Labour’s poverty is a moral disgrace

Charlie Elphicke’s excellent report into Labour’s shocking record on child poverty makes disturbing reading. The gap between the very rich and the very poor has got wider, a record that Gordon Brown and his crumbling Government should be utterly ashamed of.

Poor households with low earnings are now worse off than ever before because of Labour’s cruel tax grabs. There are an extra 400,000 children living in poverty than four years ago.

This is reason alone to kick Labour out of Downing Street.

The election is NOT in the bag

David Cameron is quite right to remind everyone that an election victory is far from certain. Despite a ComRes poll giving us an 18% lead this morning, the battle is far from over. We still have much work to do to prove to voters that we are ready to form a new Government. Complacency is our greatest enemy and never before has it been so important that we get out and hit the streets. Voters want to see a party working hard in their local area to deliver real change, and Conservative Future can play a significant role in this.

Conservatives lead by 15%

The latest YouGov poll puts the Conservatives 15% ahead with the Lib Dems sliding slowly up to the 20% mark.

Remembering the Chloe Smith campaign

It’s been a crazy few weeks plodding the streets and knocking the doors of Norwich North. Keep Right Online have produced this rather good summary of the campaign from start to finish, click here.

The emergency budget is a real emergency

The announcement by Philip Hammond, shadow Treasury secretary, to call an emergency budget within days of the Conservatives getting into office is a wise move indeed. With crippling public & personal debt, setting out a clear and concise plan for efficient public spending to help Britain balance the books is essential. Doubtless, an incoming Conservative administration will have to make some tough and unpopular decisions, but being straight with people and telling the truth about just how bad the public finances are is vital.

As the credit crunch bites hard on the pockets of hardworking families, few will fall for Gordon Brown’s broken promises and empty words as he desperately tries to mask his catastrophic failure. The burden of public debt, which currently stands at around £20,000 per head, will plague our country for a generation. If we want to be a Government of transparency and honesty then we must look the public in the eye and tell it like it is.

Chloe Smith wins Norwich North By-election with 7,348 majority

Keep Right Online has announced that Chloe Smith has won the Norwich North by-election.

Norwich North’s CF Team

Over the last new weeks I’ve been working with national campaign co-ordinator for the by-election Paul Wells (left) to help get young activists into action in Norwich. It’s been a tough and challenging job for Paul, with hundreds of people to organise and multiple teams to manage – but he’s done a sterling job and deserves full credit for the CF effort on the ground.

As we wait with eager anticipation for the final votes to be counted, we can rest assured we did our very best as an organisation.

GUEST POST: Conservative Future’s By-election

By Ben Wilson

As the polls draw to a close, and the count begins, Conservative Future activists across the UK can take pride in the huge contribution they have made to the Norwich North election. Whatever the result, our activists have flooded the area by coach & train, day and night and that’s something we can truly by proud of.

Chloe is a Norfolk girl through and through – she grew up in Norfolk and is a governor of her old comprehensive school in Swaffham and is a candidate of which we can all be very proud.

I cannot emphasise how important activism on the ground is to our organisation and I know that we have shown the party that we are a force to be reckoned with.

Live update from Norwich North

I’m out campaigning today in Norwich North with several other Conservative Future activists hoping to get Chloe Smith elected. I’ve just finished having breakfast at a local cafe with Paul Wells, Campaign Director for CF in the Norwich by-election to set us up for what is sure to be a very, very busy final few hours of campaigning!

The turnout from across the country has been absolutely fantastic, with hundreds of Conservative Future activists hitting the streets and knocking on doors. Blogging today will be light, as I’m off to meet the team to help coordinate the Conservative Future knocking-up programme and making sure we get out as many votes as possible.

I’ll update you on what’s happening over here once the polls have closed!

Patrick

Welcome

Welcome to Sullivan's Diary, a new political blog covering Conservative activism, news and policy.