Esther McVey

Sir John Major came to Chester to meet with Conservative helpers, supporters and volunteers from across Wirral and Cheshire.

Over 300 supporters came out to meet John Major, the last Conservative Prime Minister, and hear what he had to say. His insight into the current financial situation, as the the Prime Minister who bequeathed this Labour Government the handsome legacy it began it’s reign with but which it so sadly squandered, was perceptive, his approach and strategy to come out of this economic situation astute and pragmatic.

The night was an evening to remember, a night to rally out troops and thank our supporters.

Last night I went to the Art Box, the Calday Grammar School’s Enterprise centre in West Kirby for the opening of an art exhibition by local artists.

The Enterprise centre is part gallery, part toy shop which the students set up as part of a school project to learn about how to run a business as well as to hone their financial and marketing skills.

The Enterprise centre is carving out quite a name for itself as well as bedding itself into the local community. the next exhibition will be of work by other local schools and their pupils.

After years of pressure from local residents with the backing of local Conservatives a new polling station will be based in Barnston.

Christchurch Village Hall will house the polling station for the new polling district of FE, which will take in Barnston. Local residents will be informed by Wirral Council of their voting place.

I am delighted that local democracy is flourishing.  People in the local area need a local polling place, and I hope this will provide

Iain Duncan Smith came to visit Wirral on Friday. Iain who is founder of the Centre for Social Justice has spent much of his political career observing and researching into the issues of social justice and injustice and 6 years ago set up the cross party think tank The Centre for Social justice.

The centre has received much acclaim from all parties. It produced the often quoted document ‘Breakdown Britain ‘ and produced ‘Break Through Britain’ and over 600 policies of ways to change injustices within the system, policies now being used by all parties.

On Friday Iain met with a charity he supports through the  CSJ in Speke called Five, after which he met with business owners from Wirral and Liverpool and visited the Woodchurch Leisure centre to meet with users and organisers of The Youth Inclusion Project.  A project that over the last 12 months has won…..

* A Royal Horticultural Society award for the work our youths were involved in for North West in Bloom
* the Nat Association for Neighbourhood Management ‘Highly Commended’ Best Community Safety Initiative award (Nov 2009)
* the Nat Association for Neighbourhood Management ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award (Jenny Allinson)
* Nomination by Merseyside Police for the national ‘Tackling Drugs Changing Lives’ award
* TSP Directors received the Daily Mail Inspirational Woman of the Year award (June 2009) with the newspaper specifically highlighting the impact of the Youth Project
* the Home Office selecting the project as one of 4 from Merseyside/Greater Manchester/Lancs/Cumbria to be showcased at the regional event in Manchester on 16th March 2010

……and yet is having its funding removed in March.

For that reason Iain is now working closely with me, raising the matter in Parliament, to get it funded.

The Super Sunday team was out and working in Hoylake yesterday …..when quizzed on the number of Valentine’s cards each of us had received most of us agreed we had left the house before the postman had arrived – no doubt they’d be stacked up when we arrived home!!