Wednesday July 26 | 2017
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SEVENTH HEAVEN
Bookies take bets on Tom becoming next Prime Minister By Murray Jones
murray@timesoftonbridge.co.uk EXTREMELY able but inclined to over-confidence – that’s what Government ministers think of Tom Tugendhat, according to The Daily Telegraph. The paper named him, at the weekend, as one of the MPs most likely to succeed Theresa May.
Ministers believe that first of all though ‘he needs to calm it a bit’ The Tonbridge MP, who only entered parliament two years ago, has attracted attention in Westminster in recent weeks after his appointment as Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Against the backdrop of a lost majority and Cabinet
infighting, there is an emerging consensus that the Conservatives will look to fresher faces to re-launch the party’s brand, with Mr Tugendhat seen as a prime candidate. According to The Telegraph’s Chief Political Correspondent, Christopher Hope, in Saturday’s edition [July 22] the MP ‘has been a man in a hurry’ since the 2015 election with ministers telling him that the MP is ‘extremely able’ and could make it to Number 10 but was ‘inclined to overconfidence’ and ‘needs to calm it a bit’. His odds as next Conservative leader are 33/1 (Ladbrokes), far ahead of neighbouring MP Greg Clark at 50/1, despite the latter’s seven-year ministerial career. The Tunbridge Wells member is seen as having the same chance to become the chief of his party as Diane Abbott is of Labour. David Davis remains the front-runner at 3/1. Mr Tugendhat’s office declined to comment on the grounds that it was purely speculation.
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NEW ADDRESS? Mr Tugendhat could be on the move
Call for rail franchise to be switched after downgrading By Jonathan Banks PLANS to change the Tonbridge to Redhill train line have been met with universal condemnation. Proposals put forward by Govia Thameslink Railway [GTR], owners of Southern Rail, would end the direct connection between Tonbridge and Victoria. Those against the move have until tomorrow [Thursday] to lodge objections. The hourly service now calls at Leigh, Penshurst, Edenbridge, Godstone,
Nutfield and Redhill before making its way to East Croydon, Clapham Junction and London. This would be reduced to a ‘shuttle service’, meaning ‘passengers wishing to travel to London would be required to change trains at Redhill for onward services’.
Shuttle The train is proposed to run halfhourly in peak periods (before 10am on weekdays) and hourly during off-
peak periods. A spokesperson for Tonbridge Line Commuters said: “The proposal represents a ‘worst of all worlds’ approach for passengers because not only are direct trains to London being withdrawn but connections at Redhill are being downgraded to slow stoppers. “We propose that at least hourly services through to Victoria are maintained and in addition we call for a new semi-fast service from Ashford to Redhill, running through ideally to Gatwick but otherwise running to Reading.
“If GTR is not interested in developing services then the line should be transferred to the Southeastern franchise so that new services can be developed which meet the latent passenger demand.” In a letter to GTR, MP Tom Tugendhat highlighted the volume of students coming to Tonbridge from Edenbridge: “The downgrading of this to a shuttle service would significantly harm the chances of children receiving a reliable service to get to school, impacting the education of
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