Branch Meeting.
3 people sat down and 6 linked in via Zoom for the October 2025 branch meeting. A much lower attendance than normal but this was anticipated.
To accommodate our guest speaker the meeting had been moved to a Friday evening which of course clashed with the social plans of several branch members, AFC Bournemouth were at home to Fulham that evening, and just to add insult to injury, the weather was awful. So, 13 individuals sat down was not too shabby a result.
The Minutes of the September branch meeting and the AGM were accepted without questions or comments. The recap of activity described the Not Forgotten event at Lulworth Castle, the Op Banner talk at the Union Jack Club in London, and the inaugural Veterans Breakfast at the Sweet Holme Inn on Ringwood Road, Poole.
Forthcoming activity centred on the Poppy appeal stand in the Dolphin Centre in Poole, upcoming services on Remembrance Sunday; the RTR march to the Cenotaph in London.
Members were informed that once again the branch would take the lead in manning the RBL Poppy stand in the Dolphin Centre for two weeks commencing Saturday 25th October 2025 and the rota was available for people include their names should they want to participate. The rota will be available to view on the branch Facebook page.
It was announced that the guest speaker for November 2025 will be the Commanding Officer of one of the new “Ranger” Regiments created from some of the regular Infantry Battalions. So, we will get first-hand information about them and their intended role.
The secretary also confirmed that a former Sea Harrier pilot who fought in the Falklands War had agreed to be a guest speaker during 2026. He is one of two individuals the branch agreed to provide hotel accommodation for to facilitate their presence. We are awaiting a response from the other person.
The meeting then closed, and we introduced the guest speaker, Neil Duncan-Jordan was elected as the Labour MP for Poole at the last General Election. He is at Westminster Mon-Thu which is the reason this Branch meeting was changed to a Friday. Poole had always been seen as a safe Conservative seat, but Neil took it for Labour with a majority of just 18 votes, the third smallest majority in the country.
The intention was for Neil to talk about life at Westminster for an MP and to try to keep politics out of it, we succeeded, well sort of! Neil started off by stating that he decided from the outset to be Active, Accessible & Visible. Many of us could understand this as his predecessor (a Conservative MP of many years standing) was known for his possession of a Harry Potter style cloak of invisibility.
Active, Neil mentioned that the official record keeping at Westminster (Hansard) has shown him to be the 11th most active in Westminster of 355 new MPs elected to Parliament at the last General election. He is “the” most active of any of the new Labour MPs.
Accessible, Neil holds an MPs surgery every week in Poole, some MP’s hold surgeries less frequently and many don’t hold surgeries at all. He like all MP’s does have a civilian “close protection” officer with him when out and about with the General Public on official business. His “minder” was present at the October branch meeting.
Visible, Neil has been highly visible in Poole since he was elected, he joined the branch at the Dolphin Centre Poppy stand last year, he was vigorous in his criticism of BCP council in its organising of VE Day 80, his office organised our branch visit to Westminster and he personally took a small group of us on a more detailed visit including the MP’s bar and the riverside balcony.
He was very open when asked about having the party whip suspended, he explained what he did (voting against the Government on more than one occasion) and why he did it. He told us about the workload (he gets 1000 e-mail’s a week from constituents) why many MPs are absent from the debating chamber (various committee meetings plus dealing with constituent concerns) and why many MPs are always looking at their mobile phones (their diaries are on the phones).
He mentioned that he is a keen supporter of modernisation of Westminster, he explained how the age-old system of voting takes forever when electronic voting would reduce wasted time dramatically. Neil told us that he is under no illusion how difficult it will be to hold on to his seat at the next General Election but hopes that his activity and visibility will help in this matter. He also said that if he did win a second term, it would be his last as he had no intention of being there after he reaches retirement age. He said he is not a politician; he is just someone who works in politics.
There was more, a lot more but I must bring this update to a close at some point so now is as good a time as any.
Fear Naught
