New Year With A Potential President

I am delighted that my first engagement of the New Year was to meet a potential Party Flag Bearer of Sierra Leone.

Dr Alpha Wurie is competing in a primary to be the candidate for President of the centre-right Sierra Leone People's Party which was founded in 1951 and led Sierra Leone to independence on 27th April 1961.

I was told on New Year's Eve that Dr Wurie was spending New Year with family on St Mary's Island in my constituency and I was honoured to be invited round the next day to meet him, family members and supporters.

Dr Wurie's sister has worked at Medway hospital and he himself has connections in the UK, having graduated from Brunel University and been a visiting fellow at the School of Science, Greenwich University with its campus in Medway.

After the short New Year break Dr Wurie is heading back to Sierra Leone next week to campaign through to a vote of around 700 delegates of his party, who will choose their candidate for President on 5th March. The general election will then take place in 2012.

Britain has of course been closely and positively involved in Sierra Leone in recent years and we all wish Sierra Leone well for free and fair elections. Mr Wurie is campaigning for "Opportunity for Life" and is building on his decade-long record as Minister for Education under President Kabbah. I was fascinated to hear how he intended to extend some of the Health, Education and Infrastructural facilities available in towns into the rural areas of Sierra Leone and instil a stronger culture of respect.

My local Conservative Association has been delighted to welcome so many Africans who have recently moved into the Rochester and Strood area. It is also a real benefit for me as the MP to make links with leading politicians in other countries and hear about their campaigning. I certainly hope to stay in touch with Alpha Wurie and will be following his campaign with great interest.

New Year With A Potential President

Vote Mark Reckless for Change Today

Vote for Change today.



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It's A Two Horse Race...

Candidates from other parties have been uniting behind Mark as the only candidate who can beat Labour here and ensure that we do not get another five years of Gordon Brown.

Robin Johnson, the UKIP candidate, has stood down and thrown the weight of his party behind Mark, saying that he wanted to put country before party. Geoff Juby, the Liberal Democrat candidate, has not endorsed Mark officially but he told Medway Council, in what is a tight Labour-Conservative fight, that it would be better to have Mark as a new MP because, in contrast to Labour’s record, he expected Mark to fight in Parliament for Medway to be treated fairly. The Medway Independent Party has also decided not to put up a candidate against Mark, who is delighted with the support he is receiving from other parties, saying:

“It is wonderful that so many people from different parties are uniting behind me to beat Labour. I will work for everyone in this constituency.”

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What It Takes To Change A Country

What It Takes To Change A Country

Campaign Diary - Week 1

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Campaign Diary - Week 1

Time Is Running Out...

In less than a month the people of our country will at long last go to the polls to deliver their verdict on 13 ruinous years of Gordon Brown. This will be the first opportunity anyone in England has had to vote for Gordon Brown, so it is important that you make sure your voice is heard by registering to vote.

The deadline for registering to vote is just days away (20th April), and if you are planning on voting for the change this country so desperately needs then it is vital that you act now.

Across the whole world, people have fought and died to win the right to vote. One only needs to think of the brave veterans who attend the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day, paying tribute to fallen comrades to see the high price we have had to pay to ensure every citizen in this proud country of ours has the right to decide how the country should be run.

Voting gives you the power to bring real change to Great Britain. It gives you the power to make sure the Conservatives can get to grip with Labour's mess. It gives you the power to have your say on 13 years of social-breakdown, failing education, and rising debt under Labour.

It gives you the power to say it is Time For Change.

If you want to Vote For Change on May 6th, you must make sure you are registered before the 20th April. It's not difficult and you can find out all the information you need at www.aboutmyvote.co.uk, or call the Electoral Commission on 0800 3280280.

For residents in Medway, you can check to see if you're already registered to vote by calling Electoral Services on 01634 332030 or email electoralservices@medway.gov.uk

With less than a week to register, it is really important that you act now. The power to decide on the path our country takes is in your hands: five more years of Gordon Brown, or real change under the Conservatives. Vote wisely and thanks for visiting.

Time Is Running Out...

Clean Campaign Pledge

I, Mark Reckless, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Rochester and Strood, pledge in the General Election campaign:

•To show by my actions that politics need not be a dirty game, but can be a clean and positive activity, engaged in genuinely for the good of all.
•To tell the truth about what I stand for and have achieved, and about what others stand for and have achieved.
•To refrain from personal attacks.
•To make only honest and reasonable promises.
•To fight a clean, positive and honest campaign around the issues that concern local people.
•To be honest about public spending, and not to scaremonger in ways that may frighten the most vulnerable members of our society.
•To take money only from organisations and individuals whose motives in giving money I do not have reason to suspect.
•To sign up to the transparency pledge on MPs’ expenses below.

I encourage voters:

•To expect from me decent and honest behaviour, as a candidate.
•To ask other Parties operating in this election to sign up to a similar honest campaign pledge.
•To help me enforce this Pledge, by reporting truthfully to me and to the media any apparent breaches.

Finally, if elected, I pledge:

•To publish online details of all of personal expenses incurred as a Member of Parliament.
•To publish online details of all office expenses incurred as a Member of Parliament.
•To publish online details of all donations in line with Electoral Commission rules.
•To appoint a local firm of auditors to approve expenses accounts at the end of every financial year.
•To open up the unedited expenses claims to local newspapers at the end of every financial year.
•Never to claim for food, furniture or household goods.
•To meet all tax liabilities – such as stamp duty – without claiming them from the taxpayer.

With thanks to Tracey Crouch

Clean Campaign Pledge

Medway European Election Result

Mark Reckless would just like to thank all of the party members, activists and supporters from Rochester and Strood who helped the Conservatives win the European Election here in Medway.

And thanks also go out to all of the MEPs who took the time to visit and campaign with us during the past month or so, though commiserations must go out to Mark's friend Therese Coffey who came agonisingly close to becoming the Conservatives' fifth MEP here in the South East region last night. So close, yet so far, but certainly not through lack of effort on her part.

Last night we 'live blogged' the result from the Black Lion Leisure Centre (now removed to keep things tidy), so we thought we'd repost the result today showing confirmation that the Conservatives won handsomely in Medway receiving 18,502 votes (an increase on the amount of votes we received in 2004 which was quite amazing really).

As was widely expected UKIP came in second taking 12,841 votes, solidly beating Labour into third who could only muster 8,745 votes - their worst result ever in Medway.

Conservative Party 18,502
United Kingdom Independence Party 12,841
The Labour Party 8,745
Liberal Democrats 5,460
British National Party 4,741
The Green Party 4,283
English Democrats 1,698
Christian Party "Proclaiming Christ's Lordship" 851
No2EU: Yes to Democracy 613
Socialist Labour Party 521
Pro Democracy: Libertas.eu 425
United Kingdom First 392
Jury Team 256
The Peace Party - Non-Violence, Justice Environment 210
The Roman Party, Ave! 136

One has to wonder what morale must be like within the Labour group at this time because it was noticeable at last evening's count that not one of the local Labour representatives who bothered to turn up chose to wear a rosette or show any kind of party affiliation. In fact, if you were a neutral you would have been hard pushed to detect any kind of Labour presence at the count whatsoever. Quite, quite poor. This was compounded by the fact that not one of the three Labour MPs who represent Medway constituencies chose to put in an appearance on the night to rally the troops and represent their constituents. Perhaps they were too busy preparing their exit strategy for the next election.

As Ian Duncan Smith said earlier today, "Labour morale is so low you could slide it under a snake."

The one thing that is clear though is that the people of the United Kingdom have sent a clear message to Labour that they want Change, and they want it now. No longer can Labour claim to govern with any sort of mandate, and though they may try and pin their woeful performances in both the county council and European elections on the expenses scandal, the plain fact of the matter is that the British people are no longer listening to them. What we have is a zombie government led by a zombie leader. Only the Conservative party can clean up Labour's mess. We've done it before, and we'll do it again but we need a General Election NOW!

Once again, thanks to everyone for all their hard work, and thanks too to the Returning Officer, the counters and administrators, the Police, and everybody else from Medway Council who ensured last night ran as smoothly as possible. And most of all, thanks to everyone who made the effort to come out and vote.

We look forward to doing it all again as soon as possible!

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Medway European Election Result

Purnell Resignation Means We Need A General Election Now

A Message from David Cameron

David Cameron warned the Labour Government is "falling apart in front of our eyes" after James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, resigned from the Cabinet.

David said, "In a deep recession and political crisis we need a strong Government. Instead we have a Government falling apart in front of our eyes. Britain deserves better than this."

And he stressed, "With this resignation the argument for a general election has gone from being strong and powerful to completely unanswerable. For the sake of the country Gordon Brown must take the one final act of authority left open to him, go to the palace and call the General Election we have been demanding."

Sign our petition for a General Election now

Purnell Resignation Means We Need A General Election Now