Guest Blog: Why I’m voting for… (part 4)

The final word in this pre-election guest blog series goes to Nick Hudgell, 25, multi-national employee, sometime map-drawer, and Kilburn resident. Though a natural conservative (note the little ‘c’), Nick has been open minded about who to vote for on May 6th – until recently that is. Here he explains why he was won over by the Conservative Party.

Why I’m voting for… Chris Philp and the Conservatives.

There's something not quite right about this photo - can't quite put my finger on it...

I love The Wire. I have watched it from start to finish. Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) is clearly the star of the show, with his American-Irish, system-hating, whiskey-downing rogueishness. I recently learnt that some years ago, Dominic West was once a love rival with David Cameron for the affection of one Samantha Sheffield (later to become ‘Sam Cam’). If Jimmy McNulty can be bested by the leader of the Tories, I’m voting Conservative.

Seriously though, it’s an important decision. So firstly, let’s look at the national scene, which is most important to me. In terms of big party politics, there is lots of manifesto spiel, but there are some distinctive stances which can separate the parties from each other. There isn’t time or space (or enough of your patience) to go through all of the policies and pick out the reasons why I think the Conservatives are better, but I do honestly think that it is time for change…

I agree with Conservative policy on immigration (the introduction of a Border Force), and crime (cutting paper work for police and increasing prison space). I also share their stance on ID cards: I don’t want to spend 80 odd quid on a piece of plastic, and probably neither do you.

They want to create a ‘big society’, increasing discipline in school, and trying to make sure that parents understand their responsibility at home. Tick from me. And something that I think is fairly radical is a pledge to debate a bill or motion in the Commons if 100,000 people vote for it. Definitely something I agree with and something that the Conservatives have in their manifesto.

Finally, health: the Conservatives have a great stance on cancer treatment. Having had a lot of family issues with cancer, this is close to my heart and I agree with their pledges. They would let your doctor decide what drug to prescribe you if you had cancer – including new cutting edge drugs that are available in Europe.

So why Conservative change, and not Lib Dem or an Independent change? Two reasons: 1) I agree with a lot of the Conservative policies and think they would form a stronger Government. 2) If I vote for Lib Dem, we will get a hung parliament, and I truly believe that a hung parliament would be bad for our economy. All parties have ideas on how to make our economy stronger, but the best way is to have a majority government. I do not want a run on GBP, and I do not want the country to lose it’s AAA credit rating (which would make our deficit harder to reduce). Therefore, change for me is Conservative.

Now back to the local scene. Gordon Brown once said this is not a popularity contest, and for once, I agree with Gordon. If it were, then Ed Fordham would get my vote. He seems like a truly nice guy, passionate about where he lives and willing to do everything he can to push action through. I think Chris is more like The Wire’s Mayor Carcetti, very much an ambitious young man, looking for a step up in national politics. But it’s not a contest based on looks and popularity, it’s based on substance and policies. And for me, the long-term national vote is much more important than the local view. So as much as I admire you Ed, I won’t be voting for you.

I can’t compete with some of the honest and heartfelt posts below; I just don’t love you that much Chris Philp. But I’m still voting for you.