Tory leader to visit top town school

By Paul Geater

A YEAR ago it was a school in crisis - but now Holywells High is a proving a magnet for leading politicians wanting to see how things can change.

The latest political leader to beat a path to the school is Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith who plans to pay it a visit as part of a regional tour next week.

Mr Duncan Smith is to spend an hour at the school with headteacher Karen Grimes seeing the improvements that have been introduced since it received a scathing Ofsted report in early 2001.

His trip to the school will be in the footsteps of cabinet minister Robin Cook who went to Holywells during last year's by-election campaign.

Mr Duncan Smith is to spend the day on an intensive tour of Suffolk and Norfolk.

As well as his trip to Holywells he is also due to meet party members at a rally in Debenham before heading to Norfolk for an evening engagement.

Next week's trip will be Mr Duncan Smith's third trip to Ipswich since the general election – and he will be hoping for a smoother trip than his last visit!

When he travelled to Ipswich during the by-election campaign, his train was delayed by two hours – and by the time he arrived he was in a mood that could best be described as "thunderous."

He had also visited the town a few weeks earlier during his successful campaign for the party leadership, and visited the internet company AWS which has new offices in Felaw Maltings.

Mr Duncan Smith has been touring different parts of the country every week since his party conference speech in an attempt to build up his profile across the country.

This will be his first visit to East Anglia since then – but it is likely to be the first of many as he tries to shore up support in what is normally a Conservative heartland.

* see page 20 for Paul Geater's column