Dave

Last time I stood the Conservative Council candidates had a chance to meet David Cameron, or Dave as he was then known. The same happened again: after visiting Nissan to welcome the production of the Leaf, the Prime Minister (as he is now known) spoke at a reception for Conservative activists and candidates and managed to speak one on one to a lot of us: we were reminded beforehand not to slow down the process too much: he had, we were told, heard of Europe, UKIP and gay marriage before. I did get to shake his hand* and have a brief word – “what are your main issues of concern” he said, and fortunately mine were not  Europe, UKIP and gay marriage (they are the deficit, transparency of public expenditure, economic growth) – but annoyingly did not manage to get my photo taken at the same time. A moment of history lost forever…

He spoke well: he reminded us of the mess left behind by Labour, particularly in terms of the economy but also in terms of a generation trapped in welfare dependency. Although the Government had not done as much as it could have done, it had made progress in many key areas and was generally on the right side of the argument: the deficit was reducing, unemployment was down, private sector employment had grown considerably, steps were being taken to control immigration and reduce welfare dependency, the education system was being reformed, a Europe referendum would hopefully allow the issue to be lanced in due course. Although this area is mainly Conservative vs LD, the one in 2015 will essentially be a choice between Conservatives and Labour. That choice should be clear.

* contrary to rumour, I have washed my hand since.