Gordon gloom could spell end for Keen

...this is the headline in The Hounslow Chronicle this week...


Channel 4 News' survey of voters in 60 marginal Labour constituencies found there was a swing of 12% in favour of the Conservatives. The YouGov poll, which did not include seats where Labour's main opposition is the Liberal Democrats, found only 1% of those questioned said they rated the Prime Minister's performance as excellent. A further 59% believe Mr Brown's performance to be poor, bad or dreadful.

Here, we need a 4% swing - so about 3600 additional votes, taking into account some small boundary changes. However, a week is a long time in politics! Anything can happen between now and the General Election and although I find the opinion polls encouraging, I do not take winning for granted. My priority right now is to meet as many local residents as possible, listen to concerns and issues and communicate clearly what the Conservative Party will do for people who live here. It is important that everyone knows what I believe in, what I stand for and what I will do for them.

As I go round the doorsteps meeting people in Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth, Osterley and Hounslow, they are saying the same things to me - "it is time for a change...and a change for the better".

1. They feel we need strong leadership in these difficult times and Gordon Brown is not providing it. He is indecisive, as was seen this time last year, when he decided not to call a General Election. The country cannot afford another eighteen months of a divided Labour Party, a weak Prime Minister, and a Government driven by self-interest rather than the national interest. We need an election to get the strong leadership and change the country needs.

2. They are fed up with a cabinet and Labour Party that seems to be divided and that has no vision. What we need right now is a clear sense of direction and a Government able to lead us through these difficult economic times.

3. They feel Labour has failed them in not improving education, not improving healthcare and in not taking control of crime. Since the start of the year, 26 teenageers have been murdered in London alone. They have lost the personal details of almost half the population. As taxpayers, we constantly seem to be paying for more and achieving nothing.

4. The more people look at the arguments we are making, the policies we are developing and the vision of the future we are offering, the more they understand the scale of change we will bring. We are setting the political agenda across the board: from our long-term plan to fix the country's finances to our proposals to tackle the causes of poverty and extend opportunity to all school-children. We will
- give people more opportunity and power over their lives
- make families stronger and society more responsible
- make Britain safer and greener

But there is absolutely no room for complacency. I will fight for every vote until polling day, to deliver the change Brentford & Isleworth really needs.