The Conservative Group works closely with the LibDem Group on Warrington Borough Council. Since we took the decision to combine our resources and remove Labour from control of the Council much has been achieved. It was our view that a combined administration was the best way to restore effective governance to the town hall. This we have done and will continue to do.

At the General Election which is now likely to be called in May 2010 the situation is different. There is only one party which can beat Labour in Warrington South and that is the Conservatives. A vote for any other party will just allow Labour to retain the seat and Gordon Brown to remain Prime Minister. This is the wrong result for Warrington.

The last general election was fought at a time in which the Liberal Democrats were riding high in the polls. But in Warrington South they were still a poor third (over 7000 behind Labour and 4000 behind the Conservatives). As can be seen from the diagram current opinion polling shows that since that time LibDem support has slumped. See the most recent opinion polling on the Cambridge University site, Electoral Calculus. The local election results in May 2008 showed a continued trend away  from the LibDems and towards the Conservatives.  We won a Borough council seat in Hatton, Stretton and Walton with a swing of 20% from the LibDems. In the recent Penketh Parish Elections (November 2009) we polled approximately the same votes as Labour and the LibDems combined.


A number of former Warrington LibDems have left the party and joined the Conservatives. Most recently the LibDem MEP for Warrington Saj Karim has joined us. In Warrington LibDem's own figures show their membership is down 20% in 2008. In the same period Conservative Party membership in Warrington rose by nearly 50%.

Saj says "David Cameron has re-positioned the Conservative Party firmly in the centre ground of British politics.  We are a compassionate modern and liberal party.  Only David Mowat can beat Helen Southworth in a general election. We very much hope that we can count on your support. Voting LibDem in Warrington in a general election could let Labour sneak back in......."

Most Labour supporters have a deep conviction that society needs to be fairer and that the less well off need protection from the rougher aspects of the market economy. I share this belief. The difference between us is that I do not believe that a a centralist all powerful state is the best way to achieve this.

My grandfather was a manual worker and yet over the last few decades society has provided me and my family with incredible opportunities.  It is a my core belief  that  I must do my bit to ensure that the social mobility we enjoyed can be shared by others. We must  enable as many as possible to be "the best that they can be".

I believe that the modern Conservative Party is best placed to deliver the aspirational  with the help they need to  progress.  We do not believe in top down government and  complex means testing  which has achieved so little. We deeply believe that government must re-distribute opportunity with at least as much priority as it re-distributes cash. New Labour has failed to do this. We will not.

For more on our Opportunity Agenda. Read this.