I rather like Charlie and think he will do well for Dover but there is no gainsaying that he campaigned on the basis of being totally opposed to a sell-off of the port. Remember the inflammatory statements such as "Labour want to sell off our port," "Not on my watch," etc?
I never dreamed for a moment that he meant it and said so repeatedly at the time. The whole Conservative ethos for the last thirty years has been the privatisation of everything in sight and I seem to remember that Charlie was actually an advisor on privatisation to the shadow government.
Immediately upon being elected he came up with this plan to sell off the port. Call it mutualisation or whatever you like but it involves flogging off a nationally owned asset and using privately raised finance to purchase it. This is the complete opposite of what he promised the voters during his campaign. He is a very nice bloke but I would not want to buy a used car from him.
Here are some quotes from that bastion of reputable reporting, Dover Forum:
Charlie Elphicke, The Conservative Candidate for Dover and Deal said...
"Now it's official. Gordon Brown is selling off our port just as quick as he can. This is total betrayal of the solemn promise Labour made at the last election not to sell off the port. You just can't trust them. People often tell me the only thing to change in Dover in ten years is we're losing a hospital and now our port is being flogged off. I don't agree with Gordon Brown's sale of our port. It's wrong to sell off our borders."
Gwyn Prosser MP:
"On the other hand, everyone knows that in the event of a Conservative Government taking office they would relish the prospect of selling the port because that's what Tories do. And for the avoidance of doubt, at the last election their shadow transport minister travelled all the way to Dover and promised to privatise the port"
http://www.doverforum.com/comment/article.php?id=186