I have decided that it would be sensible for me to look at the promises made by the Conservative Party as a whole given they hold such a significant majority and have been in power for 12 years at the time of writing (though their ideology was at least slightly moderated by their need to form a coalition for the first five years). As such, these are the common promises from Conservative candidates for the 2019 General Election:
Many Conservative politicians have promised to make sure that the NHS continues to be funded, but under the Conservatives the NHS is on its knees, with both junior doctors and nurses threatening strike action over working conditions. Clearly a different approach is needed, and reducing the spending on the NHS for ideological reasons is doomed to failure. In addition, Conservatives promised to build 50 new hospitals, a promise which has simply not been kept.
Again, many Conservative politicians have run on a platform of improving transportation, but we are now facing an unprecedented cost of fuel for private travel, and in the realm of public transport we are again seeing widespread industrial action due to chronic levels of underfunding.
Conservatives have repeatedly called for improvements to education, but at the same time they have cut budgets in real terms, resulting in a lower standard of education for children. At the same time, Conservative ideologies have caused the cost of university education to spike upwards both in terms of tuition fees and the cost of actually living near a university for the years of study. Again, abject failure.
Across the board, every public service has had its budget decimated in the wake of austerity, and the latest attempt to provide tax breaks to the ultra wealthy certainly did nothing to help the countless people working to keep this country together in the public sector.
Clinging hard to the concept of a hard Brexit has damaged the country economically and reputationally. We need to find a way to mitigate that economic loss and improve relations with our nearest trading partners once again.
At the national level, Conservative policy is for the country to embrace fracking, which will increase our reliance on carbon-intensive energy generation for decades to come. As an alternative, we should be exploring mass adoption of renewable sources of energy, including solar, wind and tidal, all of which we have in abundance as a nation.
All politicians claim to support their constituencies, but in reality, the Conservatives have consistently voted against increased budgets for local authorities, against decent funding for the NHS and against the interests of other civil servants, all of whom work to provide our constituencies with services that we could not live without.
Conservative MPs have consistently voted against the introduction of Proportional Representation, a system that is designed to ensure that the electorate is accurately represented in Parliament. Instead they have opted to wholeheartedly support First Past The Post, a system set up to allow the largest parties to hoard a disproportionate amount of power compared to votes they actually received. For example, in the 2019 General Election, the Conservatives received 43.6% of the vote, which translated into 365 of the 650 seats (56.2%), which essentially gives them 100% of the power. This is authoritarianism masquerading as democracy.
In summary, the Conservative party has made a lot of promises over the years, but has broken them almost entirely. You deserve better than this.
In another blog post, I will look at the other parties, but the Conservatives are the worst offenders purely because they have been in power for 12 years, 7 of which as sole decision-maker for every major policy affecting the UK, and it is very clear right now that the UK is broken and needs new politicians to fix the mess that the Conservatives have dropped us into.
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A - Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public's best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: " Ok I would trust that guy".
Luca M, fellow speakers' club member
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I've seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He'll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
Miles H, former co-worker