The impressive electoral success of Winchester’s MP Dr Danny Chambers may have lost a bit of its shine with the news that his campaign benefited from a £90,000 cash injection provided by individual donors. That explains the deluge of expensive leaflets then.

Such generosity doesn’t account for the result, of course. The direction of traffic was strong and steady.

But was this really necessary? Maybe Lib Dem HQ became alarmed by the antics of their party leader. Every time Ed Davey gets near a piece of elastic, he seems to have to attach himself to it and head for the nearest elevation.

Oh the madness of the UK electoral system. Now we learn from new academic research, that pre-election polls, have an inbuilt bias towards predicting left-wing outcomes. And the recent impressive Labour majority, in terms of the large number of sitting MPs, is built on one of the lowest overall percentages of votes for the winning party. Confused? I am!

Already Labour is mired in cronyism allegations. Sir Keir Starmer has appointed a number of party faithful to top jobs in the Civil Service despite recent concerns about its neutrality. He also  issued a Number 10 Free Pass to a donor who gave £1 million to the party, £20,000 towards clothes and glasses, and £40,000 for a private office.

Unsurprisingly, recently, over half of people polled by YouGov thought the Government was “somewhat or very corrupt” (though the percentage was higher when asked about the Tories). Starmer’s personal rating has plummeted.

It’s always better to choose the healthier option when dining out on democracy. Not a full fat one. Britain has in the past been the envy of the world with an electoral system that awards power largely on the basis of competency, its policies, and a free and fair process. Not sectional interests, money nor religion.

The more those fundamentals are departed from, the less likely any government serves the interest of people. The more likely it will behave in authoritarian, dogmatic and self-serving ways. Boundaries between politicians, civil servants and commercial interests blur.

 George Orwell’s famous literary warning is more relevant than ever. In his invocation of a nightmare totalitarian government in the novel 1984, the most important area  for ‘The Party’, is messaging:  ‘reality control’.

Which brings me onto the subject of local policies that meaningfully preserve the environment. Two crucial areas in Winchester remain under critical threat from a smoke and mirror approach to ‘’sustainability and ‘diversity’, Sir John Moore Barracks and Bushfield Camp. Also our precious Green Belt hangs in the balance.

Time for a reality check. Why isn’t there any spirited push back on protecting local people and the wildlife from over development? Does this regime believe that by building concrete electric charging points for 44 cars and lorries in a large field off the A34 solves everything.  

The latest 900 houses planned for the Barracks just down the road, are largely opposed by local people. What’s worse in the short term? Living with the threat of losing this vital conservation area? Or enduring another sham process of ‘public consultation’.

In one of his first messages to his constituents, our new MP describes how much he appreciates running in the beauty of the local countryside.  Fight to protect it, then.