Election results

IN the local elections within our constituency the Conservatives retained all their seats, UKIP support rose strongly, Labour were flat and there was a collapse in the Lib Dem vote.

Nationally the political chatter is now principally about how the Conservatives should respond to UKIP. My view is that we need to do two things. Firstly, sharpen our offering around the issues where people are most concerned, and secondly keep firmly focused on these issues without unnecessary distractions.

The Queen's speech offered some comfort:-

l A social care bill that will cap the amount that the elderly will have to provide to cover their social care costs — so reforming a system that has hitherto punished those who have been responsible and saved

l A strong push to support business including taking around 450,000 businesses out of the requirement to pay employer's national insurance — an issue I have pressed hard on in parliament and in Number 10

l An immigration bill that will ensure that it is far easier to extradite those who should not be in our country and making sure that we continue to reduce net migration (already down a third since the General Election).

All well and good but there is an issue that did not figure in the Queen's Speech and that I believe needs to be addressed further – our EU membership.

As Conservatives we have pledged a referendum on our membership of the EU should we win a majority at the next General Election, something Labour and the Lib Dems are not prepared to offer. But I believe that we should go further and underscore this commitment through enshrining it in legislation during this parliament. Given that we do not have a Commons majority this will be difficult but we should try to do it nonetheless.