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Wednesday, 28 October, 2009
 | REBECCA HARRIS |
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 MPs' expenses are back in the headlines and it is depressing reading for anyone who thinks British democracy is important. As the person hoping to be the new Conservative MP for Castle Point at the General Election I have been as shocked and dismayed as anyone by some of the revelations. The public have never been more cynical about some of the people representing us in Parliament.
You might have thought that the whole expenses issue would have left me thinking I needed my head examined for trying to be an MP. But actually its made me even more determined than ever and really optimistic and excited about politics for the future.
Across the country, and in Castle Point, there is an opportunity for a new, fresh start. A different kind of politics. That’s because whichever political Party wins the next General Election, the House of Commons will look and feel a very different place. We now know there will be a massive clear-out and the whole system will have had a root and branch reform.
So many MPs have decided to stand down or been forced to by their party leaders. Many others are likely to lose their seats. So the next Parliament will have several hundred completely fresh faces. As someone who hopes to be one of them, I see this as something positive. On the Conservative side, there are some exceptionally high calibre new candidates. If we are lucky enough to win the election, even with a modest majority, there will be over 50 Conservative women MPs, all chosen democratically from a wide choice of candidates of both sexes like I was.
And this new generation of MPs will come from a really broad range of experience and employment beyond the confines of Westminster, such as teaching, farming, medicine and the Armed Forces. Many have proper hands on experience in business and industry. Coming from a business background myself, I believe its essential that our MPs understand that its British businesses that create jobs and drive economic prosperity, not ever higher taxes and government spending.
I talked with my fellow Conservative candidates at the recent Conservative Party Conference. I know these potential new Conservative MPs will also be younger, confident, more independent, less likely to follow the Whips on points of principle or local concern, more outspoken and quick to speak their mind. They are all very clear that being an MP must not be about self-promotion or personal gain. It is about serving and working hard for everyone, whatever their politics or circumstances. Crucially, all of them are keen not to make the same mistakes some of the current MPs have.
I am also very optimistic about the future of politics right here in Castle Point. This summer I launched a new Castle Point Conservative youth branch called Conservative Future and they already have over 120 members. These young people are serious about political issues and care passionately about the future of our borough. They also want to give something back. Which is why they are going to make doing local voluntary work their priority - that and holding great parties! They have already held their first party on Canvey Island and will be doing things like helping clean up local parks, collecting for the Royal British Legion and raising money for good local causes like BOPH.
They have also been helping with our shoe-boxes for troops campaign. Using our network of volunteers we have filled large numbers of shoe-boxes with gifts which the troops want. I want to thank the many people from across the political divide who have responded and donated items or whole boxes. With our local regiment, The Royal Anglians being deployed to Helmand, this is a really good way of showing our community's support for them. This also proves that a local political party can do something positive with its organisation and volunteers without being party-political or point-scoring against other parties.
As a Conservative, I believe being an MP is not about slavish obedience to some distant organisation which is trying to impose its will on communities. It is about having some basic principles of how we should do things to make our community and country better, and sticking to them. It is also about working as a team, often quietly behind the scenes, to get real results, rather than rowing and point scoring all the time. Even though I am only a Conservative candidate, so I don’t have the benefit of paid staff (or expenses!), I want to demonstrate my commitment to Castle Point, and a different type of politics even now - starting as I mean to go on.
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