Conservatives - A New Home For Former Labour and LibDem Voters

This week in my Crawley Observer column, I have written about the political spectrum and how, especially in Crawley, it is the Conservatives who are increasingly the logical choice for people who regard themselves as centre-ground or swing voters. We are the only credible alternative to Jeremy Corbyn's loony-left and bitterly divided Labour Party.   

Labour are not a credible party for centre-ground voters

"Most people could be forgiven for not noticing that the Liberal Democrat party conference took place this week. That is perhaps a good indication of their irrelevance since the Coalition Government ended in May. Left with only 8 MPs in the whole country, it could be fairly argued they were somewhat unfairly punished at the ballot box for doing the right thing in 2010, by ensuring the UK had a stable government for five years. 

In Crawley, with UKIP and the Greens also in decline, we are increasingly a town of two-party politics and I cannot envisage this changing anytime soon. Meanwhile, Labour’s lurch to the far-left has given up any claim they may have had to the political centre ground while at the same time, the traditional party of the centre ground, the Liberal Democrats, have left the stage.   

My view is that Conservatives like me should reach out to Liberal Democrat and centrist Labour voters. We are a genuine broad church of people from all walks of life who want the very best for our town, and we should represent the centre as well as the centre-right. Labour’s shift to the far-left is a place where swing voters and centre-ground voters now feel very uncomfortable. These residents deserve an alternative of a party who is prepared to listen to them, and not to approach everything from an extreme politically-charged point of view.

With the Conservatives being the only realistic alternative to Labour in Crawley, I believe that being a broad church and being able to fairly represent everyone is vital. A future Conservative Administration at Crawley Borough Council led by me will be inclusive and will be driven by the needs and aspirations of the town and its people - not driven by divisive political ideology.

Therefore, I am very keen to hear from anyone who cares about our great town about what you’d like to see our Council do for Crawley. What does the Council do well and what could we improve? What should be our priorities for Crawley? Please do drop me a line at Duncan.crow@crawley.gov.uk"