07/05/2010 by Steve Barclay.

Thank you to everyone who helped elect me as the new Member of Parliament for North East Cambridgeshire.  The result was announced at 3.40am this morning.

It is a great honour to become your MP, and to follow Malcolm Moss who served this constituency which such distinction for 23 years.  I am delighted to have more than doubled the majority and secured over 51% of the vote on an increased turnout of 71%.
I would like to pay tribute to Peter, Lorna, Robin, and all the candidates and their campaign teams for the positive way the campaign was fought locally.
We have a fantastic local Conservative team and they all worked hard throughout the campaign.  A big thank you to my agent Debbie Clark, the officers led by President Victor Aveling and Chairman Cllr Pam Potts, members, family, and friends who shared in this journey and helped secure a great win.

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03/05/2010 by Steve Barclay.

Bank Holiday Monday and also my 38th birthday.  Out in Withcham, Mepal, and Sutton today delivering leaflets with Karen and my parents in law.  It builds on our constituency campaign day on Saturday where a team of 30 covered Chatteris and Littleport with our final leaflet.  With my brother joining the team on Saturday, my parents helping all last week, and friends heading over, there is a real sense of monentum to the campaign.  3 days to go.

Our message is clear.  The only way to guarantee a change of Government is to vote Conservative.  A hung Parliament risks delay and dither at a time when the economy needs strong leadership.  It is clear on the doorstep that people are fed up with Gordon Brown.  After 13 years the time is up for Labour. 

As for the Lib Dems, their policy to give an amnesty for illegal immigrants resulting in over a million extra people claiming benefits gets short shift.  So too their desire to scrap the pound and give more power to Brussels, abolish jail sentences of less than six months (for offences like assulting a police office, drink driving or domestic violence), and their opposition to welfare reform for those who can work but choose not to.

David Cameron’s strong performance on Thursday night has firmed up support amongst many undecided voters, although a few are still to make up their mind. Lots of emails and calls in to the office which is positive.

We need to deliver a change of Government on Thursday.  Don’t wake up on Friday morning to five more years of Gordon Brown supported by the Lib Dems.  If you can help on polling day please get in touch - 01354  652295.

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24/04/2010 by Steve Barclay.

For all the calls made by the team today, one stood out for me personally.  It was chatting with a guy who runs a garage here converting vehicles from petrol to LPG.  Two years ago, LPG was 40p a litre.  Now it is 60 to 70p.  The reason is a hike in tax, even though LPG is better for the environment.  His business was converting 50 vehicles a year. Now it is down to 10.  They were selling 12,000 litres a month, now they are selling a quarter of this each month.  The parts to carry out the conversions come from Europe.  The massive devaluation of the pound means these cost over 20% more.  The technology has also improved, yet the price he charges for converting a vehicle is unchanged (around £1,200 to £1,400).  It is a struggle to get people to pay to convert if the cost of LPG is more than half the cost of petrol, which the extra tax added recently has done.

Hard working people like this have been let down in recent years by the massive amount of wasteful spending, paid for by so many extra stealth taxes, in this case on LPG.  They don’t have the option of employing a press officer, mobilising a trade union, or going on strike.  If we do not cut the current level of waste and get our economy moving, the business will quietly disappear.

I have commented in this blog before on how many decisions now are taken by people who are not elected.  I was unaware of this issue before speaking with him.  Elections help make these conversations happen.  The Labour candidate and myself have both been out in the constituency holding such conversations for two and a half years or so.  Whoever the public go for, we will both have learnt from it.

This election matters to jobs here, to their families, and to the other businesses which trade with garages like this.  It is not X Factor.  We need to stop putting tax on small businesses and instead cut waste. It is why we need a change of Goverment. 

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17/04/2010 by Steve Barclay.

A busy and varied week, which has ranged from speaking to sixth form students in Wisbech, shop keepers in Whittlesey, and large firms like JDR Cable Systems in Littleport.  JDR Cable Systems employ just under 200 people here in their head office and R&D facility, producing underwater cables for the oil and gas industry and for offshore wind farms.  It is a successful local manufacturing firm which is well placed to benefit from the green economy.  I am keen to find out from those working at the heart of our firms how I can support them if I become the MP, so was grateful to Operations Director Colin Taylor who gave me an insightful tour of their plant on the Littleport Innovation Park. 

The week was rounded off today with over 30 people out in March for the first of our General Election campaign action days.   It was perfect weather, and with many helpers out it meant we could cover the ground much quicker.  So we had a good the excuse for a lunch time pint at the Rose and Crown, before finishing at 4pm and heading over to the Ship.  A good response on the doorstep, followed by a beer sat in the sun.  A great note on which to finish the week.

Pictured are some of the team enjoying the sun (and a beer)
at the Rose & Crown in March

Posted in Campaigning, General Election, March, Littleport, Whittlesey | No Comments »

09/04/2010 by Steve Barclay.

I have always felt the best way to find out what matters to local residents is to get out from behind a desk and chat with them direct at their front door.  What is striking from canvassing in the first few days of the campaign is the consistency of the issues on the doorstep, and how different these are from those issues being raised with me in the post.

I spent today canvassing in Wisbech with our County Council candidate Sam Hoy, County Councillor Steve Tierney, and our local team.  On the doorstep I expected the economy and jobs to be the biggest issue as the media is still dominated by the debate on national insurance.  The economy did come up today, but not often.  The most mentioned subject has been immigration, followed by lack of police, health services, and funding for pensioners.   This has been strikingly consistent not just in different areas of Wisbech, but in Manea, Benwick, Elm and March where we have also been campaigning over the last few days.

Given the comments about at the lack of policing, it was good to see in Wisbech two of our PCSO’s out and about, with Steve outside the Oasis Centre and Katrina (pictured) walking the beat along Clarkson Avenue. From chatting with them both had a great grasp of the issues in their patch.

By contrast, in the postbag there has been little if anything about immigration or policing.  Instead I have had emails and letters with requests to sign over 50 different pledges on a wide range of issues.   These vary greatly, from animal rights issues such as vote4animals or the Animal Testing Survey, to climate change and environmental issues like the Climate Change and Carbon Emissions campaign, Green Energy Charter or Woodland Trust Manifesto, to long running campaigns like CND and Trident, to international issues like UK and Cuba relations or the Debt Relief Bill, to community issues like Sikhs and the Census, the Ramblers campaign or the British Cycling Campaign, to social issues like the Modernisation of Drug Safety Campaign, the Right to Life Campaign or the Dignity in Dying campaign, and even ad hoc campaigns such as the Spare Room campaign, Save the BBC campaign and Save Regional News campaign.  There are also detailed packs from many of our most respected charities, many of which have five or six pledges for candidates to sign up to.

It is great that people take the trouble to get in touch, even if it is just forwarding emails or letters from an organisation’s London HQ.  All are issues of importance.  However if you do not venture out of the office to hear the issues on the doorstep, you would have a totally different view of the campaign when looking at the postbag compared to listening on the doorstep.

Posted in Policing, Campaigning, General Election, Wisbech | No Comments »

08/04/2010 by Steve Barclay.

Clear today out on the campaign that the endorsement from national business leaders of the Conservative Party position against increases in national insurance is shared locally by leading businessmen.

In Gorefield this afternoon I was chatting with Edward Newling (pictured) who farms 178 acres of apples and pears supplying Sainsburys.  He has 6 full time staff, 10 agency staff and 40 fruit pickers with a combined tax bill each year to the Treasury of over £300,000.  As Edward said this tax rise would be a disaster, and it will mean he will be reluctant to take on extra workers.

It was the same message in March this evening.  Another successful local businessman Adam Triggs was equally explicit.  Adam has just landed a new contract to put the signage on 200 vans in London.  He said it is a straight forward business decision.  If the Conservatives win, he will probably be putting an ad in the local paper shortly afterwards for two extra jobs to help with this contract and a growing order book.  If Labour get in and increase National Insurance, he expects he will simply sub-contract the work to a firm in London, rather than hiring staff locally.

People sometimes says political parties are too alike.  On National Insurance there is a clear difference.  Jobs are on the line locally.  Businessmen nationally, and now locally, are making it clear that they back the Conservative policy.

It build on the best day I have ever had on the campaign trail in over 15 years of grassroots campaigning.  Canvassing in Elm this morning, one of my helpers had to pop back to the association office to collect some more posters as we ran out of those we had taken.  It is fair to say Gordon Brown is an electoral negative for the Labour party and a plus for us.  There is still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done, but today marks positive progress.  We finished off with a pint at the Ship pub in March which has just been refurbished.  What a fantastic job Paul has done - it looks fabulous inside and I will certainly be going back.

Posted in National Insurance, General Election, Gorefield, March, Conservative Party | No Comments »

06/04/2010 by Steve Barclay.

After a long wait we now have the chance to put an end to Labour’s mismanagement.  Five more years of Gordon Brown would be a disaster, and the feedback on the doorstep this morning has been fantastic.  There is a clear desire for change.

We launched our campaign in Manea before heading over to Benwick this afternoon.  A really good response and a positive note on which to start the campaign.

Thanks to Sabrina from Sabs Photography in Manea who joined us today and took some photos out on the campaign. 

Posted in General Election, Manea, Conservative Party | No Comments »

17/02/2010 by Steve Barclay.

The key issue at the forthcoming General Election will be the economy.  So I am fortunate this week to be able to hear from a wide range of figures.

The week started with a breakfast on Monday with the Lord Mayor of London at Mansion House.  Tuesday was the chance to attend a lecture by Irwin Seltzer, the economist and Sunday Times columnist.  This was followed by dinner with Irwin and a number of economic journalists and MPs.  Wednesday was a meeting with rural businesses, and this evening I am off to our Group Council meeting in Fenland to hear from councillors about local businesses within the constituency.  

Tomorrow I have one of my regular coffee clusters, this time in Leverington to listen to the impact of the recession on this area of the constituency, and in the evening the Chatteris Mayor’s Ball.  Saturday will be canvassing in Chatteris during the day to hear from voters, and in the evening meeting up with association members at our quiz, organised by Conservative Future.

Reading papers and surfing the web are all well and good, but speaking with a wide range of people provides a better understanding of the reality on the ground.  It should be an interesting week-end.

Pictured is Irwin Seltzer speaking at the Politea lecture

Posted in Leverington, General Election, Chatteris | No Comments »

16/06/2009 by Steve Barclay.

Allowing high levels of immigration into Britain was not a policy in the Labour Government’s election manifesto.  The British people have not voted for such levels of immigration.  It highlights the growing sense that the Left wing elite act in a way removed from the wishes of the public they claim to serve.

We now have seven people attending the British Cabinet who are unelected.  The House of Lords is unelected.  The cabinet of Europe, all 27 commissioners, is unelected.  Scottish MPs vote on laws for England when they are not elected to decide the same laws in Scotland.  Quangos of unelected officials increasingly decide policy.  And even Labour’s manifesto commitments, of a referendum on the European Constitution and not to increase income tax, have been broken.  Is it any wonder that people increasingly question what difference their vote makes?

The public frustration with this Government was shown in the recent County and European elections.  Labour are divided and hopelessly out of touch

With unemployment continuing to rise rapidly, Labour still insist on issuing huge numbers of foreign work permits.  When someone who has worked continuously for more than 10 years loses their job, they receive only the same Job Seeker’s Allowance as someone who has never worked.

Huge sums of money are still being wasted on large state run schemes.  Labour’s New Deal has cost £75 billion but has failed to deliver its intended outcomes. The training offered is often unsuitable for the needs of the person being trained or for the jobs each community needs.  It should be replaced with local programmes run by people sized organisations which fit the needs of each locality.

The Labour Government is also running up massive debts, to be paid in the future by those who have no say today.  We are currently borrowing £500 million each day. Future generations will face higher tax to pay the interest on this debt.

Labour is even printing money to help pay for their spending.  Savers who have been hit today through interest rate cuts face the risk of inflation in the future wiping out any savings they have left.

The public did not ask for this Government to sell off our gold reserves on the cheap, to raid our pensions, or impose a host of stealth taxes.

The next Conservative Government will respond to what the public are saying - with stronger border controls, a fairer benefits system, and better help when people lose their job. We also need to ensure that those taking decisions on behalf of the public are accountable directly to the public.

This Government is on the wrong path.  It is time for change.  We need a General Election.

Posted in Articles, General Election, Conservative Party, My Campaign | No Comments »