Restore our democracy

/blockquote>

Ed Vaizey writes:

"We've all known for months that the election would be on May 5. But even after today's announcement, there is still a huge sense of excitement and anticipation. I have been the candidate in Wantage and Didcot for almost three years. These next three weeks will be the culmination of a lot of hard work by a great many people in the constituency. The canvass cards, the posters and the leaflets are all ready. We are raring to go. We are hoping for a good result.

"Inevitably, the national debate will have an impact on the local campaign. I am delighted to see the Conservatives starting from a strong position, with a clear message and strong leadership. We all think we can win - and that we deserve to.

"The theme of this election is obvious. After eight years of high spending and high taxes, we all feel let down by Labour. We need a new government to tackle the really difficult problems that Labour seems to file permanently in the pending tray – our pensions crisis, the lack of control of immigration, rising crime, the rampant superbug. But above all we need a change of culture. We have had a massively dominant Labour government which has run roughshod over people's sensibilities and seems to feel that the rules no longer apply to it. If the problems Britain faces were not enough reason to vote Conservative, surely the need to restore the health of our democracy would be."