It seems to be rather topical at the moment…the subject of women. I sometimes feel I’m not even part of the debate, with everyone from the Prime Minister to the left wing opposition to the business community all saying what we want.

The problem is everybody has their own agenda, and thinks they they know what’s best for us. The other problem is women aren’t a homogeneous group, we are individuals and all have very different aspirations, wants and needs. What’s important to one woman can be irrelevant to another. That’s what makes us the wonderful individuals we are.

One of the hot topics at the moment is to increase the number of females on the boards of companies, which I personally whole heartily support. In support of this yesterday, and to try and enable women to progress to top jobs in the workplace David Cameron announced he was to examine plans under which working mothers would be given tax breaks for employing cleaners, babysitters or gardeners. All this is from a scheme being used in Sweden that has halved the cost of employing domestic help and has the added bonus of stopping domestic help from working in the cash-in-hand black market.

This resulted in a dressing down from a female Labour MP who rather obviously said how dreadful and out of touch the PM was for suggesting help for well off mothers who could afford domestic help. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t! You can see where I’m coming from here can’t you. 

It was also suggested that this would be to the detriment of tax credits going to low paid mothers. I had a quick look on HMRC’s website and it seems if you have children then you are entitled to child tax credits at varying levels on earnings up to £40,000. On earnings of £25,000 and below these are in my view significant amounts of money. Considering the average wage in the Britain is around £26,000 then this all seems quite fair. I have to say that if a person earns £40,000 pa then I’m not sure I want my taxes being used to give them child tax credits. So this all begs the question why is the Prime Minister’s potential (and it is a huge potential!) offer of help to working mothers on domestic help harming lower paid mothers.

Surely all working mothers need help at different levels and if we are to up the number at board level, schemes such as these should be considered, and I do mean just considered.

I would like us to look at how we can help all women reach their full potential and have the same opportunities as men. This could take any number of forms not all monetary. Can we not just work together sensibly on this and stop making it a battle between who’s paid what, and who is better than who?

This weeks row over Stephen Hester’s bonus has the potential to tell the rest of the world that the UK isn’t open for business.
I think the frenzy that has been whipped up around this subject is misplaced. The amount of bonus or whether it should be paid or accepted is irrelevant to a certain point. What is at risk here is the credibility of the UK as a home for Financial Services. It’s absurd to allow the public or the politicians to call the shots on wages and bonuses of commercial organisations.
How is this appealing in any way to anyone looking to run their business from the UK? Why would we want to advertise to the world that we in the UK resent large salaries? Why if they pay their taxes is this a problem?
Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just because the RBS is mainly state owned……wait until the banks who aren’t announce their bonuses.
Ed Miliband’s behaviour has quite frankly been ridiculous and can only bring about a loss of confidence if allowed to influence. David Cameron needs to be brave and do the best thing for our country and not pander to populist sound bites.
We need economic growth, we need the world to want to run their businesses from here, we need Financial Services in the UK, the outlook without them is bleak, be assured of that!

Last night I attended Women2Win’s private viewing of The Iron Lady and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. It was co-hosted by Conservative Home and Prudential kindly sponsored the event.
It was great to catch up with friends there also, I can’t tell you what it’s like when you get so many political anoraks in one room!
Although the movie wasn’t completely factually correct I found it incredibly moving and inspiring. At a time when we are positively trying to increase the number of women in parliament in fact in public life in general, it brought home to me how absolutely incredible Margaret Thatcher actually was. I also think we forget where she came from and how resilient she was to actually achieve what she did.
It would seem incredible now in 2012 to have a female Prime Minister, can you imagine how that felt in 1979?
On Sunday I featured in the cover article in the News Review of The Observer, which was a piece on Tory feminism. I along with a group of female Tory MPs which included my very good friend Amber Rudd, Claire Perry and Louise Mensh and also Charlotte Vere the founder of Women On all took part in an article written by Gabby Hinsliff.
The article brought out the differences in the views of feminism between the right and the left. I have to say that don’t think the left have done the plight of increasing the number of women in politics and public life any favours. I personally don’t believe or don’t want any quotas. I don’t ever want to be there making up the numbers. I don’t believe in all women short lists and quotas, I don’t ever want to be chosen or selected because I’m a woman……I just don’t want NOT to chosen because I’m a woman. I want to be chosen because I’m the best woman for the job.
Yes we may need different treatment but not preferential as this will only serve to undermine what we are striving to achieve. What women need and deserve is equal opportunities, and to believe they can achieve whatever they aspire to.
Women can often be other women’s worst enemy, in my experience of the seat selection process which historically has been done by local associations (although David Cameron introduced the open primary for the last General Election) women often chose men over women.
I do believe we are breaking down the boundaries but there is still so much work to do. I’m very proud to lead on Women2Win in the North West and would ask anyone interested in getting involved in public life to put themselves forward…..be brave…..we need you!

I’ve recently been appointed Director for Business at the Peel Policy Forum (PPF). PPF is a new independent think tank established earlier this year and operating in Manchester. Our primary function is to inform public policy particularly from a North West perspective. To this end, we look to publish high quality research capable of shaping agenda. We have an array of talents from business to academia.
We are about to publish early in 2012 our first paper on sustainable development. We are looking for our next piece to be on ‘Women in Politics’ and how representative this is.

Friday saw us host an excellent event at The Midland Hotel where our panel members along with myself were Brooks Newmark MP who is a Government Whip and also brings immense and valuable experience on the economy, Dr Brian Sloan Chief Economist for the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Luke Springthorpe also of PPF who did an excellent job in chairing the event (all pictured)
Dr Brian Sloan opened the meeting with a well informed and constructive view of challenges that face business in the North West. His opening concentrated on how dependent the NW has been to the Public Sector for employment, and how this has distorted the economy. He also went on to say that the NW was also exposed to the happenings in the Eurozone as 50% of it’s exports were to the Eurozone. He was positive on manufacturing which had continued to grow in the area and also how the private sector was doing well in providing jobs to those leaving the Public Sector. He also expressed strong views that in his opinion a northern hub was needed to aid congestion calming if electrification goes ahead for the regions rail links.

Brooks Newmark MP gave an excellent insight as to what the government was doing to address these problems. He outlined the necessity for the recent austerity cuts that nobody liked to do but were a necessary evil to not allowing our credit ratings to be cut, which would have disastrous consequences.
He made the point that if this were to happen and interest rates were to rise by 1% this would add £4billion in costs to business. He went on to discuss how we smooth out the distortion to the regions economy with minimum pain.

Some of the things that the Government are doing to help are;

* Simplifying taxation
* Reducing red tape for business
* Review of no fault dismissal rules which will encourage small business to hire that extra person
* Help for young people with 300,000 new apprenticeships.

Many thanks to all those who attended the event, and we look forward to welcoming you to our next event in 2012.

I’ve spent 20 years working in the Pensions industry and forecast for many of those the unsustainable position of Public Sector Pensions.
We are now in the position after the failure of the previous government to deal with this ticking bomb of having to make some hard and difficult decisions.

We are surrounded by countries in Europe who have failed to deal with their mounting debt. Without making some very difficult decisions here in the UK, one of which is to look at Public Sector Pensions, we in the UK could face being unable to pay our debts.

Figures out last week showed quite clearly that PS workers on average now earn in excess of those in the private sector.
Those in the private sector don’t have the luxury of the type of pension scheme on offer in the public sector.

I work in the public sector, I’m in the NHS pension scheme, I understand pensions……they simply can’t be sustained. Why should private sector workers effectively subsidise public sector pensions when they can’t afford them themselves?

Surely we all have to accept the fact that we are all living longer, the cost of public sector pensions is ever increasing and we simply can’t afford it. If we fail to act now this could bring about far harder decisions in the future.

I’m writing this blog with a new found freedom! I’m no longer a candidate or writing in any official capacity. These are my personal views as a long time Conservative supporter, a mother of 3 wonderful children, and sometimes I accept an outspoken, opinionated female.

I’m still very involved in party politics and currentlyhave 2 busy roles Regional Director of Women2Win in the North West – something you will hear a lot about! I’m also National Coordinator for Social Action, so any community groups out there who want a mention, just let me know. I’m also Branch Chair for North Turton in Rossendale & Darwen Constituency where last year we were fortunate enough to return Jake Berry as our Conservative MP.

I would like to thank everybody who voted for me last Thursday from the bottom of my heart. I’m just so sorry I wasn’t succesful in returning a Conservative MP to Westminster for Bolton North East. I felt I threw everything possible into winning the seat but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough.

I’ve been involved in politics for many years, and will continue to be so, my enthusiasm for public office hasn’t been dented whatsoever, but I do hope for the sake of my home town and our great country the dirty campaign I have experienced over the last 6 months is never repeated. I made the decision at the beginning of my campaign not to get down in the dirt with the Labour Party and I stand by the decision and would do the same again whether it meant winning or not. I also stand by the decision not to allow myself to be manipulated by promising parts of the community any special treatment. I have always advocated that where ever you live in Bolton you should be treated the same, and I stand by that.

I haven’t until now commented on the article in the Sunday Mirror. This Labour supporting newspaper camped on my doorstep early one Saturday morning a couple of weeks before the General Election – the accusation that 18 years ago in 1992, four months after I had legally separated from my x husband I had started to see someone else. How is this news you may ask yourself!

In fact I’m still with Mark and have 2 beautiful daughters as a result…..what a scandal! That article was photocopied and sent anonymously in the post with sticky addressed labels across the constituency the day before polling day.

At the count on Thursday evening/Friday morning I was heckled, jeered, and booed by a large  crowd in front of the stage who were there supporting my Labour opponent. Slanderous abuse was shouted at me and my family as I made my way to the stage for the result to be announced.  

I left immediately after I had spoken, and to be honest felt in an unsafe and unstable enviroment. I do hope my home town of Bolton isn’t going to experience any problems in the future such as those that have occurred in Burnley or Oldham.

I have a wonderful family who have been incredibly supportive of my ambitions, an amazing set of political officers who I consider to be dear friends all of whom I have to say a huge thanks to. I would also like to thank every single person who has helped me in any way whatsoever, and once again a big thanks to every single one of the 15,786 people who voted for me on May 6th – I’m only sorry that the result wasn’t what we had all hoped for.

Labour have lied to people nationally. In the national debate, Brown said “…it is our priority that we will support the front line services, health, the National Health Service.”

The reality came to light when a Conservative Freedom of Information request revealed that Labour will cut 650 Doctors and 2000 nurses minimum from the NHS in England. (see http://bit.ly/bGUzSm for more information)

Locally in Bolton, they have tried to spin lies about what a Conservative Government would do with our maternity unit.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow Conservative Secretary of State for Health came to Bolton and set the record straight. He said the new centre in Bolton and the unit in Bury would be sustained.

Conservatives will keep Bolton’s maternity unit open.

Lansley went on to say, “There has been a 10 per cent increase in births across Greater Manchester, and what I am saying is we have no need to lose one unit and operate with just eight units. I fully support the super-centre at Bolton, but the fact is the numbers in the Making It Better report have not anticipated such a steep rise.”

He spoke to several young people about the club and its impact on their lives. Inspired by their journey, he told Bolton Evening News about what he thought of the club:

“Today we’re talking about the importance of rebuilding society, diverting people away from crime, and there’s nowhere better than this club. The people I was talking to were all going off the rails in different ways, and this club is saving them.”

Cameron, deep in the Conservative campaign, felt he had time for a game of table tennis. Cameron was beaten by Daryl Hosker (11 to 7) who told the Bolton News: “He was good. His service was a bit hard, but other than that he was brill. Good sense of gravity and good stance.”

Bolton Lads and Girls club see David Cameron, again!

Cameron came to the club in the wake of the tragic death of Cody Turner who was only recently stabbed in Tonge Moor Road.

Cameron told the Bolton News: “You can never excuse crime, and crime has to be punished, but at the moment you have to remember before people cross the line, and before people break the law, you have to give them the chance to have a better life, and that’s what places like this do.”

Well it seems Gordon Brown is to finally call an election. Any hopes of a clean fight from my opponent have long since disappeared. I’m sure the lies will continue, first of all they were just about the Conservatives now they are personal.

I’ve asked my friends and family that if I ever start to behave in such a manner will they please tell me to just pack it all in.

I sense a great longing for change from the british public, and I know from the bottom of my heart that David Cameron and the modern Conservatives are offering this and I’m incredibly proud to have an opportunity to play a part in this. I’m also very proud to be amongst so many other females…none who have been part of all women short lists, all chosen in their own right. I’m also incredibly proud to be amongst some wonderful male candidates and I wish them all luck male, female, black, white, gay. None of this matters – all there in their own right!

Good luck to all my fellow Conservative Candidates. The picture IS one for the girls from todays Sun Newspaper of me and some of the other candidates.

From The Sun today