On Tuesday (8 June 2010), new Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan delivered her maiden speech in the House of Commons.

I have reproduced it here in full. (See original Hansard source).

Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech during this debate, which is addressing a critical part of the new Government’s future programme. I congratulate the previous speakers, particularly those who have made their maiden speech and set the bar very high for the rest of us.

It is an honour to speak as the first female Member of Parliament for the Loughborough constituency. I pay tribute to my two immediate predecessors. One, my right hon. Friend the Member for Charnwood (Mr Dorrell), is still a Member of the House. Unsurprisingly, I have been researching previous maiden speeches and it would appear that he made his maiden speech during the Budget debate following the 1979 election. Little did he think that one of his successors, 31 years later, would be speaking as the Conservatives were preparing another emergency Budget after a change of Government.

My immediate predecessor, Andy Reed, worked tirelessly for his constituents following his election in 1997. He was respected as a man of principle and resigned as a Parliamentary Private Secretary over the Iraq war. He was a committed Christian and-I hope that he will not mind my saying this-a well known sports fanatic. Several Members on the Government Benches have already asked me whether I am going to take his place on the parliamentary rugby team. For the record, the answer is no. I hope that I will be able to serve the people in the Loughborough constituency as well as he did.

Loughborough is a wonderful mix. It sits, as my two immediate predecessors said in their maiden speeches, between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, and that has clearly not changed. Loughborough is a town of about 50,000 people but it expands by 12,000 or so during term times thanks to our world-famous university, which is back on the map, as the football to be used at the forthcoming World cup was designed there.

Just across the M1 is the town of Shepshed, which, as I have discovered since the beginning of my candidacy six years ago, feels ignored by every tier of government. I hope that I will be able to put that right during my time as its Member of Parliament.

Finally, a number of smaller villages make up the constituency, including Hathern, Sileby, Quorn, Barrow upon Soar, Mountsorrel Castle, and some picturesque Wolds villages. The fact that I have villages in my constituency raises interesting rural issues that I hope to be able to take further forward in the House.

We have a sizeable ethnic community, and it has been my pleasure, in my six years as a candidate in the constituency, to meet and learn more about them, and to visit the Shree Ram Krishna centre, the gurdwara, the Geeta Bhawan and our two mosques.

At one time, Loughborough was renowned for its textiles and hosiery manufacturing. Now, we are known for pharmaceuticals, research and engineering, and for manufacturing bells-Taylor’s is one of the last remaining bell foundries in the country. The bells have been exported worldwide, and even hang in St Paul’s cathedral here in London.

I want to touch on the importance of supporting the manufacturing sector, as other Members have done. Much has already been said-and, I am sure, will continue to be said-about spending cuts and tax rises, but more needs to be said about supporting private sector businesses, which are the backbone of our economy. We rely on our private sector businesses to provide employment, to train apprentices, to give people skills and, of course, to supply exports.

In March in Loughborough, just before the election campaign started, we received the devastating news that AstraZeneca is to close its Charnwood site, with the loss of at least 1,200 jobs locally. I hope that I will have the opportunity in future debates to raise a number of issues relating to the closure. I am proud to be part of the taskforce, of which my predecessor Andy Reed was a vital part, that is working to fill the site and plug the gap. I hope that we will end up not with a black hole in the middle of Charnwood, but with a site that new businesses and many other industries can use, so that we can still have a full manufacturing sector in the town.

We need to support strong manufacturing businesses, particularly with regard to research and development. Although manufacturing accounts for only about 20% of our economy, it accounts for about 75% of research and development in this country. The services sector is important, but manufacturers take on apprentices and give people new skills in a way that the services sector does not necessarily do so. We need both. I am delighted to see that, in the coalition agreement, the Government mentioned the need for a more balanced economy; in fact, that was mentioned earlier today, too.

With a background as a solicitor advising companies large and small on raising finance both in the City of London and outside, I hope that I will be able to use my time in the House to ensure that we have a truly business-friendly environment in Britain. That would be good for my constituents, for Loughborough, for the east midlands, for Leicestershire and for the country. I hope that we can replace the jobs that have been lost, and can ensure a burgeoning manufacturing sector by the time that this Government leave office.

Charnwood Borough Council’s Plans Committee this evening (27 May 2010) voted by a majority of 6-4 (if I counted correctly) with 1 absention to approve the application by David Wilson Homes to build 58 houses on land off Loughborough Road to the south of Hathern. The report that went to the Plans Committee can be accessed on Charnwood Borough Council’s website.

The application was opposed by neighbours and other Hathern residents, by Hathern Parish Council and by both Charnwood Borough Council ward councillors (including me). In the end the Plans Committee seemed unable to find strong enough reasons to reject the development. My personal view is that this development is a mistake. Here are some of the problems I envisage:

1. There will be increased congestion and dangers on the busy A6 road through Hathern because there is a single access road off the A6 to the 58 new houses, with an inadequate right-turn lane and on the edge of the speed limit boundary from 60mph to 30mph. The developer has promised to contribute £10,000 to ‘traffic calming’ on the A6 but it is difficult to imagine what form this will take and that it will make the A6 any safer – certaintly ‘traffic calming’ will not reduce the volume of traffic on the A6 or allow for a bigger right-turn lane.

2. The development is on open countryside and represents not only a threat to Hathern’s separate village identity (as land is increasingly ‘filled in’ between Hathern and Loughborough and Hathern and Shepshed) but also a permanent loss of important (and constantly threatened) green space.

3. The plans make no effort to integrate the 58 new houses into Hathern. The development is effectively a stand-alone housing estate on the edge of Hathern, with a single access road and no integral links to the heart of the village. These houses are not an effective way of building the community in Hathern.

The development even contravenes planning policies relating to increasing development on ‘brownfield’ sites (rather than green space) and ensuring developments contribute to community-building. Unforunately not enough members of the Plans Committee found these issues sufficiently persuasive. Sadly the Plans Committee’s thinking seemed to be dominated by the previous national government’s rules requring the local planning authority to ensure a ‘five year’ supply of housing, even if that means building outside the limits to development on open countryside next door to a small village.

Frustratingly for those of us opposed to the development, the planning policies that allowed this development to go ahead may be changed in the near future by the new coalition government so that applications like this may not be so readily approved. Any changes now will come too late for this part of Hathern.

Last week’s Loughborough Echo (14 May 2010) featured a number of articles about local election results, including the election of Nicky Morgan as the new MP for the Loughborough constituency. The Echo’s article about Nicky’s election success is available to read online here: Loughborough’s new MP pledges to work hard for the community.

From the article:

TORY MP Nicky Morgan has pledged to sort out schools and jobs in Loughborough after snatching the key marginal seat in the town finishing Andy Reed’s 13-year reign.

Nicky Morgan’s victory saw the Conservatives snatch 21,971 votes: 3,744 more than Andy Reed, who has held the Loughborough seat since 1997.

…

I think a lot of people are going to want to see me prove myself and that’s understandable but I promise to work my hardest. MPs change things and I want to change things for this community.

Here are a few ways to keep in touch with Nicky Morgan – MP for Loughborough:

Nicky Morgan – official website: NickyMorgan.com
Nicky Morgan – profile on www.parliament.uk
Nicky Morgan – voting record, committee membership and expenses on TheyWorkForYou.com
Nicky Morgan – voting record on The Public Whip
Nicky Morgan – update messages on HearFromYourMP.com
Nicky Morgan – contact on WriteToThem.com

My congratulations to Councillor Jill Vincent, who was elected as the Mayor of Charnwood for the council year 2010/2011 at last week’s Full Coucil meeting of Charnwood Borough Council.

Jill will make both an excellent chairman of Full Council and a great First Citizen of Charnwood. Already at last week’s meeting Jill showed she has the skills and the respect of councillors to make a great success of her new role.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to Councillor Roy Brown, who served as mayor for the year 2009/2010. Roy has been a committed and enthusiastic mayor and he now goes on to serve as deputy mayor supporting Jill Vincent in her role during 2010/2011.

Iain Martin of the Wall Street Journal provides one of the best summaries of Gordon Brown’s non-resignation speech that I’ve read.

Iain writes:

It was classic Brown. He laid out the terms on which the rules allowed him to remain in office. He accepted that Cameron and Clegg were talking, but said he was on hand if it didn’t work out.Other than that he was mostly getting on with the job, as usual.

It all sounded rather self-centred, despite it including an appeal to the national interest. If there was a reference to colleagues with seats lost or voters feeling let down by him and his party then I missed it. Even his biggest supporters admit that as so often with the PM it’s all about Gordon. In this manner he waxed and waned on what he was doing today. That seemed to involve him being important, and telephoning other important people. Let’s say there was not much emotional intelligence on display or recognition of his situation.

It was a study in a certain kind of stubborness and disinclination to confront cold hard truth. He could have acknowledged defeat, accepted it and subtly prepared the ground for his inevitable exit.

Is Brown likely to be PM in ten days? Surely knowing the answer is no, Brown’s priority should have been to manage a dignified retreat.

Iain goes on to provide an alternative speech that would have allowed Gordon Brown to resign with dignity.

Brown is shamefully desperately clinging on when it is clear voters have rejected him. The BBC is even reporting that Gordon Brown made an abusive phone call to Nick Clegg last night:

Liberal Democrat sources have told the BBC’s Jon Sopel that Gordon Brown delivered a diatribe laced with threats when he spoke to Nick Clegg last night by phone. It was in sharp contrast to the respectful and constructive talk between David Cameron and Mr Clegg, they added.

It’s about time Gordon Brown actually acted in the national interest, rather than just paying lip service to it. That starts with him clearing the way for a new prime minister.

Just before 2.00am this morning Conservative candidate Nicky Morgan was elected as the next Member of Parliament for the Loughborough constituency.

The people of Loughborough voted decisively for Nicky Morgan and the Conservatives, with a 5.5 percent swing from Labour to Conservatives, giving Nicky Morgan a majority of 3,744 votes.

The full results for the Loughborough constituency are as follows:

The turnout in the Loughborough constituency was 52,838 people – 68.2 percent.

Many congratulations to Nicky.

Nicky Morgan has worked hard for people in the Loughborough constituency for the past six years and she will make a fantastic MP!

In her eve of poll video, Nicky Morgan sets out her record as the Conservative candidate for Loughborough and what she hopes to achieve if she is elected as the MP for Loughborough.

Nicky says:

“If elected to represent you, I promise to be there when you need me. To make myself easy to contact and easy to see in person. I promise to publish my expenses online and to have them audited annually.

I want to build a consensus about how we move to 11-16 school without losing the excellent schools that we already have.

I want to support the AstraZeneca workers as they look for new jobs and opportunities.

I will support Sure Start, I will work to protect our green spaces and I want to ensure that the voices of local residents are at the heart of local and national decision-making.”

Tomorrow people in Loughborough have the chance to vote for change both locally and nationally by voting for Nicky Morgan, the Conservative candidate for Lougborough. Nicky has been working hard on behalf of people in the Loughborough constituency for more than six years and she would make a fantastic MP.

‘2005 notional’ translates the 2005 actual result into the new boundaries in force for the 2010 election.

‘2007 notional’ translates the relevant Charnwood Borough Council ward results from 3 May 2007 into the Loughborough consituency results.

‘2009 notional’ translates the relevant Leicestershire County Council division results from 4 June 2009 into the Loughborough constituency results.

It will be interesting to see what the final pre-election polls show tonight.

Further to my post yesterday about Loughborough Labour Party’s canvassing results showing a 2.2 percent swing to the Conservatives in Loughborough, I was contacted by a couple of readers who asked whether Labour’s polling can be trusted. The answer is quite simply no.

I base this answer on two things:

1. Door-to-door canvassing is only semi-reliable regardless of which party carries it out. Canvass results can be skewed by different parties choosing to focus efforts on particular areas or streets. The results can also be affected by the time of day the canvassers go out – canvassing the same street on a Wednesday afternoon might produce a different demographic to if the same street is polled on a Saturday morning. Even when voters do answer the door, there’s no guarantee they will have made up their minds how to vote – or that they will give accurate information about how they’re going to vote.

2. As recently as February this year we saw clear evidence that Labour’s door-to-door polling is more than a bit unreliable. During the local by-election campaign for one of the the Birsall Watermead seats on Charnwood Borough Council, a sample of Labour’s canvassing indicated that Labour would poll 30 percent of the vote with the Conservatives receiving “rather fewer” votes than Labour. In the end, the Conservatives polled 48 percent – 16 points ahead of Labour on 32 percent.

If Labour’s Birstall Watermead canvassing technique is anything to go by then Labour’s prediction of a 2.2 percent swing to the Conservatives in Loughborough could be wildly understating the Conservative position. We’ll know for sure less than 72 hours from now.

The Conservative Contract says that if you elect a Conservative government on 6 May, the Conservatives will:

Change politics

• Give you the right to sack your MP
• Cut the number of MPs by 10 per cent
• Cut ministers’ pay by five per cent
• Give local communities the power to take charge of the local planning system
• Make government transparent

Change the economy

• Cut wasteful government spending
• Act now on the national debt
• Reduce emissions and build a greener economy
• Get Britain working by giving unemployed people support to get work
• Control immigration

Change society

• Increase spending on health every year, while cutting waste in the NHS
• Support families
• Raise standards in schools
• Increase the basic state pension
• Fight back against crime
• Create National Citizen Service for every 16 year old

Read the contract in full at Conservatives.com.

Just four weeks ago Labour candidate for Loughborough Andy Reed seemed confident that he will be elected on 6 May 2010 – perhaps even arrogant.

Four weeks later, after four weeks on the campaign trail meeting and canvassing Loughborough voters, Mr Reed’s tune is beginning to change.

Here is what Andy Reed has been saying on his blog over the last four weeks:

6 April 2010
“I predicted a year ago that as soon as there was any serious analysis of the Tories their poll lead would disappear. Most of the things I said then are still as true today.”

10 April 2010
“Tory support in the constituency has flatlined since the mid 90s.”

18 April 2010
“I always predicted here that once there was any scrutiny of the Tories their house of cards would start to crumble. And boy has it done just that.”

1 May 2010
“I will take pleasure at denying Cameron the keys to No 10.”

3 May 2010
“Usually by this stage you know what is likely to happen on Thursday. I don’t know the exact result but I have been able to tell within about 500 votes how it will look in the past. This is not the case this time. I know we are neck and neck (a few votes ahead) with the Tories with the Lib Dems back in a poor third place with the minor parties picking up a small sprinkling of support.”

Andy Reed now says that Labour and the Tories are “neck and neck” in Loughborough, presumably on the basis of polling/canvassing by his campaign team.

That means even Loughborough Labour Party expects to lose more votes to the Conservatives and is predicting a 2.2 percent swing to Nicky Morgan and the Conservatives in Loughborough.

Despite coming to the Loughborough consitutency last Friday (30 April 2010), Gordon Brown failed to really visit Loughborough – instead focusing his visit on Loughborough University. This is the second time that Gordon Brown has come to the Loughborough constituency only to bypass the town of Loughborough.

By contrast, David Cameron’s recent visits to Loughborough included a public question and answer session at Loughborough town hall (July 2008), visiting Rainbow’s Hospice (January 2010) and a public meet-and-greet in Loughborough market place (April 2010).

Loughborough University is undoubtedly a fantastic university (which of course I would say having graduated from there) and it is a key part of Loughborough and the local economy but Gordon Brown’s focus on Loughborough University to the exclusion of the town grates with many Loughborough townsfolk.

With less than a week to go until polling day, Conservative candidate Nicky Morgan remains the bookies’ odds-on favourite to be elected as the next MP for Loughborough. The bookies are so confident of a Conservative victory in Lougborough that the average odds available for Nicky Morgan to win the seat are 1/10, indicating the bookies think Nicky has more than a 90 percent chance of winning.

The current odds (1 May 2010) are as follows:

The bookies give Labour’s Andy Reed just a 14 percent chance of winning and Lib Dem Mike Willis just a 3 percent chance of winning.

Nicky Morgan has shown she has the energy, leadership and values to be a fantastic MP for Loughborough. Nicky’s team will be working hard right up until the close of polls on 6 May to help deliver change in Loughborough and in Westminster. And Conservative canvassers can go out with renewed pride this week following David Cameron’s excellent peformance in the final leaders’ debate.

Last night and this evening I attended two Loughborough constituency hustings events.

BBC Leicester Radio hosted a debate at Loughborough town hall last night (28 April 2010) which was broadcast this morning. The debate featured Conservative candidate Nicky Morgan, Labour candidate Andy Reed and Lib Dem candidate Mike Willis. UKIP candidate John Foden failed to attend (despite accepting) and BNP candidate Kevan Stafford turned down the BBC’s invitation. The event was chaired by the BBC’s Ben Jackson. The hour long event included a number of audience questions about important local issues as well as yesterday’s hot topic – the Gordon Brown ‘bigot’ gaffe. If you missed it, you can listen to Ben Jackson’s programme on BBC iPlayer.

This evening (29 April 2010) the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) hosted the final Loughborough hustings of the General Election campaign at the Holywell Park science site adjacent to the Loughborough University campus. The event was headlined ‘Who cares about science?’ and the six pre-selected audience questions all concerned science, ranging from how the government can encourage children to develop an interest in science careers to the issues of GM crops and national energy policy. Candidates in attendance were Conservative Nicky Morgan, Lib Dem Mike Willis and UKIP’s John Foden. Labour candidate Andy Reed was unable to attend and was represented by Charnwood constituency Labour candidate Eric Goodyer. The discussion was chaired by the Observer’s science editor Robin McKie. (I did some limited ‘live-tweeting’ of this evening’s event.)

Throughout the campaign in Loughborough all the candidates seem to have enjoyed the hustings. The various debates, with their different venues and subject focuses, have helped make the local candidates and national policies accessible to a range of people across the Loughborough constituency – starting with the environment-focused debate hosted by Action for a Better Charnwood (ABC) to the more open discussion at Emmanuel Church and tonight’s science-focused discussion. It’s a shame there wasn’t a debate at Loughborough University or Loughborough Students’ Union, which represent a key segment of voters in the constituency, although pleasingly this evening’s science debate did draw a number of academics and students.

This time next week the polls will have closed and no doubt there will be national media attention on the outcome of the vote in the Loughborough constituency – a key marginal which could determine which party is in power on 7 May 2010 and who occupies 10 Downing Street.