“I am very grateful to be called to speak today. I can do no better than repeat the words of my illustrious predecessor, Claire Ward, who on a similar occasion said that she felt a great sense of awe and some nervousness. She had reason to do so. At the time she was only 23 years old, about half my age-only three years older than my eldest son. She also had the distinction-should I say?-of always being known as the youngest of the Blair babes in the 1997 intake. I fear I did not make the cut for Cameron’s cuties, so I have to rely on Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail. He referred to my stature in Parliament as broadly equivalent to that of my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Nicholas Soames) and of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles). However, I think Mr Littlejohn was referring not to political stature but to my girth.
Claire Ward was an outstanding Member of Parliament for Watford. She was proud and honoured to represent the town, and she is very popular-and not only in the constituency. She had a distinguished parliamentary career, and was a Whip for several years before becoming an Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice in 2009. I am sure that everyone will join me in sending our good wishes to her and her husband and young family for their future. She is still under 40 years old, and I really do not think that we have heard the last of her. She is a wonderful person.
My first experience of Watford was at the tender age of 21, when I joined Trewins, a local department store belonging to the John Lewis Partnership that was, at the time, compared favourably to the shop in the then popular programme, “Are You Being Served?” My time there was a great lesson for me. It gave me a certain morality on the way to do business. The way that that firm taught us to treat suppliers, customers and fellow workers was a lesson for my whole business career and, I hope, for my political career.
I started in Watford then, not dreaming that I would become the Member of Parliament for the town. Watford was very much regarded as an industrial town in those days, and in the days of my predecessor-but-one, Tristan Garel-Jones, now Lord Garel-Jones, a wonderful man and a distinguished Member of this House. He had been Deputy Chief Whip and had held various other jobs, and had been in the Cabinet. He has been a great help to me. Watford was known for what is still colloquially called the print; it was one of the biggest printing centres in Europe. It had Scammell Lorries and Rolls-Royce aero-engines, and most of the town was involved in manual labour.
Of course, thing have changed. We now have a very diverse economy in Watford. We have some well-known national names. Camelot, the lottery company, has its head office in Watford, and we have Total-the oil company-and several other big names. We also have many distinguished smaller, local firms. We have Sigma Pharmaceuticals, which employs 400 people, and a very interesting family-run business called DDD, which manufactures toiletries and cosmetics, and it too employs 400 people locally. It was established in 1912 and is family-owned.
The important things for me are start-up businesses and high-tech businesses. During the election campaign, I had the privilege of visiting a business called Twin Technology, which was a start-up company only two years ago, and which now employs 14 people. I visited it with my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar, who was then party chairman. It was interesting; we heard on that day how difficult it was for the owners of the company to keep building it and to keep recruiting people in the current economic circumstances, surrounded as they were by the obstacles of bureaucracy.
In my business career-before my political career-the most important thing was employing people. In business, it is the greatest privilege to be able to employ people-to give them the opportunity to make something of themselves in life. It is with some shame that I tell the House that, in Watford, unemployment among young people-that is, people under 24 on jobseeker’s allowance-has more than doubled in two years. I think that we are talking about just under 550 people. That does not sound very much, but that is 550 lives in a small town. Those are people who want to work, and are able to work, but are not working.
To me, one of the most important parts of the Government’s programme-this came out in the Queen’s Speech-is providing a business environment where people are incentivised to create employment for others. If I do nothing else in Watford, and in my political career, I would like to be able to do this one thing: I would like to change the attitude to business among young people, together with a Government who are able to give them incentives to fill the empty shops and offices, so that we make business something that people want to do. I have spoken at many schools in Watford, and always to very bright young people. I say to them, “What do you all want to do after university?” but so few of them want to start businesses. It is not fashionable, and it should be. Government can incentivise people, but it is the responsibility of us all to encourage people to go into job-creating schemes.
The very large number of young unemployed people in this country-1 million-is obviously a scandal, but boiling that down to individuals, I believe that it is the job of Government to facilitate some form of change. I was delighted to hear in the Queen’s Speech that the welfare reform Bill, much of which is based on our election manifesto, is to provide interesting schemes, such as a mentoring scheme for small businesses and sole traders to take in young people and give them a chance.
I remember being in business in 1992 and not doing very well. Unemployment was very high and we were very short of money, but I thought that I could afford to recruit three young people. At the time the Government had a very simple scheme: it was for one year; the employer paid the young person £30 a week; and the Government made up the balance. So, I went to a jobcentre on the Monday, and three young people started on the Tuesday. I am told that that process is impossible today, with audits, safety checks, people going to appraise the business and everything else. Somehow, we have to be able to give people a chance so that employers can decide, “Enough of all this. I want to recruit people, I want to give them a chance. If it works out, it does. If it doesn’t work out, well I’m sorry.” I hope that this Government will be able to change the environment into one that makes people want to take a risk, take a chance and not have all those reasons for not doing so.
For that reason, I am very pleased to support, among many other things, everything that I have heard in the Queen’s Speech, and I hope that the Government will continue with that kind of operation.“

On the Monday night following the election David Cameron addressed Conservative MPs, explaining that he wanted to come to an arrangement with the Lib Dems for the good of the country as the alternative would be an unpopular Labour government. This was put to a vote and the rest, as they say, is history.

So, what have the first few days been like? While these momentous political events were unfolding, I, along with the record 233 new MPs entering Parliament, was getting to grips with finding my way around Westminster. Experienced politicians from all sides of the House greeted us and showed us the ropes. They pointed out pegs and lockers with our names on and it felt much how I remember the first day of school! Although security passes and laptops were waiting for us, it would be another few weeks before I was allocated an office in Westminster.

Turning back to Watford, I have already received more than 200 requests for help from constituents. My top priority is nothing to do with party politics but instead to provide a service to local people. Most enquiries are from those who feel let down by government agencies – both local and national – and need help cutting through bureaucracy when it comes to vital matters such as housing, education and benefits. I am building a strong operation in Watford to deal with casework and am taking on two local people to help me help you.

If I can help you please get in touch by calling 01923 296790 or emailing richard.harrington.mp@parliament.uk

David Cameron throws his support behind Watford General Hospital and Health Campus

On Saturday, David Cameron threw his full support behind Watford General Hospital and gave his full backing to the Health Campus.

Angered by a series of lies put about by Labour and the Lib Dems in Watford, David  set the record straight:

“I find the scurrilous lies spread by the Labour Party and Lib Dems in Watford astonishing and I hope that local people can see through this political desperation.”

Following a recent visit to the Hospital by Andrew Lansley, Shadow Health Chief, Mr Cameron reiterated our support for the plans to transform the hospital into a 21st Century health Campus.

Mr Cameron said, “Both Richard and I fully support the NHS and Watford Hospital and we all know that Richard is the best man to make sure the Health Campus gets built.”

Voting for anyone else will risk a hung Parliament. This is something we cannot afford to experiment with in these difficult financial times.

A vote for a hung parliament is a vote for politics behind closed doors, indecision and weak government, a paralysed economy and yet another election, and very possibly waking up on 7th May to find out that Gordon Brown is still in Downing Street.

• If no party has a majority, the decision about who takes power will be taken by politicians making deals behind closed doors, instead of by the people.
• It could mean months of uncertainty and indecision – at a time when we need strong leadership to get the country back on its feet.
• Experts say a hung parliament could lead to a run on the pound, falling house prices and a prolonging of Britain’s economic problems.
• It would almost certainly lead to another election, delaying the change Britain needs.

A hung parliament would represent a change for the worse, not a change for the better. Only a Conservative majority guarantees real change, and only a Conservative majority can secure the recovery.

That’s why so many people are telling me that regardless of how they’ve voted in the past, they are planning to vote  Conservative for the sake of the Country.

That is why I have thrown my full support behind the hospital and behind the Health Campus project. I have  shown around Watford General Hospital the Conservative Health Chief, Andrew Lansley, who also put his full backing behind the hospital and the Health Campus. If the Conservatives form the next government, Andrew will be in charge of the NHS so we can rest asurred that Watford General Hospital and the proposed Health Campus will be safe with us.

I also wanted to find out what it is really like for staff at the hospital so I spent the a night shift shadowing staff in A & E. The work they do is inspiring and they do a fantastic job in spite of the obstacles created by all the targets put in place by Labour.

In recent days I have also been running a petition in support of the Conservative policy to provide cancer patients with the drugs the need on the NHS rather than having to pay for them out of their own pockets. We’ve been running a series of street stalls and gained almost 3,000 signatures in little over a week. Like with many of our other campaigns, people in Watford have been throwing their support behind us.

Our local NHS services are a top priority for me and they will be a top priority for a new Conservative government. If elected we promise to:

• Increase spending on the NHS every year;
• Give patients the right to choose your GP, hospital and even the consultant responsible for your care;
• Make sure the NHS focuses on the things that matter to patients – such as whether you survive killers like cancer – rather than box-ticking and process targets;
• Cut the cost of NHS bureaucracy by a third;
• Make sure patients can get all the best new drugs they need for free on the NHS

These are not things we will get with another 5 years of Gordon Brown. In Watford, voting anything other than Conservative will only risk a hung Parliament and help keep Gordon Brown in power. Only if I am elected MP will Watford be helping David Cameron become Prime Minister and prevent a hung Parliament.

I have been involved in many previous elections but this is the first time I have stood for Parliament – and, in fact, Watford is the only constituency where I have ever wanted to stand.

I have become so frustrated with 13 years of incompetent government, wasting everyone’s hard-earned money,  I felt it was time to stand up for hard-working families to stop this.

If I am elected, Watford will help David Cameron become Prime Minister. With a fresh Conservative government, people can once again be their own boss rather than be bossed around by the State.

Why Watford, you ask? Well, I have great affection for the area. I began my working life in Watford, starting out on the training scheme at the old Trewins store. Many of my family have lived in the area for years and I think this is a great town.

I remember what strong industry Watford had and recognise the great things this town still does having met so many . I think Watford could be a real business powerhouse and, if elected, I will work hard with local business and government to make this happen.

Voting Conservative in Watford on May 6th will mean voting for a change of government. A swing of just 1.97% from Labour to Conservative in Watford will win it for us and put David Cameron in Number 10. All we need are a few hundred votes and Watford can help the Country to get moving again.

More and more people are coming forward to help as they now realise they can make a difference in bringing about the change that we need in Britain today. Even in the first few hours after the election had been announced, dozens had already come through our doors asking what they can do to help get Gordon Brown out!

We only need a tiny swing of 1.97% to unseat Gordon Brown’s Labour candidate so every bit of help can make all the difference. Here’s how to get involved.

The following day continued at pace with David Willetts coming to visit one of our local Sure Start Centres. We went to the Berry Grove Children’s Centre in Garston to take a look at the great work they do there and the vital services they provide to young families in the area.

Sitting with the mums who were playing with their kids, we chatted about how the Sure Start Centres have been a lifeline in bringing up their kids. The mums were pleased to hear that the Conservatives  are fully backing the Sure Start Centres.

Today was packed once more with street stalls in Abbots Langley and canvassing in Garston. It was made all the better by the beautiful weather we’re enjoying. This weekend, let’s keep are fingers crossed for more of the same!

As reported in the Watford Observer, respected pollsters make the Conservatives favourites to beat Gordon Brown ‘s Labour candidate.

At the last General Election there were only 1,941 votes between the Conservatives and Labour in Watford.

Since the 1970s, the governing party has always  won in Watford. This means Watford’s voters are crucial in changing the government.

This year the people of Watford can only stop Brown staying as Prime Minister by voting Conservative – a vote for any other party will only help to keep him in.

If Watford voters choose me as their next MP, they will have a strong local representative and can help give the Country a Conservative government with the energy, leadership and values to get the country moving.

For many people, it is a long slog between the new year and Easter and this long weekend comes as a welcome time to relax with our families and appreciate what we have.

Since January, I have been extremely busy. Nearly all my time has been spent working on this campaign, knocking on people’s doors. So this Easter, I will be spending it with my family. My wife Jessie will be cooking some roast lamb for dinner so my youngest son, Daniel, will be dragged away from his GCSE revision, and the eldest James will be back from Uni to join us.

As the election is likely to be called in the next few days, I suspect this may be my last day of blissful for the next few weeks!

Happy Easter to you.

These meetings have not only been a great experience for me, allowing me to speak candidly and face-to-face with hundreds of local residents, they have also given people the opportunity to express their own views to me and other local Conservatives candidates. In my view this is how politics should be – a proper 2-way conversation between people and politicians.

On Saturday we held a meeting at the Carpenders Park Community Centre with the local Conservative campaigner, Eric Bishop. Like with other meetings I have held, we covered a wide range of issues from the economy, to Europe to the local bus service .  Whatever people wanted to talk or ask questions about, no issue is too big or too small.

If I am elected, I will hold these meetings once a month so that people can quiz me on the decisions I take and we can have a proper democratic discussion.

If you are free tonight, please do come down to St Luke’s Church at 7.30pm, ask me any question you like and judge for yourself if you think I should be the next MP for Watford.