John Howell, an Oxfordshire County Councillor and candidate in the Henley by-election, explains what he is campaigning for and says he's taking nothing for granted.
"South Oxfordshire is a great place to live but we still have our share of problems. Post offices are closing. The Government wants to close down GP surgeries. Local schools are over-subscribed. There aren’t enough police officers on the beat. And Labour and the Lib Dems want to build thousands of houses on the Green Belt.
On June 26th, people have the chance to choose who represents them when decisions on these important issues are taken.
Unlike the Liberal Democrat candidate, who stood in the local elections in Plymouth last month, I haven’t just arrived for the by-election. I have lived in the Henley constituency for 20 years. My children went to local state schools. And I have stood up for the community on many occasions before, like when I stopped a gravel mining development in the area I represent as a councillor, and when I helped to lead local opposition to Green Belt development.
I'm also asking people to vote for me to keep up the pressure on Gordon Brown. After more than 100 tax rises, and as families are struggling with the cost of living, he now wants to double road tax for family cars. I want to ease the tax burden on hard-working families and I support George Osborne's plans to increase the threshold for inheritance tax to £1 million and exempt 9 out of 10 first-time buyers from stamp duty.
Henley has been a Conservative seat for a long time but we all know that anything can happen in a by-election, especially when the Lib Dems are fighting dirty, as they are doing here. That's why we're taking nothing for granted. David Cameron has already visited three times and various members of the Shadow Cabinet have made the short trip from London. I've had fantastic support from MPs, PPCs, party supporters and their friends, but more will be needed between now and polling day.
Tim has very kindly agreed to repeat the successful coach trip on Sunday that was sent up to Crewe and Nantwich. I’ve heard that a good time was had by all those who went up to Cheshire so I hope that they will have a similar experience in South Oxfordshire. And having lived here for twenty years I can assure you there are plenty of excellent rural pubs to relax in briefly after a hard day of campaigning!"
