October 13 2014

As I write this column it’s the morning after the night before with the election of my former party colleague, Douglas Carswell, under the UKIP banner in Clacton. It’s a victory for a right-of-centre free market, libertarian politician elected with the help of voters who would normally shy away from a candidate with Carswell’s views. I make the comments as an observation, not a criticism as I can understand why voters acted how they did. He will now be a lone voice in Parliament with no access to ministers and unable to achieve the investment in his constituency that is so clearly needed. In this respect he has let his constituents down.

The Party Conference season has no come to its end; how have they may have changed the political landscape. I recognise that most people don’t take a close interest at the goings on in Birmingham, Manchester or wherever but the Conferences are an important forum for parties to highlight policy announcements and for the leadership to grab the all-important few minutes on the main news bulletins.

There’s no escaping that it was a bad conference for the Labour Party and Ed Miliband in particular. His 65-minute speech eventually ground to a halt without a mention of the deficit or immigration. Did he, as we are led to believe, ‘forget’ these issues of did he bottle it at the last moment fearing that facing up to them would again highlight the part the last Labour government played in bringing about financial disaster and their lack of immigration controls? Either way it showed that he is not up to the job of Prime Minister.

The Tory Conference on the other hand was upbeat and positive, with ministers setting out the framework for what a Conservative government elected next May will aim to achieve; it was a programme for government covering all aspects of policy, most notably the economy – the subject on which all governments are ultimately judged and with the British economy being the fastest-growing in the Western World we were able to give a clear indication of the benefits that will flow from that.

The Conference also allows backbench MP s to discuss a range of issues with ministers; for example I held (another) meeting with Rail Minister, Claire Perry, to again press the case for retaining the through train service between Cleethorpes and Manchester. It’s also an opportunity to meet with business representatives, and those from think-tanks who churn out policy ideas – some good, some bad, some completely mad!

The post-Conference polls indicate that voters did indeed pick up from media coverage that it was the Conservatives who have a programme for government rather than a series of sound-bites with little substance.

Though it’s the Conservative and Labour conferences that really matter, since it is David Cameron or Ed Miliband who will be Prime Minister after 7th May - I ought, in order to be even-handed mention the LibDems and UKIP. Somewhat bizarrely the LibDems seem to spend most of their time criticising the Conservatives who for over four years have been their partners in government, trying desperately to claim credit for restoring our economic fortunes and disowning just about everything else; trying to face both ways at the same time is the phrase that comes to mind.

UKIP, whose policies on pensions, housing, transport, health and just about everything else are unknown kicked off by announcing the defection of the appropriately named Tory, Mark Reckless. Above everything else Reckless wants an In/Out EU referendum and has now joined a Party that can’t deliver it; Reckless by name, but also attracted by reckless behaviour.