Thank You To Everyone Who Supported Me Thursday

I am very grateful to everyone who supported me on Thursday at the General Election. I was very touched by the number of good luck messages I received in the run up to the elections and all the notes I have received since.

I am very proud of my team who worked tremendously hard across the constituency for several years, knocking doors and helping local people with their concerns. I am also very proud of the excellent, positive campaign that we fought.

We made a considerable dent in Labour's majority in Southampton Test and saw a huge rise in the Conservative vote. Next time we will win this seat I am sure.

The Southampton Test results were as follows:

Labour: 17,001
Conservative: 14,588
Lib Dem: 9,865
UKIP: 1,726
Green: 881

Majority: 2,413


I was very pleased to be re elected as Freemantle Ward Councillor with a decent majority. I will continue to work hard as a councillor, representing the area and ensuring that local people have a strong voice. The Conservatives have strengthened our position on the city council with two gains, one at the expense of Labour and the other the Lib Dems. We will continue to deliver a sound, responsible administration for Southampton.

The Freemantle Ward results were as follows:

Conservative: 2,490
Labour: 2,111
Lib Dem: 1,985

Majority: 379


On the national stage, I am delighted that Gordon Brown is finally on his way out. David Cameron now offers us fresh hope for the future and I am sure that he will put the nation first and work in the interests of Britain, putting partisan party politics aside.

My Contract With Southampton Test

I really believe we need to change the way we do politics. I am committed to fighting a positive and honest election campaign, and that’s the way I will conduct myself if elected as a Member of Parliament. I have set out 10 pledges as part of my contract with Southampton Test.

If elected as a Member of Parliament for Southampton Test, I Jeremy Moulton will:

1. Continue to live in Southampton.

2. Represent local people with regular surgeries around the constituency.

3. Publish online details of any personal expenses incurred as your Member of Parliament.

4. Publish online details of any office expenses incurred as your Member of Parliament.

5. Open up my unedited expenses claims to local newspapers at the end of every financial year.

6. Never claim for food.

7. Never claim for furniture or household goods.

8. Meet my own tax liabilities - such as stamp duty - without claiming them from the taxpayer.

9. Not claim the £10,400pa Communications Allowance to produce MP leaflets.

10. Fight for a fairer deal for Southampton.

David Cameron Launches NHS Manifesto and Conservatives Launch the Election Campaign in Southampton Test

Yesterday Southampton Test Conservatives held an action day to coincide with the launch of the NHS chapter of the Conservative Manifesto.

Local activists and many MPs including Shadow Minister Nick Herbert joined me in talking to residents around the General Hospital.

I'd like to thank everyone who braved the freezing cold to come out throughout the day to help. It was a great day despite the weather and together we managed to speak to hundreds of local residents.

David Cameron has quite rightly made the NHS the centre piece of the Conservative General Election campaign and has made the following pledges:

1. Scrap hospital targets.
2. Give patients detailed information about the performance of doctors, hospitals and GPs.
3. People allowed to choose where they are treated.
4. More private and voluntary providers in NHS
5. GPs’ pay linked to their performance and results.
6. Cut cost of NHS administration by a third.
7. Independent NHS board to manage the health service.
8. Hospitals will lose money if patients contract MRSA.
9. End mixed-sex accommodation.
10. Drug companies paid according to effectiveness of treatments.
11. New hotline for urgent care to run alongside 999.
12. New maternity system giving mothers more choice.
13. Every five-year old given a dental check-up as part of overhaul of NHS dental service.
14. Fines for those missing dentist appointments.
15. New drive to help the mentally-ill.
16. Department of Health turned into Department of Public Health.
17. More funding for poorest areas to tackle health inequalities.
18. £10 million a year to support hospices caring for children.
19. Single budget for each person suffering from chronic illnesses to cover their health and social care.
20. Everyone can protect their homes from being sold to fund residential care by paying a one-off insurance premium of £8,000 when they retire.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I was selected as your Conservative Parliamentary Candidate 2 years ago and have been working hard to represent local residents.

Southampton is my home. I have grown up here, been educated here, worked in the city and I am keen to be a strong champion for local people.

I know 2009 has been a very difficult year for many families. As a city councillor I see on a day to day basis the impact that the recession is having locally.

As a councillor I have been dedicated to strengthening our front line local services. This has involved improving our schools, regenerating our housing estates, investing more in the roads and streetlights and providing more support to our vulnerable, young people and the elderly. I have also been focussed on keeping local taxes down; limiting council tax, introducing a discount for pensioner households and cutting city centre car parking charges.

As a candidate for Parliament I have been battling for a better deal for Southampton and campaigning on the issues that people tell me are important. For instance, by stressing David Cameron’s commitment to investing in and improving the NHS, campaigning against Labour’s damaging tax hikes to the Port of Southampton and highlighting Labour’s irresponsible approach to the management of the economy.

2010 will be election year. It is clear that only the Conservatives can change the government and can beat Labour in Southampton. However, the General Election isn’t just about which party should or shouldn’t lead the country. It is also an opportunity to change the culture in Westminister. Too many MPs have behaved disgracefully. Many will be stepping down and many will lose their seats. In all, next year, after the election, perhaps half of the MPs will be new. 2010 gives you the chance to elect a Parliament which puts the country and the people before self interest.

Change the Government not the Voting System

You couldn't make it up! Our unelected Prime Minister Gordon Brown is now pushing for a change to the voting system by which we elected our MPs.
He wants to tinker with the electoral system but he won't call a General Election. Nor will he honour his promise to have a public vote on the Treaty of Lisbon, which proposes transferring even more power from Britain to Brussels.

During the many weeks I spent knocking doors for the European Elections, not once did anyone say to me that they wanted a change to the voting system. Time after time however people said they want a General Election, to have their say on Gordon Brown's leadership and the performance of this Government.

Call me a cynic but I cannot for one minute believe that Gordon Brown would opt for Proportional Representation for any other reason than to try and cling on to power at the next election. He wants to change the rules because he thinks he will lose. Democracy and the country come last with this Prime Minister. His self interest is all that matters.

Having just gone through a European Election we have seen first hand what a confusing system Proportional Representation is. It gives more power to political parties and their whips and it distances politicians from their voters by breaking or loosening the constituency link that exists in the First Past the Post system. What we want now is more accountability from our politicians, not less. We have also seen the scandal of the first BNP MEPs elected under the Proportional Representation system.

If Gordon Brown wants to reinvigorate democracy in this country I have a few suggestions. Give us the referendum he promised on the European Constitution, scrap the quangos and re-establish the importance of Parliament, transfer powers to local government so that decisions are taken closer to the people, stop the briefing against Ministers and MPs who disagree with him, have an elected House of Lords to replace the appointment of cronies and party donors to the upper house, introduce recall elections for MPs where they have lost the faith and trust of their constituents and most importantly of all have the General Election that the public are demanding to bring new blood and a new culture to Westminster.

New Website Launched

I now have a new website up and running for my Parliamentary campaign: www.jeremymoulton.com.

At moment it is just a few basic pages but I will be adding to it when I get some spare time. I will still keep this blog going with my comments on issues in Freemantle and in Southampton. The website will focus a bit more on national issues in the run up to the next General Election.

Selected For Southampton Test!

Yesterday afternoon I was selected to be the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Southampton Test at the next General Election.

I am honoured by the faith that local party members have put in me by selecting me. I am also thrilled to be selected to represent my home seat.

I grew up in Southampton and went to school, college and university here. My family have lived in the city since 1948. So I really care about the area and I will always campaign positively to make it a better place.

I am looking forward to getting stuck into campaigning and to meeting as many people as I can.

I do believe that the wheels are really starting to come off Gordon Brown’s government and locally our MP seems to be more interested in representing the Government, rather than fighting for the interests of Southampton in Parliament.

I am determined to be a strong, local voice fighting for the interests of the city and I will work hard to represent everyone in Southampton.