Well done, Bill, you're our hero in the country. (From Worcester News)

Well done, Bill, you're our hero in the country.

10:54am Monday 30th March 2009

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HIS tireless campaigning for Herefordshire and the countryside he loves so much, has won a “rural Oscar” for Leominster MP Bill Wiggin.

This may not quite make him the local version of Brad Pitt, who was nominated for the real thing in Hollywood this year, but it is nevertheless a considerable honour and a first.

Mr Wiggin, who farms near Ledbury, received the inaugral Westminster Award in the fourth annual Countryside Alliance Awards – nicknamed the Rural Oscars – which honour those who work to preserve the communities, traditions and enterprises of the countryside.

It was presented for the MP’s sterling work in bringing the countryside to Parliament. Not by turning up in his wellies, but by constantly battling against what he describes as “the very strong urban agenda” of the current Labour government.

Mr Wiggin said: “Do you know Herefordshire receives the third lowest funding for any education authority in the country? Yet through sheer commitment and talent it still produces first class results.

“There is a real feeling this Government treats its rural population as second-class citizens. It doesn’t understand the countryside and doesn’t appear to want to.

“That was why it was such a fantastic honour for me to receive this award from the Countryside Alliance. This organisation truly represents the countryside and its annual awards are a tremendous way to promote rural business and enterprise.”

Mr Wiggin entered Parliament in 2001, when he won the Leominster seat – previously held by Peter Temple-Morris who defected to the Labour Party – with a 10,367 majority.

The son of former Conservative MP Jerry Wiggin, who represented Weston-super- Mare, Bill Wiggin was shadow agriculture minister from 2005 until two months ago, when he was appointed an Opposition whip. Despite his new job, he is unlikely to step back from his countryside campaigning.

He said: “Our rural communities are the heart and soul of this country and it is very regrettable the Government has spent the last 12 years ignoring them. It must remember the British countryside is not a theme park. There are people who work and live in it and make it what it is. Our beautiful countryside doesn’t happen by accident and its people need to feel they are being treated equally with their urban counterparts. I am not saying every part of the population, no matter where they live, doesn’t have specific problems, but there needs to be a level playing field when dealing with them. This government has a very strong urban agenda. It appears skewed against the countryside.”

In particular, Mr Wiggin called for more support for rural schools, housing provision and transport and criticised the £300 million so far spent on efforts to tackle bovine TB with an effective solution no nearer in sight.

His efforts have obviously impressed the Countryside Alliance.

Simon Hart, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “Bill has a phenomenal track-record of serving the countryside through his work at Westminster. As a constituency MP and a breeder of Hereford cattle he has worked tirelessly on behalf of his constituents. Through his work on the environment, food and rural affairs committee, his chairmanship of the allparty cider group and his role as shadow agriculture minister, he has championed the interests of our farmers and producers at the highest levels in Westminster.”

There were other Herefordshire wins at the awards, too. Glyn Slade Jones Butchers of Kington, near Leominster, and Rowlestone Court Farmhouse Ice Cream, Ewyas Harold, near Hereford, won the West Midlands regional awards for best local food retailer and best rural enterprise respectively.

Mr Wiggin said: “Herefordshire has a proud tradition of great rural businesses and their successes bode well for the whole county.”

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