Voters want change in Harlow

One of the most encouraging signs about the forthcoming election in Harlow is that wherever I am around and about, voters come up and wish me good luck in the election.

A few days ago, I was at my Dr's surgery waiting to see my GP at the excellent Jenner House in old Harlow. Three people kindly told me that: "I had to get in and that the election could not come soon enough as far as they were concerned".

In Church Langley Tesco this week, about to buy some Roast Chicken (an excellent bargain as you can buy two whole roasts for just six pounds), a man stopped me in the aisle and said: "when are you going to get rid of this awful Gordon Brown"?

On Facebook, I was recently contacted by a Harlow Student, who is very supportive and wants to help me on my campaign.

Even today at a van rental garage, the manager said to me that for the first time, people he knew were talking politics. They were fed up with Labour and wanted a change of Government.

Now of course, after ten years of being a Parliamentary Candidate for Harlow and fighting two elections already (losing by 97 votes last time), I know that the work is never completed and there is still so much to do. I have to continue to campaign day and night and prove to people that I deserve the chance to serve as Harlow's next MP. That is why I have made it my business to campaign, to fight and work hard for Harlow, week in week out, month in month out, year in year out. I don't believe you achieve anything in life without hard graft.

Nevertheless, I am greatly heartened with the support that I am getting wherever I go - not forgetting the warm response on the street and the doorstep. It is at a much warmer level than what I received in the previous elections of 2001 and 2005. At those elections, the public still trusted Blair and Brown.

Now, most people have had enough of Labour: the high taxes, the high debt, the high unemployment. They also don't like all the squabbling amongst senior Labour politicians, who seem more intent about watching their own back than solving the country's problems.

There is a real feeling out there: a deep yearning for change and for a better future. It gives me some comfort as to what may lie ahead. It will be an interesting few months.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device