Politics
The town is generally seen as a conservative area, and this can be backed up by the fact that in the 2010 national elections Mark Prisk was elected for the Conservative Party with a majority of the votes cast (53.8%). Bishop's Stortford's constituency, Hertford and Stortford, covers many other settlements including Hertford. Caroline Spelman, the Conservative Cabinet Minister, is also from the town.
The most controversial political issue for the town relates to the expansion of Stansted Airport. A long-standing protest group called Stop Stansted Expansion vehemently opposes unsustainable growth at the airport and is wholly against plans for a second runway.
The town has a Youth Council that meets once a month. It is made up of students from the local schools, and many local and youth issues are discussed.
The International Monarchist League is based here.
In December 2011 the Conservative council of Bishop's Stortford voted 13 to 3 in favour of cancelling its twinned status with Friedberg in der Wetterau in Germany and Villiers-sur-Marne in France. It is thought that anti-EU sentiment within the grassroots Tory party was behind the vote.
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Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“Beware the politically obsessed. They are often bright and interesting, but they have something missing in their natures; there is a hole, an empty place, and they use politics to fill it up. It leaves them somehow misshapen.”
—Peggy Noonan (b. 1950)
“Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“Writing is the continuation of politics by other means.”
—Philippe Sollers (b. 1936)