Fitzy Northampton

At a time like this, with the new government urging us all to tighten our belts, it seems to me a great waste of public money to spend it on so-called 'festivals'.

Well, I have to say the colourful lions prowling around the town centre have taken my fancy. The kids love playing with them, visitors enjoy being photographed with them, and teenage lads and drunks love dry humping them.

In the recent warm weather it was nice to see the kids and the dogs of the town enjoying the Liberal Democrat £100,000 of public money fountain at the south-east corner of the market square.

An article about no hope for our market, written by Liberal Democrat Jill Hope in last Thursday's Chronicle & Echo, contained many propaganda untruths, particularly as to the state of Northampton Market some 30 - 40 years ago.

I still get the Lib-Dems coming to my stall, long after the election's over. Perhaps they can't get over the fact that they didn't win in the North and only came third despite heroic efforts that were comical at times.

Just a few thoughts now the General Election is over. I must say I enjoyed the contest, and I would like to express my thanks to all those who voted for me, to those who gave their support in my election endevours, and to those who stopped by at my 'election headquarters' on Northampton Market to shake my hand and wish me luck, and to my staff who helped cover my occasional absence from my business. I must not forget those fellow-contestants who, no matter what party or point of view, chatted to me in a friendly and pleasant manner.

It's been another hectic week on the campaign trail. Running the show from my campaign headquarters on the market is an interesting and rewarding experience, but it's certainly hard work.

It's been a busy week since I last wrote in here. The General Election date had hardly been announced when I had people stopping by my stalls on Northampton Market to wish me well and offer their support.

After being briefed and picking up my election literature at Wednesday's candidates' meeting, I really feel I've started getting into my stride on this General Election.

Mr Eamonn ' Fitzy' Fitzpatrick has announced that he will be standing in the Northampton North Constituency in the forthcoming General Election.

We market traders at Northampton have been told recently that all traders are to lose their traditional stalls in the coming year, to be replaced by popup gazebos. Two or three rows are to be replaced in June after some 'musical event', the rest later on in the autumn or winter.

I'm really looking forward to 2010 with a General Election looming. The seat in Northampton North is up for grabs, without any outstanding politicians from the big parties to challenge for it, so it looks particularly tempting.

Expectations had been high for Northampton's first-ever German Christmas Market. Some traders and no doubt all of the Lib-Dem council hoped that it would draw crowds of shoppers into the town centre. It didn't work out like that at all.

I watched the Blair interview with Fern Britton. I watched parts of it several times. If Blair is a proper Christian, as he professes to be, I guess he must be carrying a huge load of guilt around with him. I have never seen him look so haunted. What shall it profit a man if he becometh as rich as Tony Blair and yet lose his soul?

I started selling fruit & vegetables on Northampton Market about 1964. In those days the seasons were a very important aspect of the trade, and people were quite used to bottling and preserving stuff when it was cheap and plentiful, and taking it down from their shelves when it was scarce on the open market.