On May 6th 2010 I reduced the Liberal Democrat MP's majority to just over 1700 votes increasing the share of the vote by 11.5% towards the Conservative Party. It has been a great priviledge to stand has the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for the St Ives Constituency. God willing I will be able to stand once again at the next election.

You deserve an effective representative. I want to maintain an open and transparent relationship with my constituents. With this in mind I have made the following commitments:
• I will continue to hold public meetings in every parish and every town each year. This gives you the opportunity to raise your concerns and hold me to account. I am determined to stay in touch with people from every walk of life.
• I will set up a forum with representatives from the constituency. This forum will monitor how the priorities are being addressed.
• I will only claim expenses that are essential to the role of Member of Parliament for the St Ives Constituency. I will publish all my expenses on my web-site.
• I will listen to my constituents when I go to vote in Parliament.

LOCAL HOUSING

Before we start building towns in the middle of nowhere we need to identify how many new houses we need and where we need them.
• I will work with Town Councils, Parish Councils and Cornwall Council to identify how many properties are needed, who needs them and where they are needed most.
• Good quality houses can be provided without costing the earth. I will continue to work with the industry to find ways to make housing available at a genuinely affordable price.
• Owning your first home is a major milestone. I will work with the local authority and developers to ensure that the path into suitable housing is made as smooth as possible.

Under a Conservative Government the current South West Regional Planning Body - based in Somerset - will be scrapped and replaced with a house building policy based on identified local need. We will expand Community Land Trusts and shared equity
schemes.

GOOD FOR BUSINESS MEANS GOOD FOR JOBS

I want Cornwall to be an attractive place to do business. We face unprecedented challenges in Cornwall in relation to our local economy. If elected I will work hard for Cornwall and pledge the following:
More apprenticeships
As part of the Conservative commitment to create 100,000 extra apprenticeships and training places, I will work with our colleges and employers so that we are able to offer the places needed by local school leavers.
GDP figures for Cornwall
I intend to submit a Private Members Bill that requires the Office of National Statistics to provide accurate Gross Domestic Product figures at a county level every quarter. Businesses will then have accurate data to help plan their future.
All of these commitments, along with the following actions of a Conservative Government will mean that a Conservative MP in St Ives is good for business and good for jobs:
A Conservative Government will:• Deliver superfast broadband to Cornwall by 2017
• Give Automatic Rate Relief to businesses that qualify. So no more applications and no more confusion.
• Reduce Regulation - a Conservative government will ensure any new law must include cuts in old laws which, together, produce a net 5% reduction in the regulatory burden.
• All Regulators will be re-assessed and their duties reviewed.
• Remove the age cap on training funding so people of all ages can benefit from government-funded training schemes.

YOUR HEALTHCARE - at the right time and in the right place

For several years I have been active in the campaign to keep healthcare services in West Cornwall. I know from personal experience how important it is to get the right healthcare at the right time and in the right place.
If elected on May 6th, I am committed to the following ACTION:
• I will work to ensure that your treatment is provided by the GP or local hospital whenever possible.
• I will fight to keep cancer care in Cornwall
• I fully support the Conservative pledge to take politics out of NHS funding. An independent NHS Board will allocate funding where it is needed.
• I will support local GP’s to improve the frequency of health screening to prevent serious illness and increase early detection rates.

Conservatives will increase spending on the NHS every year and make the NHS work for patients not managers. As the party of the NHS, the Conservatives will never change the idea at the heart of our NHS – that healthcare in this country is free at the point of use and available to everyone based on need, not ability to pay.

Will we see an end of Community Radio?
Following a visit to Penwith Radio Station I have to question the sense of the government timetable to complete a switchover to all digital radio broadcasting by 2015. The proposed 2015 switchover would threaten the viability of popular local broadcasters in Cornwall such as Pirate FM, Atlantic FM and Penwith Community Radio serving West Cornwall. The Conservative Party does not believe that audiences will all be ready for the switchover by 2015 and have tabled amendments to the digital switchover bill which would allow local stations to be consulted before a date for the switchover is settled.
Households, struggling to make ends meet, do not need the added expense of equipping themselves for a new broadcasting system. The needs of analogue listeners must be taken into account when determining the timing of the switchover. Unless and until digital can demonstrate significantly higher listening hours over analogue, no change should be planned which will undermine much loved local and community radio services.
As a Penwith District Councillor I fully supported the setting up of Penwith Radio and the community radio received pump-priming funding from the former district council.
The radio performs an important role by sharing information and bringing aspects of local life into people’s homes. I am now seeking clarity from Ofcom, the organisation that awards FM licenses. All those involved in the station need to know when the next round of Community Radio licenses will be awarded and whether this will include community stations in the South West. This license will give far more people access to the service and increase the opportunity for Penwith Radio Station to attract more local sponsorship

Last Thursday, 28 January I was joined by Richard Benyon MP, Shadow Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Julie Girling MEP on a visit to Newlyn.
Many livelihoods depend on Cornwall's fishing industry, yet it is an industry in need of urgent effective action. Fishermen must be given far greater control over the future of their industry and fast. Richard Benyon MP understands this. His willingness to listen to the industry and his common sense approach will help to secure the future of Newlyn as a fishing community

I want to see Newlyn's fishing industry survive for future generations and I will do all I can to improve the prospect and opportunity of a career in the fishing industry for local youngsters.

I am confident that under a Conservative Government with Richard Benyon as our advocate Cornwall's fishing industry can go from strength to strength. The key to this is giving power back to the industry. As for me, I will be working with local fishermen and Truro and Penwith College to raise the profile of employment in fishing amongst our school leavers.

Julie Girling MEP was able to stay for a briefing regarding the Route Partnership Proposal to develop Penzance and St Mary's Harbour and provide a new ship for the lifeline link to the Isles of Scilly from Penzance. Julie will use her influence to maximise EU funding to safeguard our economy and jobs in Penzance. This is very welcome.

Cornwall: A Better Place to do Business
Mark Prisk MP set out clear commitments to representatives of St Ives businesses at a breakfast organised by myself recently. The event, held at the Carbis Bay Hotel, brought together over 30 people from the business sector to hear Conservative plans to make Cornwall a better place to do business. Mark Prisk told the meeting that a future Conservative Government would:
• Establish a temporary National Loans Guarantee Scheme to get credit flowing again and help protect jobs
• Allow struggling firms to defer their VAT bills for up to six months
• Cut small firms' payroll taxes
• Help companies with the costs of hiring new staff by giving tax breaks for new jobs
Mark Prisk MP said “Under Labour, business has become increasingly burdened by corporate taxes, red tape and the lack of enterprise leadership in government. As a result, we are falling down the global scale of economic competitiveness.”
He continued “We would ensure Britain is one of the most competitive economies in which to do business in the future by cutting the main rate of corporation tax, cancelling Labour's planned increase in the small companies tax rate, and cutting the rate instead and reducing the burden of regulation to give businesses more freedom and greater flexibility.”
For me business is a key priority. I recognise the huge contribution business makes to West Cornwall. Many people in West Cornwall run their own company or work in a small business. I am confident that our plans will enable these businesses to flourish.

Picture: speaking to business leaders in St Ives with Mark Prisk MP, Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise.
Note: Further commitments of the Conservative Party to help business:
• Simplify employment law to make it easier to hire people
• Improve skills training and apprenticeships
• Reform the Regional Development Agencies to create a vibrant, business-focused force
• Strength UK Trade and Investment to give British business a powerful voice abroad
• Increase government procurement from small firms

Ann Widdecombe MP and I took centre stage at an event held at the home of Sir John and Lady Nott on Saturday evening. The event, packed with local people hoping for the return of a Conservative MP for St Ives, was in honour of Cllr Doe Harry, President of St Ives Conservatives.
Miss Widdecombe MP and I acknowledged the huge task ahead of both winning the General Election and then putting the Nation’s finances in order.
Anne Widdecombe is a very popular MP because she has always stood firm to her beliefs and never been afraid to speak the truth. Our nation needs more politicians like Miss Widdicombe, politicians you can trust!

Picture: Cllr Doe Harry with Ann Widdecombe MP and myself

Housing needs will be met through local action, not talk

At a recent meeting with Grant Shapps, the Shadow Housing Minister, we discussed our proposals to give residents of communities the power to grant planning permission to build affordable houses for local people. He was very interested in the unique problems that West Cornwall has and said that his solutions could help us a great deal.

A number of villages across West Cornwall are suffering from a lack of year round residents. No-one wants villages which only thrive in the holiday season, Cornwall needs active communities and local families need homes. Rather than merely attack those who have second homes in these communities, I want to be able to provide alternatives for local families to tackle the acute shortage of ‘local-need’ homes. In our recent meeting, Grant Shapps outlined sensible and sustainable solutions for Cornwall's communities.

West Cornwall has one of the highest proportions of second homes in the UK; in some Parishes around 20% of houses are second homes. The National Housing Federation’s “South West Home Truths’ Report released last week, shows that the average Cornish house is now 12.4 times the average Cornish income.

Under plans to be outlined by Grant Shapps in the Communities Green Paper later this month, local communities will be given the power to hold parish-level referenda to decide whether to increase the size of their village. Under the proposals, community groups would be able to bypass councils and organise their own construction programmes. Villages could expand by up to 10% over 10 years and there would be financial incentives to encourage more building.

If there is overwhelming support for housebuilding, they will be able to go ahead. “Lack of affordable housing in areas like West Cornwall is a real problem, forcing people out of the places where they have grown up,” said Grant Shapps MP. “Under our plans, Cornish communities can really be in charge of their own destiny.” Grant added that alternative ideas, such as heavy taxes on second homes, were the “wrong approach”.

This is an excellent idea to provide local families with homes in West Cornwall. Rather than merely talking about a problem, the Conservative Party are providing sensible solutions, decided at local level, to meet local needs. I am looking forward to working with Grant to establish a plan of action to tackle the acute shortage of local homes in West Cornwall.