STEPHEN HOLLAND SAYS THANK YOU

Stephen Holland has said thank you to the 9,913 voters in Stockport who voted Conservative and helped to increase the Conservative vote share under new boundary changes and eat into the Labour majority.

The Labour MP retained Stockport by the lowest number of votes and vote share since being elected in 1992.

The swing of 5.7% was above a North West average of 4.3% and was the biggest swing from Labour to Conservative in Stockport since the seat was created in 1983.

Stephen said, “I would like to thank all the voters who supported me in this election. It was great to speak to people on the doorstep and listen to what they wanted for Stockport. Thank you for your support in my campaign.

“I was also especially pleased that turnout is up in Stockport. It is really important that voters have their say in an election.”

CONSERVATIVES SECOND IN STOCKPORT AS LABOUR MAJORITY CUT

Stephen Holland gained second place for the Conservatives in Stockport on a swing of 5.7% from Labour to Conservative, above both the UK and regional average, with the Labour majority slashed by a third.

VOTE FOR CHANGE ON 6TH MAY – IT’S EITHER CHANGE WITH THE CONSERVATIVES OR FIVE MORE YEARS OF GORDON BROWN

VOTE FOR CHANGE in Stockport on 6th May. Whatever happens nationally, Stockport constituency is a race between the Conservatives and Labour.

Only by voting Conservative today will you get a new government that starts to clean up the mess on Friday.

A vote for any other Party will mean five more years of Gordon Brown.

A vote for the Lib Dems is a vote for an immigration amnesty, agreement to the euro, and an endorsement of the Lib Dems’ huge council tax rises in Stockport which have given you the highest council tax in Greater Manchester. VOTE FOR CHANGE.

MY PLEDGES TO STOCKPORT’S VOTERS

I will hold regular surgeries in your part of Stockport to feed your views into Parliament – you must have YOUR SAY.

I will have one main home in Stockport constituency and NEVER claim for food, mortgage costs or cleaning unlike the Labour MP. 

I will commit to serving solely as your MP and that’s why I am standing down as a councillor, unlike the Lib Dem candidate who thinks he can be your MP and stand again as a councillor on the same day.

My priorities for Stockport include:

• NHS – Under Labour, Stockport has the worst health inequalities in Greater Manchester. We will channel investment to doctors and nurses on the frontline and invest in tackling killer diseases such as cancer. That’s why I signed up to Cancer Research UK’s Cancer Commitment.
• LOCAL ECONOMY – Under Labour, Stockport town centre has more empty shops than anywhere else in the North West. We will help businesses by cutting regulation and scrapping Labour’s tax on jobs.
• SCHOOLS – Under Labour, more than half of Stockport’s schools are rated merely satisfactory or inadequate for pupil behaviour. We will restore discipline to the classroom so other pupils do not miss out on their education.
• POWER TO RESIDENTS – Under Labour, Stockport constituency only has 9 Post Offices left. We will give you more power to have a say on what goes on in your neighbourhood, including the power to veto the Lib Dems’ high council tax rises in Stockport, and fight Labour’s bin taxes.
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OUR CONTRACT WITH VOTERS

We are offering a no-nonsense, no-frills contract to Stockport’s voters to do certain specific things in exchange for people’s vote. If we don’t do these things, if we don’t deliver our side of the bargain, vote us out in five years’ time.

Changing our political system to make it more accountable, open and local – including commitments to give people the right to sack their MP; cut the number of MPs by 10%; cut ministers’ pay by 5%; give local communities more power, and publish details of government spending and contracts.

Changing the economy to get it moving – including commitments to cut wasteful spending to stop Labour’s jobs tax; act now on debt; get Britain working by reforming welfare; reduce emissions and build a green economy; control immigration.

Changing society to help build a Big Society where everyone plays a part in helping to mend our broken society – this includes commitments to: increase spending on health each year; support families; raise standards in schools; increase the basic state pension; fight back against crime, and create National Citizen Service for every 16 year old.

OUR CONTRACT FOR A BETTER NHS

We have published our contract for a better NHS. The NHS is our priority. It is the bedrock of a fair society – it matters more to families than almost anything else. 

Our contract sets out that a Conservative government will:

• Increase spending on the NHS every year and never change the core values of the NHS – that comprehensive healthcare in this country is available to all, free, and based on need, not ability to pay.
• Trust doctors and nurses, by ending the box-ticking and scrapping the politically-motivated process targets so that doctors and nurses can focus on helping you get better.
• Fund new NHS cancer drugs.  We will create a £200 million Cancer Drugs Fund, and reform the way the NHS buys drugs, so that every patient has access to the drugs they need.

Stephen said, “Labour have badly mismanaged the NHS. They have poured a lot of money into the NHS, but it has not been spent well.  As a result of their poor planning and wasteful spending, cuts have been made up and down the country and patients are not seeing the results that they should be. Conservatives are the party of the NHS today because we not only back the values of the NHS, we are the only party that has promised to protect the whole of the NHS budget and have a vision for its future.

“People will be worried that Nick Clegg wants to ‘break it up’. In their manifesto, the Liberal Democrats are proposing to break up the NHS into a number of local health boards. This is extremely dangerous. The public do not want our NHS dismantled. They want decisions on their health to be made by doctors not politicians. Only the Conservatives will protect the NHS and work with the NHS to deliver what works best for patients.”

LIB DEM AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

The Liberal Democrats’ proposed amnesty for illegal immigrants is totally unworkable.  All the evidence from other countries is that amnesties don’t work.  The Liberal Democrat approach would send a message to the world that you can come to Britain illegally and get away with it.  Refugee Action say that it would undermine efforts to rebuild public trust in how we manage migration. 

A Conservative government will reduce net immigration back to the levels of the 1990s – tens of thousands a year, instead of the hundreds of thousands a year under Labour.

Stephen said, “It was an eye-opener that NIck Clegg got his immigration figures wrong in Leaders’ debate. In the final Leaders’ Debate Nick Clegg made the claim ‘eighty percent of people who come [are] from the European Union’. This is flat out, completely and utterly wrong. The Office for National Statistics has shown that over the last five years, on average only around a third have come from the EU.

“With the Lib Dems also talking about fair taxes but putting up council tax by massive increases in Stockport every year, it shows that you really do have to look at the fine detail when it comes to what they say.”

CAMERON WINS FINAL LEADERS’ DEBATE

David Cameron was strong on substance and strong on leadership.  He was the only one to show he had a plan to get the economy going and get jobs created.  He was in control, assured and clear – he set out his argument and his vision.  He clearly won the argument on how to sort out the banks, control immigration, how to help people off welfare and into work, and on the Euro. 

Nick Clegg was out of his depth on the economy. He had the same style but offered no substance, and he failed to be straight with people on:

• The Euro: he said he doesn’t advocate joining the Euro, but his Manifesto says we should.
• Immigration: he said four fifths of people who come here come from the EU, but the independent figures show it’s less than a third.
• An amnesty for illegal immigrants: he denied he supports an amnesty, but that’s exactly what his party proposes.
• Welfare: he said people who refuse work shouldn’t get benefits, but his welfare spokesman says they should.

Gordon Brown was unrelentingly negative – he had nothing positive to say at all.  He looked as tired as his arguments, and he couldn’t escape his disastrous record in office. 

Stephen said, “David Cameron made a brilliant closing statement. He was passionate, personal and direct. Nick Clegg just read his statement, whilst Gordon Brown stumbled through his and ended as he started – negatively.”

GETTING CHILDREN WITH CANCER THE DRUGS THEY NEED

Conservatives have unveiled plans to help children suffering with cancer get access to the drugs they need.

Around 1,500 children are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK, and the disease claims about 300 children’s lives. But children and young people can be particularly affected by problems accessing drugs for rarer cancers.

A Conservative government will create a £200 million a year Cancer Drugs Fund – paid for from the savings the NHS will make because of our plans to stop Labour’s tax on jobs – and change the way that cancer drugs are commissioned, to make sure all the cancer drugs children need are available on the NHS.

Stephen said, “There is a clear choice at this election: Labour, and their jobs tax that will take £200 million out of the NHS budget; or the Conservatives, who will stop the jobs tax and use the savings in the NHS budget to create a Cancer Drugs Fund.”

IFS REPORT ON PUBLIC FINANCES HIGHLIGHT LIB DEM AND LABOUR FAILURES

The Institute for Fiscal Studies Report on Public Finances exposes the scale of tax rises planned by the Lib Dems and Labour, with extra tax rises of £470 per household under the Lib Dems and £220 under Labour compared to the Conservative plans.

The IFS also slam the Lib Dem estimates of tax revenues as ‘highly speculative’ and destroy their claim to fairness by showing that people earning up to £113,000 benefit more than those earning under £10,000.

The IFS lay the blame for the lack of detail in the debate about public spending cuts squarely on Gordon Brown’s cynical decision not to publish a spending review in order to hide the truth about his spending cuts from the voters.

Stephen said, “The Lib Dems’ policies have been shown up as unfair for Stockport, whilst Labour claim they want to talk about policy but refuse to publish the figures and refuse to debate the issues. People will rightly conclude that Gordon Brown doesn’t want anyone to know the truth about the consequences of his economic failures.”