Steve Guy

This website was set up for the General Election campaign of 2010, and is now an archive only. You can follow me on my blog “the sandals are off” where I will continue to write about things as I see them. I continue to be an active District Councillor and you can keep up with what we are doing on the Wycombe Liberal Democrats’ website.

Steve

The votes have been counted, and we have increased our vote to 13,863. This represents a swing from Tory to LibDem of 4.8%, an outstanding result which clearly establishes us as the main challengers in Wycombe. So my thanks are due to every one of the 13,863 Wycombe people who put their faith in us in 2010.

I must also record here my thanks to a number of others too. I have the great fortune of being part of a fantastic team of people. So many volunteers delivered leaflets, canvassed or donated money. We couldn’t have done it without any of you. My agent worked tirelessly for many weeks on the campaign, and he like everyone is a volunteer and gave his time for nothing. Finally, my wife has been a tower of strength. It is easy to forget the strain of being the spouse of being a candidate. I am so grateful for her support.

I offer my congratulations to Steven Baker, who has become MP for a great place. He is truly fortunate. I also give Steven notice that I won’t be going away. I remain committed to Wycombe and will be scrutinising his performance as your MP.

We also had some fantastic news from Totteridge, where Lib Dem Jen Joseph secured the seat vacated by the resignation of Joel Foley on Wycombe District Council. I am looking forward to working with her, and I thank the people of Totteridge for electing her. I know she will be a great asset.

I had a great time meeting people in High Wycombe yesterday. More people are interested in what the Liberal Democrats stand for than ever before.

However, as a mark of desperation, Wycombe Tories are now playing the Grammar School card. They were handing out hastily photocopied sheets of paper stating that the Lib Dems would scrap Grammar Schools. This is simply untrue.

So I wanted to set the record straight and let you know where I stand. First of all, there is no policy document anywhere from the Liberal Democrats that advocates scrapping Grammar Schools. You won’t find it in our manifesto either. But I do have reservations about the status quo. So do the Conservatives. In 2007, David Willetts concluded that Grammar Schools ‘entrench advantage’. David Cameron went further attacking Grammar School supporters as ‘deluded’.

My biggest worry is that statistics clearly show that your family’s income is directly correlated with your chances of winning a place in a Grammar School. Now that has to be wrong and unfair. I have openly attacked the regime of private eleven plus tuition which allows families who can afford it to enhance the chance of their child qualifying. It is clear that any child who wins a place in this way does so at the expense of another less fortunate child. How can that be fair?

The Liberal Democrats want to redress the balance by offering extra funding for schools who take children from less well off homes. This would be worth an extra £10 million pounds to schools in Buckinghamshire. I think that would help.

Education is written into the DNA of the Liberal Democrats and will always be a top priority for us. That is why we are the only major party that wants to phase out university tuition fees. We believe that investing in the education of our young people is always a good investment.

In Buckinghamshire, we clearly offer excellent schooling to many children. But we also have a two tier system, and we must not stifle the debate about how we could make it fairer. After the election, I would like to see an honest public debate so that we begin to talk about selection. If we want to retain it, we must make it fairer. Doing nothing is just sweeping injustice under the carpet. As a Liberal Democrat I cannot live with that.

As we move into the final few days of an exciting campaign, I’d like to give you an update. This campaign has been unlike any other I have been involved in. I want to express a heartfelt thanks to all of the new helpers and supporters who have come forward. I also want to thank those who have sent donations too, since we lack the big money funding other parties have and it makes a big difference to us.

People have stopped me in the street to wish me well. It is also noticeable how warmly I and my volunteers have been received on the doorstep. What is also remarkable is how many people have told us that they voted Labour or Conservative in 2005, but are supporting the Liberal Democrats in 2010.

With Labour effectively out of the race, both nationally and in Wycombe, we are now in a genuine two horse race between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. People ask me if we can possibly win in Wycombe. I tell them, “we can, but it depends on you!” The Conservatives have not enjoyed a true majority in Wycombe since 1992. Since then, the number of voters who don’t want another Tory MP has outnumbered those who do. But under our unfair voting system, the opposition has been divided. This year, people who want real change are rallying behind the Liberal Democrats in ever growing numbers – so you can vote Lib Dem knowing that your vote will really count for something.

I want my message to be one of optimism and hope. I do not underestimate the scale of the problems our country is currently facing. But I am convinced that a reformed government of fully accountable MPs will deliver what our country needs. If you vote Liberal Democrat on Thursday, it really will make a difference.

It really is a privilege to be a Lib Dem candidate in 2010. This election is going to go down in history as a watershed in British political history, of that there can be no doubt. But on the ground, that means that you are giving me a warm reception – and asking lots of questions. I am getting an almost overwhelming number of emails every day – so please be patient as I am trying to answer each one personally.

One question I am getting asked a lot now is ‘can you win?’ Of course that is a very good question but the answer is in your hands. The Tories have been able to take this seat for granted for many years. I can assure you they are not able to take it for granted this time. The old two party system suggested that every election was a two horse red/blue race. But the reds could never win in Wycombe – even in 1997 – so the Tories found the seat cosy and safe.

But in truth that old two party system has now been blown apart. With most major opinion polls indicating Labour’s support collapsing and Nick Clegg competing head-on with Cameron, the rules have been rewritten. I don’t know what the result will be on May 6th, but I do know that the system will have to be changed. Wycombe now has a real choice before it. You can do something different this year. You can say no to the past and yes to real democracy.

The story of the General Election of 2010 will be discussed by historians for many, many years. It is a story that YOU will write.

Many people will remember how hard Wycombe Liberal Democrats fought the Post Office closure programme. Station Road, Loudwater was reprieved this time, but others were less fortunate. My own local Post Office (North Town) was closed despite a petition signed by over 700 residents. It is sorely missed.

I believe that local Post Offices provide an essential service to the community. The Liberal Democrats are committed to saving local Post Offices, and I have detailed our policies on a separate page here.

I am holding a leaflet from my Tory rival in this election. It says that this election is a choice between ’5 more years of Gordon Brown’, highlighted in red and ‘David Cameron’ highlighted in Blue. I don’t know when he placed the order with the printer – but the leaflet is now obsolete. The two old parties have spent years perpetuating the myth that a general election is a choice only between red and blue. They have done this because the cosy consensus suited them and guaranteed one of them would always have a majority.

Something remarkable has happened this week. The British People have seen through it. Enough of them are unconvinced by the Red/Blue duopoly to countenance the previously unthinkable thought that it might just be worth voting for someone else this time.

I’m taking nothing away from Nick Clegg’s performance on the leader’s debate. It was crucial that he performed well – and he didn’t let us down. But so many people were already disillusioned by the Lab-Con Punch and Judy show that they were longing for an alternative that they could believe in.

Of course, we in the Liberal Democrats have long believed in that alternative. Our manifesto (which I’m very proud of) is the cumulative result of years of work by the party that Britain needs to break the mould. Every measure in it has been carefully worked out and rigorously costed. This is no pie in the sky wishlist. The old parties will demand that you scrutinise it. You should.

But the cat that escaped from the proverbial bag will not be sent back. Three party politics has arrived, and Britain will never be quite the same again.

Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles visited High Wycombe yesterday to help us officially launch the campaign. As you can see from the video, I am lucky enough to have a great team of helpers and we spent a few hours mingling with shoppers and talking about the issues. This is one part of the job I really enjoy and you certainly had a range of issues that you wanted to talk about. I was also joined by some of our District and County Councillors who have all been working terrifically hard for you. It is heartwarming to see how the Liberal Democrats have been growing as a force in Wycombe, and the supporters who came to help included two of our newest members as well as long standing member and former Mayor of High Wycombe, Frances Alexander.

Last year, our uncaring Conservative District Council voted to close the well-loved open air swimming pool at Holywell Mead. It cited poor usage figures for the previous two seasons (conveniently overlooking the fact that the season before that was a record one with people queuing to get in). My team responded by organising a petition of local residents. We discovered overwhelming support for the pool – and an independent campaign group was born. They put forward a business plan and offered to take over the pool from the Council – but were rejected.

More recently, the Council organised a ‘Public Consultation’ on the future of the pool (at your expense). The questions in the consultation deliberately excluded ‘keep the pool’ as an option. Supporters of the pool therefore had to write ‘keep the pool’ in a free-form area of the consultation, and hope that it was picked up.

The report has now been published and, unsurprisingly, shows that people still want the pool. The Council are now saying that their own report may not be reliable because people were encouraged to fill out consultation forms supporting the pool!

When will the Council accept that they made a mistake. People filled out those forms because they do care very passionately about the facility that they have lost. I will not give up this fight. Holywell Mead Pool could be a success – it just needs someone with a little vision and enthusiasm to take it on. It’s about time they listened to the people who elected them.

The hustings season began this week with two school “Question Time’ style events at Sir William Ramsay School and at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School.

What was striking (and heartwarming) was the level to which these young people had thought about the issues in this election. Their questions were relevant and penetrating and gave us all on the panels a tough test.

There was a common theme at both schools where students were worried about the cost of further education. I know that my party is right to want to phase out university tuition fees. It cannot be right to saddle young people with £20,000 worth of debt before they even start to earn a living. It is well established that graduates will go on to earn more in their lifetime than the rest of us. This also means that they will pay more income tax and be less likely to become dependent on the state in the future. Investing in education is quite simply good value.

Young people also asked us about the how we can repay the massive amount of debt that the nation is now in, since we bailed out the banks. Let’s face it, the bank bailout has cost us an eyewatering amount of money. Young people leaving school this year are facing tough times ahead, of that there can be no doubt. There will have to be cuts, and I think all of the main parties recognise that. There are two challenges: what do we cut, and when. When is actually crucial. During the recession of the 1980s, the Tories under Margaret Thatcher cut too much, too soon. The result was spiralling unemployment, and a recession that was worse and went on for longer. The key is to monitor the heartbeat of the economy very closely and I know who I would trust to do that, our very own Vince Cable. On the subject of what we can cut, Vince has already identified a number of areas including Child Trust funds, ID cards and the replacement for Trident.

Young people also asked about the Cookham guest house incident, where a gay couple were turned away by the owners. Of course, I told them in no uncertain terms that I do not accept that turning them away was in any way a “Christian” act. I find it distinctly unChristian to make judgments about others in that way. I note with interest the reaction of Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling, who appears not to fully support anti-discrimination law in this area.

Many young people stayed to talk to me after both events, and I found it very invigorating. They have views on all of these issues and more, and they have yet to become infected with the cynicism that infects us when we get older. I sincerely hope that those who are 18 by polling day exercise their newly granted right to have a say.