A busy week!

Have had a very busy few days with regard to canvassing and pre-election appearances. On Wednesday, we had the Aberconwy Conservative AGM where the election team for May was confirmed and we had a very high turnout (we can only hope for a similar turnout for the actual election!).

I then zoomed down to the Eagles Hotel in Llanrwst for a meeting organised by the FUW where all four candidates in the Aberconwy election were panellists. It was a lively affair, especially where Tir Mynydd was in question, and it gave a very interesting insight into the tactics of at least one of my opponents for the forthcoming election. I am sure to be regular visitor to the Eagles over the next few weeks!

Thursday morning was spent preparing election material and was followed by lunch with the Aberconwy Conservative Ladies. Any candidate will tell you that these events form the backbone of any campaign and I was very pleased to receive a cheque for £500.00 for our election fighting fund. Came back to see that our 'Fair Play for Small Business' was featured on the 'Waterfront' political programme on HTV.

Friday was spent canvassing in the rain around Llandudno, where the reaction was very positive and then, yet again, we had a meeting of the four candidates, this time in the Imperial Hotel, as organised by the Royal College of Nursing. It seems clear that Labour wish to focus on the past and not on any policy discussion, which is a great shame as I think the public has been turned off politics by such pointless arguments. Anyway, it was good to discuss some key issues such as peripatetic care and safety issues at hospitals, although we did not discuss the downgrading of Llandudno Hospital nor the wider policies in the NHS.

However, the best quote on the night was not from any of the panellists, but from a newspaper article I had read last week, namely:

“Funding for the health service has more than doubled since Labour came to power, so how is it that in 2007 after that ten-year investment, hospitals are having to take out lightbulbs and ask people to work for nothing in order to save money? The only explanation is that so much of the funding has been misdirected and wasted through poor policies and a lack of good management.”

I wish that it had been David Cameron, Jonathan Morgan or even myself who had come up with a quote that hit the nail on the head regarding the state of the NHS, but it instead it was Dr Peter Carter, the new general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing!