Elections

Heartfelt thanks

Firstly, I'd like to thank my family, fellow Conservatives and my campaign team, without whose support I could not have mounted such an effective campaign.

I would also like to thank each and every one of 12,733 voters who put their faith in me and I hereby promise that I will continue to serve them and others irrespective of the position I hold.

The results and our achievements

As you now know, the results are in and unfortunately, Ealing Southall will not get the new dawn it so richly deserves. Despite the manner in which his campaign was conducted - namely the personal attacks and unfounded allegations against me, the unwillingness to partake in public debates, the vandalism and intimidation of constituents - in the time honoured fashion, I congratulate Virendra Sharma and his team.

I truly hope that the new Labour council will continue to invest in the community as the Conservative council did before them and build on the progress which has been made. Of course, in the interest of the community, we will be keeping a close eye on things.

I'd also like to praise Nigel Bakhai of the Liberal Democrats for mounting a positive and spirited campaign in which we were able to debate the issues and maintain the maturity and decorum of engagement that should come with a democratic election.

We didn't get the 19.17% swing required to gain Ealing Southall (which was always going to be miraculous if achieved). Even so, we have achieved a number of successes with this campaign:

• Ealing Southall is no longer a Labour safe seat. Never again, will the Labour Party take the constituents of Ealing Southall for granted. 12,733 of us have sent the message loud and clear - we will not stand for ineffectual representation.
• The Labour majority which in 1997 stood at 21,423 has now been brought down to 9,291.
• We've shattered the taboo that voting Conservatives is some sort of crime and those who "voted for Singh" can now say with pride that they voted for Conservative principles and values.

Upon closer inspection of the results, the following can be drawn:

Parliamentary elections

We've won the battle for 2nd place having usurped the Liberal Democrats.

We achieved an 8.3% swing in our favour -the largest in West London and nearly double the national swing rate.

We now have a 29.8% share of the overall vote which is an increase of 10.8% (also more than double what the party achieved on a national scale) whereas, Labour's vote share was fell by -5.8% and the Liberal Democrats by -3.3% as can be seen in the following graph:

Council elections

At the council level, we didn't manage to gain any seats - a trend that was repeated across most of west, south west and east London. However, we massively increased our share of council votes, as can be seen below:

The sheer magnitude of the increase can be seen in the graph below:

What next?

The results clearly demonstrate that without a shadow of doubt there is a real alternative to the previous political status quo in Ealing Southall. The Conservatives now have a firm foothold in terms of the popular vote albeit without firm representation. It is also clear that there is a strong desire for change and that this Labour "hold" should not be misconstrued as the right to rule without consultation with the public. There are a significant number of people in Southall (almost 30%) who want to see a difference made and have shown that they do not support the current administration.

On a personal level, it's been a very busy 18 months so I think we all deserve a short break especially my wife Rajinder who has been and continues to be my rock.

From a political perspective, I intend to maintain my interest in the politics of Ealing Southall. My website will remain current and up-to-date. I will continue to do what I can to build upon the foundations we've laid for the Conservative Party and I will certainly keep my door open to all Ealing Southall constituents should they want to consult me for any advice and guidance.

Best regards,

Gurcharan

Singh Fights to Save Ealing Hospital

Government and NHS forces are putting the future of our only local hospital at risk. If proposals are accepted the A&E department will close and Acute Services will surely follow. Even Maternity Services are at risk meaning mothers will have to travel outside the borough to give birth. To retain the Stroke Unit, I submitted a petition containing 1860 signatures. I am now fighting for all services at Ealing Hospital (click "Sign My Petition" in the right hand pane-->).

Our Labour MP has done nothing in the face of these threats. He has not forced the Labour Health Minister to reconsider proposals. He is happy to be pictured opening Health Centres yet when it comes to fighting for local NHS services he is nowhere to be seen.

My personal pledge to you is that if elected, I will immediately halt closure to services until a thorough review of the proposals are carried out. It is our hospital and we must work together to save it. Vote Conservatives and we will not only "Save Our Services" but improve them too.

Cleaner Streets: under Labour, Ealing was officially the "dirtiest borough in London" but now, more than 92% of streets are cleaned to a "Grade A "standard.

If elected, I will continue to keep the environment at the very top of the agenda.

Gurcharan

Value for Money: under Labour, Council Tax rose 48% in 4 years and 178% in 12 years. Under the Conservatives, a Band D homeowner paid no increase in 4 years and with the £50 cash-back increases remain below inflation.

If the Conservative Council can deliver this in 4 years, imagine the changes a Conservative Council plus a Conservative MP plus a Conservative Government could bring! It's time for us to clean up Labour's mess.

If elected, I will encourage a sensible fiscal policy the encourages growth with prudence. Further still, if you elect me, I will be a "value for money MP". I will make sure you are represented to the very best of my ability.

Gurcharan Singh Fighting and Stopping Undesirable and Antisocial Developments

I've been at the forefront of fighting the menace of undesirable developments such as proposals to develop a brown field site by Frendscastle at Hanwell and the gas works site at Southall. While the Frendscastle application was simply an over development, the gas board site submitted two applications (one for bio-fuel and the other to build 3,750 houses/flats) which were woefully short on detail in infrastructure and safety from contamination. I along with my colleagues and community groups lobbied Councillors and were successful in getting the applications declined. However, Mayor Johnson overturned the gasworks decision by "calling it in". Even so, the fight is far from over and regardless of my Party affiliation, the needs of Southall residents come first.

If elected, I will continue to work with the council to appeal the Mayor's decision.

Gurcharan

New library and Health Centre

Despite unjustified opposition from Labour the Conservative Council, together with local NHS, invested £1.5m and opened the thriving Library and Health Centre at Jubilee Gardens.

If elected, I will fight to ensure that the investment into Ealing Southall continues to increase. I will fight to ensure that areas such as Spike's Bridge Park are regenerated.

Gurcharan

Preamble: This post is a direct response to a concern raised by one of our valued constituents. To respect their privacy, I've chosen not to name them.

Ealing Southall is a very unique place. Southall in particular has a distinct identity and is often termed "Little India". However, there are many communities here. In fact, there's probably a case to give some parts of the area the title of "Little Pakistan", "Little Afghanistan", "Little Sri Lanka", "Little Somalia" and even "Little Britain" (though the latter would not bare much resemblance to the TV show of the same name).

The point I'm making is that I completely recognise the other communities and faiths that make up the fabric of our community. The differences between us are what bind us and make our lives in this great constituency much richer.

One thing I would like to make distinctly clear is that come May 6th, I would like the constituents to judge me based on my track record and the efforts I've made on behalf of the community and not, my surname.

I have tried to make this clear in my recognition of the various religious occasions that our celebrated by us. For example, through the distribution of cards:

• Eid
• Diwali
• Vaisakhi
• Christmas

Now, as far as I'm concerned, distributing cards and leaflets does not equate to showing commitment to inter-faith cohesion but it does show recognition of our differences.

If elected, I will make sure that I represent the concerns and interests of all communities. This will include visiting local Mosques, Mandirs, Churches and Gurdwaras. I would like to set up an inter-faith working group to ensure that we can tackle local issues together and in a unified manner. I believe that the issues we face cut across us all. For example, we all care about the NHS, we all care about the safety of our families, we all want to be able to express our religious freedoms without hindrance and we all care about education. Therefore, we should tackle these issues together.

Gurcharan

Many thanks to all those who participated in today's campaign walk in Southall. The turnout was better than expected and we even managed to top last week's efforts. Better still, we even beat the rain -a good omen perhaps!

The people of Ealing Southall are beginning to realise that there is a real alternative to Labour. More and more, we are beginning to realise that we have truly been let down both at a local and national level.

I wanted to use today's campaign walk as an opportunity to let you all know that your priorities are my priorities. For example:

• Healthcare services - particularly those for the elderly;
• Crime within our communities;
• Education standards for our children;
• Business prosperity and jobs; and
• Unfair parking penalties.

For too long, Labour Parliamentary candidates have relied too heavily on the "block vote" systems of old. They seem to believe that they can get by with just turning up on the day. They seem to think that their deserving constituents will be satisfied with poor representation (don't take my word for it, see They Work for You). I think enough is enough and it's high time we make all politicians realise that votes must be earned and that accountability will be expected.

We have an immense challenge ahead of us this week. Ealing Southall has been a Labour stronghold stranglehold for over 50 years now. We require one of the biggest swings in the country. However, having seen the groundswell of support that was clearly visible today, I am confident that we are on the verge of a historical upset.

Such was the mood of those present that rather than ending the walk at Southall Bridge having walked through Old Southall, we went on through South Road and The Broadway. It was a great success.

Gurcharan

PS: to view pictures from the event, click here.

Mr Sharma contradicts himself by saying that he is "happy to meet with any constituent" and yet when he had the opportunity to do so at yesterday's debate, he failed to show up. I find it staggering that Mr Sharma would put his personal, petty grievances ahead of the concerns of his constituents.

This isn't the first time. Sunrise Radio, Akash Radio, Desi Radio and Punjab Radio all wanted to arrange a debate between the main party candidates yet were unable to do so due to Sharma's dogged pursuit of his nonsense policy. To my mind, and for many others, this clearly points to a lack of debating skill, knowledge of the issues and confidence.

If Sharma is unwilling to debate with any person or group that he disagrees with, how can he possibly represent his constituents in Parliament? We need an advocate who is willing to fight for our concerns regardless of the opposition present.

Pettiness and cowardice are possibly the least desirable traits in an MP.

In response to the "open letter" to David Cameron about my suitability as a candidate, the "facts" Mr Sharma and his cohorts present are so outrageous and clearly the ramblings of a desperate man and his flailing party. Neither I nor the Conservative Party feel the need to dignify them with a response.

With the cumbersome distractions out of the way, I'd like to bring to your attention...(see next post)

Gurcharan

Last night I attended the debate arranged by the "Save our Services" team. The purpose of this was to enable the public to gauge their Parliamentary Candidates for their stance on the services under threat at Ealing hospital. I and Lib Dem candidate Mr Nigel Bakhai attended. Mr Virendra Sharma, the Labour candidate failed to attend.

The debate was a good one and what became increasingly clear to me was that the NHS is being subject to "creeping privatisation". This is basically a situation whereby, key parts of our hospitals are being stripped away and sold to the highest bidder piece by piece. The clear risk here is that when the business world gets involved in running the NHS, priorities become mixed up. The main stakeholder of the NHS is you - the patient - whereas the main stakeholders for these private companies are their shareholders who want nothing more than improved profits. These profits can only be achieved by cutting costs and making "efficiency savings" - something that will inevitably lead to more risk and a downgraded service. This is unacceptable.

Unfortunately, Mr Sharma failed to see the merits of turning up to such an important debate. Instead, he sent a messenger to ask for a pre-written statement to be read aloud (the wording of which I recognised from his campaign material and was probably written by head office on his behalf). It later transpired that he was at the local Paradise restuarant a short walk away on North Road.

The most shocking thing about Mr Sharma's stance is that he misguidedly believes he has saved the day already! He is under the impression that he has gained unequivocal confirmation that Ealing Hospital is safe yet, it was clear to me and those in attendance yesterday, that this is far from the case.

What added further insult to the injury of his no-show was that only an hour after the debate, he had the gall to profess his commitment to the Ealing hospital cause on Punjab Radio.

My position on this is very clear. I have made it a top priority of mine to not only fight to retain the services at Ealing Hospital but to enhance them further. Further still, the Conservative Party has committed to safeguard the NHS budget - something the other parties have failed to commit to.

Gurcharan