POLITICS IS A TOUGHER GAME THAN REALITY TV

Nadine Dorries MP with Jeremy Brier and Nigel Huddlestone, Luton North and South Conservative Parliamentary Candidates












Margaret Moran, Luton South MP and Esther Rantzen

Much has been written in the national press and on my Blog about Margaret Moran, MP for Luton South, who claimed £22,500 for repairing dry rot at her partner's home in Southampton, 100 miles away. Moran tried to justify it by claiming that she "has a right to a family life" in Southampton although her partner is registered to vote in Luton! Since that foolish statement Moran has repaid all the money and is likely to be forced to stand down before the next General Election.

What's wrong with the men in Luton? At least one charming and handsome Luton man, John Young, Campaign Manager for the two excellent Conservative Parliamentary candidates, Nigel Huddleston, Luton South and Jeremy Brier, Luton North, pictured above, has given me much needed help with my election campaign. In 2008 I helped him to distribute 65,000 leaflets across Luton - the first time in years that local Conservatives had formally communicated on such a scale with local residents. John is confident Conservatives will win both Luton parliamentary seats in 2010.

Esther Rantzen, a 68 year old 'C' list celebrity jumped on the Luton South bandwagon and announced that she may stand as an anti sleaze candidates against Margaret Moran. This news did not go down well in Luton. A local paper recently commmented
"As for Rantzen, what have the people of Luton done to deserve this interfering, self aggrandising old crone? Surely they can find a suitable local replacement MP?". Yes they can! Johnn Young is confident that Nigel Huddlestone will be the next Luton South MP. Local Conservatives have campaigned against Moran for years, including attacking her expenses - much higher than her respected fellow MP Kelvin Hopkins, who lives in the same street in Luton.

It seems that TV 'celebrities' fancy themselves as politicians, including David Van Day, who I have never heard of, who may stand against my local MP Nadine Dorries. They obviously have not a clue how hard it is to be a politician, and I speak from 20 years' hard experience as a local councillor, fighting 9 elections, dealing with the daily round of committees, paperwork and facing angry voters on the doorstep during tough election campaigns - this year I have knocked on nearly 2,000 doors.

Nadine has made unwise public comments about the intense media pressure on MPs, but failing to appreciate the personal abuse that local councillors are facing as we knock on doors during our own election campaigns. We have done nothing wrong and are "at the bottom of the food chain" receiving only modest travel expenses for our work. Personally I subsidise my council work with a part time job and pensions and certainly cannot claim for the luxuries listed in the media - TVs, antique furniture, duck islands, blue movies etc !!

Esther Rantzen is 68 years old, and will be 69 in 2010 and has not a clue about what is actually involved in being an MP. Anyway, if Margaret Moran stands down, there is no need for an anti sleaze candidate in Luton South any more.

As for David Van Day, my correspondent admits that he is "not whiter than white", so he would soon be crucified by the national media if he decides to stand as an MP, and like Esther, he probably could not cope with the demanding constituency casework, endless committee meetings and hundreds of dull Government documents to read - nothing like the superficial glamour of TV "celebrity"!