Time for some metaphorical knuckledusters

Given the huge interest in Harlow, following the local elections, I spoke to both the BBC and Sky, as well as a number of newspaper journos who contacted me.

Broadly I said that we need to do the following three things:

First; whatever the difficulties we face as a Party, we have to remain unified. I remain supportive of the Prime Minister - as do the vast majority of MPs and Conservative activists. The public hammer divided parties.

Second; we have to communicate much better what we stand for as a party. The problem at present is that everything is seen through the prism of the deficit and cuts. We must be able to bring together a narrative that encapsulates the timeless and deep rooted Tory messages of Aspiration, Opportunity, Fairness and Community. How are we going to help those who are struggling to keep their heads above water? Will we give them ladders of opportunity and a safety net in case they fall? More Apprenticeships, lower taxes for lower earners and the pupil premium very much fit into this mould.

Third; and this is where the metaphorical knuckledusters come in. Our party machine must be beefed up and - far more ruthless. Much more needs to be done to build up campaign hit teams to parallel the Union support given to Labour on the doorsteps. We must match the Labour Party's passion and motivation. We have beliefs to fight for too.

Campaigns should be run by street fighters who will roll up their sleeves and fight street by street, alley by alley. That is why people like Lynton Crosby - who ran the Boris campaign - should be brought back at Tory HQ heading the 2015 election campaign.

Enough of 'gentlemanly campaigning' - which doesn't work - when the opposition wake up every day wanting to strangle a Conservative. It is time to get into the ring.

P.S.  You can read more HERE and HERE.

Party Conference: My Campaign for Cheaper Petrol

Today, Conservative Home is giving out 5,000 copies of a free newspaper, at Conservative Party Conference. The newspaper includes an article about our FairFuelUK campaign and our fight for cheaper petrol prices.

You can see the article above, or in the full newspaper HERE.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Campaigning around Nazeing

I just thought you might like to see this picture, following my blog yesterday. It is of Council Candidate Yolanda Knight, Cllr. Richard Bassett and myself outside Nazeing School.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

First campaigning then to Harlow College

Our campaign to win the Harlow constituency at the general election was given a huge boost yesterday as 12 Conservative MPs visited the town to knock on doors and meet voters across the constituency.

The MPs included Braintree MP Brooks Newmark, Shadow Cabinet Secretary Oliver Letwin, Shadow Home Office Minister and Romford MP Andrew Rosindell, and a host of others. They spent the day in Harlow canvassing and leafleting.

It was good so many Conservative MPs came to Harlow. This gives us huge encouragement and just shows how seriously the Conservatives see Harlow as one of the most important constituencies in the country.

After, I took John Hayes, Shadow Higher Education Minister, to visit Harlow College where he met with the principal, Colin Hindmarch, two deputy principals and other staff.

In a long discussion, Mr Hayes set out Conservative plans for 100,000 extra further education places for students and 200,000 extra apprenticeship places (over two years), should a Conservative Government be elected.

John Hayes noted that after a turbulent time a couple of years ago the college was now going from strength to strength and has achieved some wonderful results. He paid tribute to the staff and students for their success.

It was important that John visited the College. I invited him because the College is so fundamental to Harlow's community.

I am really pleased that the college has had some great results recently and I look forward to seeing further academic successes in the months and years ahead.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Yes it's Saturday and it's Campaign day

Its been a good day campaigning. We were pleased to have as a special guest Vicky Ford MEP & son (Anthony).

Vicky is a great politician and I was really pleased she was elected - as Eastern Region Conservative MEP - to the European Parliament last year. She has been a good friend to Harlow Conservatives, and has come here to help on a number of occasions over the years. See HERE and HERE.

She isn't one of those politicians who once voted in, forget the party grassroots either. She has been back to Harlow a few times since being elected and was here when Iain Duncan Smith came to visit some community organisations in November.

The photo shows Vicky with some of us before we went out knocking on doors. It is worth reading her excellent blog too, which can be seen HERE.

P.S. I was also in Church Langley with Cllr. Tony Hall for a couple of hours handing out some leaflets. It was a good morale boost to have a number of people walking past wishing me luck for the election.

Wind, Rain and Hailstones but still there is canvassing!!!

We had an Action Day today in Staple Tye - for the by election on 30 April. When I stepped out of my front door this morning, and saw the weather, between you and me, I secretly hoped it might be cancelled!!

But no such luck! Local Conservatives are determined to win the by-election and were out in force. So Vanda and I went out to leaflet outside Lidles in Staple Tye. Vanda (my girlfriend) is from Brazil and used to 90 degrees weather, so she was freezing. We warmed up with a short break thanks to some McDonald's Cappuccinos.

We had a really good response in Staple Tye, and many people wished me luck in the General Election, even though it might be next year.

People are fed up with Gordon Brown. One lady told me how she had saved all her life and now her savings were worth nothing - thanks to the Government's mishandling of the economy.

After a hot soup lunch in Latton Bush, we were out again canvassing in Copse Hill Close. Again, a really good response - even previous Liberal voters were waivering and said they might vote Tory this time. I love the big hand in Gladwyn Court, so the photo shows Clive Souter and I standing by it, after a good afternoons efforts.

Tonight some friends have arranged a 40th birthday party for me in a Pub in Roydon which should be fun! More on that in my next post.

Fed up with Harlow Traffic and a New Shell Garage on the A414

One of the best things about travelling back to Harlow late at night is that the roads are quiet and there is no traffic hold-up on Junction 7 the A414 or Southern Way. Everyone knows that traffic in Harlow at peak times is pretty unbearable.

That's why for the last two years I have been campaigning hard for an extra bypass on the M11 just past Junction 7, so that drivers would have another entry point into Harlow. I set up a website about it called http://www.fedupwithharlowtraffic.com/ and have been overwhelmed by the support from local residents. Even the Labour MP for Harlow has agreed to join the campaign and has held talks with other Ministers about it. Hopefully many of you reading this will receive a special card about the extra bypass, through your letter box over the next couple of weeks. Do fill it in and send it back.

That is why I am delighted that tomorrow, Conservative Shadow Transport Secretary Teresa Villiers MP will be coming to Harlow. I hope to hear from the Shadow Minister whether or not a future Conservative Government would be able to support the bypass proposal - particularly after ten years of a Labour Government that has seen no real action at all on this major issue.

This is all the more astonishing as the Government are forcing the concreting of our countryside with thousands of extra buildings- so a new bypass will be needed more than ever.

On another front, I understand that Miss Villiers will be making a special announcement on tax and pensions on behalf of David Cameron, so it should be an interesting day.

Incidentally, it was nice to see, stop and fill up petrol at the shiny new Shell Garage on the A414. The rebuild makes the Garage look really smart. It now sells loads of food and has a decent coffee machine! Most importantly - unlike BP on the opposite side of the road - petrol is sold at reasonable prices, with diesel costing 96.9p a litre (it is over £1 at BP).

Anyway, off to bed now. I will fill you in on what happens with the Shadow Cabinet Minister's visit tomorrow afternoon.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Good news on our Green belt

One of the issues that I care deeply about is preservation of our countryside and green belt.

For some reason Labour has decreed that thousands of buildings will be plastered across our countryside and green belt, without local residents having any real say. They have also put power in the hands of unelected quangos.

That is why I was delighted that in a major visit today to Harlow Constituency, Shadow Local Government Secretary Caroline Spelman MP set out Conservative plans to curtail Labour's plans to build over our Green Belt.

Visiting the Nazeing Green Belt Action Group, Mrs Spelman confirmed that:

* A Conservative Government would abolish the East of England Regional Assembly &

* Would abolish Housing targets and scrap the Government's Regional Spatial strategy.

I was honoured to welcome Caroline Spelman MP into Harlow and pleased she confirmed that local people would decide housing needs not unelected quangos or Gordon Brown!

A Good Saturday

It’s a lovely quiet night in as I have had a long day campaigning. In the morning I was outside Church Langley Tesco’s with local Cllrs Andrew Johnson, Simon Carter and Clive Souter. I had a good discussion with the relatively new manager of Tescos, Mark about the new Wind Turbines. I have had a number of emails about this issue and wanted reassurance. The Manager promise that these Turbines would be silent and were not turbines in the traditional sense- more like revolving lampposts with ears. It is good that Tescos’ is concerned about the environment- as long as local residents are not inconvenienced in the process. Whilst I was at Tescos, I was astonished to learn that of Council rents collected by Harlow Council, the Government take away £13 million for spending out of Harlow! £!3 million!! Imagine what could happen if Harlow Council was able to spend its own money, instead of being forced to hand over so much to Gordon Brown and be spent in Scotland and the North of England.

After Tescos, it was off to Church Langley to do some canvassing door to door. Most residents expressed real upset about the state of the economy – high taxes and high debt. I have promised to raise the concerns of one local resident about allocation to Passmores school. She told me that contrary to previous years, very few children in Church Langley were being offered places in Passmores – this was because of the closure of Brays Grove and the future re-building of Passmores on the old Brays Grove site. I promised that I would take up the concerns with Essex Council.

Before going home I had went to the O2 shop in Broadwalk to try and pick up my blackberry- not ready yet! I also had a look at an amazing new phone, the Sony Ericsson C905. This tiny phone has 8 million pixels camera on it which is state of art. It really is incredible what phones have on them nowadays. Sadly my upgrade isn’t till June, so I will have to wait so I can get this phone for free on my contract! I had to stop at the cafe just opposite Barclays. In my view they make one of the best cups of coffee in Harlow, and it was good to drink my coffee and read the paper and relax a little.



Rob Halfon ~ Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon and Sheering.