial Specialists.  The photo shows Caroline with Chairman Richard Thomson (Front Row) and Centre Manager Paul Simmonds (next to Caroline) together with some of the CAB staff.

 

 

 

Caroline Strives to boost Gosport Shops

Caroline Dinenage, Gosport's new MP recently met with representatives from top retail firms to promote Gosport as a place to shop.

 

At a breakfast meeting with the British Retail Consortium Caroline was by important figures from groups such as John Lewis Partnership, Marks and Spencer and Kingfisher (B&Q).  She used the opportunity to tell them what a great place Gosport would be to invest in new stores.

 

Speaking at the meeting Caroline said 'Speaking to the people that I meet in my regular visits to the market in Gosport town centre on a Saturday, I'm acutely aware of the level of concern at the number of vacant retail units and the lack of choice for shoppers in the high street.  I would to do what I can to help the local council attract more top level retailers back into Gosport.  As a peninsula Gosport has a captive audience of shoppers-what can we do to keep them spending their money in Gosport?'

 

The retail sector generates 8% of the GDP of the UK and retail sales account for 1/10 of the UK economy.  The retail sector employed more than 2.9million people as of the end of December 2009-11% of the total UK workforce.

 

With these figures in mind Caroline says 'A Successful shopping centre doesn't just mean local choice and less traffic on the roads out of Gosport, it is important to generate the jobs, investment and economic growth that this area so desperately needs.'

Caroline Supports Local Centre

Caroline recently visited the Royal Sailors Rest in Rowner.  The centre provides valuable services to the community including: creche, mother and toddler group and adult education services.  Due to problems with funding, the centre is under threat but Caroline will fight to the centre and all its indispensable services open.  Caroline will be seeing a Minister from the Defence team to highlight this important issue.  Caroline said, "I was so impressed by the services on offer and the wonderful work of the volunteers.  It will be a tragedy if this centre closes and I will do everything in my power to prevent this from happening." 

Caroline tackles two key issues

Two of the biggest issues in the Gosport constituency are the uncertain futures surrounding HMS Sultan and Haslar.  In a hectic day of meetings, Caroline visited HMS Sultan and met with the new owners of Haslar, 'Our Enterprise'.  In a very constructive meeting some of the key issues surrounding the future of the sites were discussed.   Caroline fully supports the plan for the Veterans' Village and community care on the site.

 

Caroline later visited HMS Sultan and was briefed by the Commanding Officer about its proposed closure and move to St Athan, Wales, which had been planned by the previous government.  Caroline has been in contact with the Secretary of State and held numerous meetings in a bid to prevent the move to St Athan.  The would have a serious impact on the future economic prosperity of the area.

Caroline on Patrol

Caroline experienced firsthand what life was like for the Police, as she went out on patrol with Gosport Police today to try and get a better understanding of the issues faced by the Police. 

 

Hampshire Police are currently piloting a new piece of equipment.  Mobile Information Technology is a laptop which enables the officers to input data whilst out on the streets instead of going back to the station, so it will lead to increased Policed visibility and less bureaucracy.  Caroline said: 'I am extremely grateful for being given the opportunity to go out on patrol and see for myself the issues the Police face on day to day basis.'

Caroline's Commons' Debut

'Firstly may I congratulate the Right Honourable lady on a feisty maiden speech, defending in fact demanding that her constituency should get a greater share and resource from Government.'

 

Those were the words former Home Secretary David Blunklett MP used as Caroline today gave her maiden speech in the House of Commons and she certainly made her mark!

 

Caroline spoke about the lack of investment that has taken place which has seen Gosport lose some key military sites as well as major employers such as Haslar.  She went on to describe how the previous Government wasted money on such schemes as ID cards rather than investing in infrastructure and improvements the Gosport area so dearly needs.

 

To watch Caroline's speech in full please click on the link below:

 

http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=6332&st=14:19:27.4100000

 

 

New Roles for Caroline

Caroline Dinenage MP was yesterday appointed Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Armed Forces Group as well as Chair of the Royal Navy Sub Group.

 

Caroline said 'I am very proud to have been chosen for these two appointments.  It is important to me, as a Member of Parliament for a Constituency with such strong links to the Armed Forces and the defence industry to have firsthand knowledge of the issues.' 

Caroline in the Market

Caroline listening to the public Caroline listening to the public

Both before and during the election a common sight for the shoppers in Gosport High Street was Caroline and her usual team of volunteers talking with people and handing out flyers. 

 

Well this weekend Caroline and her volunteers returned to their usual spot in the market dispelling the theory you only see politicians at election time.  Caroline was very keen to get out in the market.  Not only to meet people but also to say thank you to the voters who made her fantastic result possible.  Once again Caroline was lucky with the weather as she stood and chatted with numerous people on Saturday morning.  Caroline said 'I really enjoyed going down to the market again, people were very friendly and it was good knowing I am now in a position to help.'

 

Caroline is very keen to make the stall a regular event and has said she hopes be in the market again soon.

Tranport Minister flies in

Caroline with Under Secretary of State for Transport Mike Penning Caroline with Under Secretary of State for Transport Mike Penning

Lee on the Solent has just had its first visit from the Coalition Government, as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport came to see for himself the challenges this area faces. 

 

Mike Penning met Caroline at the Daedalus and were able to have a tour of the Marine and Coastguard facility which is based on the site.  Highlight of the tour was a helicopter ride.  Caroline said 'it was a really useful exercise to meet Mike, it is important that a minister has seen the area and been able to hear about the challenges first hand.'

Caroline and Mike Penning prepare for the off Caroline and Mike Penning prepare for the off

Moving Daedalus Forward

One of the major issues affecting the area is undoubtedly the questions marks currently surrounding the future of the Daedalus site.

 

Caroline has wasted little in time in getting to grips with moving the development of Daedalus forward.  Last Friday Caroline and her team (which included leader of Gosport Borough Council Mark Hook and Deputy Leader of Fareham Borough Fareham Council Arthur Mandry), met with SEEDA officials to discuss the way forward. 

 

In what could prove to be a major breakthrough in the long running saga that is Daedalus.  Caroline got SEEDA to agree to a summit involving all the key players (SEEDA, Gosport Borough Council, Fareham Borough Council, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Hampshire Police) meeting to discuss ways of moving the development of Daedalus forward so the site maximises its enormous potential.

 

Caroline said 'it is a complicated site in which lots of different organisations have a stake, it seems obvious to me that we need to get all the major stakeholders around a table and work together to find solutions to the obstacles which are preventing the site being developed to create jobs and boost the local economy.'

The Hard Work Starts Now

Having been elected with a startling mandate Caroline has set about tackling one of the major issues for Gosport and the local area:  the Rowner Regeneration Project.  A very productive meeting was held last Friday, where the key topics of the scheme were discussed.  Caroline has been continuing her support for local education with visits to schools in the town.

 

Last Friday Caroline also held her first constituency surgery (please see surgery page for details).  This was Caroline's first opportunity since being elected to talk through problems faced by some of her constituents.  As well as all this Caroline has been up in London learning about all the finer points of becoming an MP.  For example office space, employing staff and the new strict rules for claiming expenses.  Then there was the small issue of being summoned to the meeting of the Conservative Parliamentary Party to endorse the historic coalition between Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. 

Gosport's Champion in Westminster

The election campaign is finally over and all the hard work put in by Caroline and her team has been rewarded with a stunning victory in the General Election.  Although the result wasn't announced until nearly 5 o'clock in the morning, Caroline's patience was rewarded with a clear mandate from the people of Gosport with 51% of the vote, increasing the majority to 14,413.

 

Upon announcement of the result Caroline said: 'I am hugely honoured.  I had the most brilliant team, including all my friends and family.  It was all really down to team work.'

 

Result:

 

Caroline Dinenage (Conservative) 24,300 (51.77%)

 

Rob Hylands (Liberal Democrats) 9,887 (21.06%)

 

Graham Giles (Labour Party) 7,944 (16.92%)