On May 3rd 2012, in very many cities, towns and villages, there will be a number of elections up and down the land. Over the next few weeks, candidates representing themselves, different groups or political parties will either knock on your door or push a leaflet through asking you for your support (if they have not already done so). I myself have engaged with people in areas as diverse as Bradford, Bath and Richmond, as well as some of my home wards in and around Rickmansworth, testing the pulse of residents as to their views on local issues, the Liberal Democrats and the coalition in general. I won’t even try to pretend that every conversation was easy – in fact in a few cases I was given a hard time and once received the ultimate ignominy – the door slam! But when given the chance to engage with people, most responded positively to our achievements in government, a few of which are as follows:

• Cutting the Tax Bills of Working Families – with the biggest ever rise in the tax free personal allowance, most people will pay £45 a month less than under the previous government and many low paid workers will no longer pay income tax at all
• Making the Rich Pay More – new taxes mean the wealthy can pay £70k a year extra in tax, raising 5x more than the cut in the 50p tax
• Getting Britain Working – massive investment in apprenticeships and a £1b Youth Contract scheme, guaranteeing a job, training or education for young people who can not find work
• Protecting our NHS – spending on the NHS going up every year and it was the intervention of Lib Dem peers that prevented proposed health reforms that might have opened the door for privatisation
• Delivering the Biggest Ever Pension Rise – many pensioners now receive between £5.30 and £9.80 a week more than under the previous government
• Making Britain Greener –Britain’s biggest ever home insulation scheme commences in September; massive investment in renewable energy
• Investing in Schools – the Lib Dem Pupil Premium of £2.5b of extra money is helping head teachers drive up standards and support poorer children

And the list could go on because despite being the smaller party in the coalition, we have implemented 75% of our manifesto promises (vs. the Conservatives 63%).

Have I agreed with everything this government has done? Nope – not a chance! I am however extremely proud of the Lib Dem achievements within this government and whether they are standing for parish council elections or for the GLA, I know for a fact that my Lib Dem colleagues will work tirelessly hard for and on behalf of residents all year round and I have my fingers crossed that as many as is possible are rewarded by their communities at the ballot box for all their efforts.

The fact that you’re here and reading this post probably means you are either: a) a supportive friend/colleague, b) an unsupportive political opponent looking for attack lines or c) someone who is open-minded and unprepared to simply swallow the lies, inaccuracies and obfuscations of the national press. Whichever category you might fall in to, please make sure that if elections are going on in your area that you make the effort to go and vote. Whilst as a Liberal I am not in favour of compulsory voting, I believe it’s the least one should do when called upon to do so.

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