Plus: We need to care more for our candidates post-election. And: A recruiting brainwave from Conor Burns.
Both parties hammered the Lib Dems as a clutch of very slender victories gave Labour their point of light on election night.
Sol Campbell is among those who will attend the event – which is to be chaired by Iain Dale.
Priti Patel, Alok Sharma, Shailesh Vara – all have played a part in the big push among Indian-origin voters. It needs more money and support.
Name: Mike Freer Date of birth: 29/5/60 Constituency: Finchley and Golders Green Areas of interest and expertise: Reducing cost of Central Government Local Government Reform. Distinguishing career milestones: (including education, jobs, positions and offices held): Reform of Barnet Council (dubbed EasyCouncil) Local Government funding initiatives (Barnet Financing Plan) that informed policy on New Homes Bonus & Business […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. On Friday, 50 MPs, including 34 Conservatives, wrote a letter to the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, expressing their "serious concerns" with the Department of Health’s proposal to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products. The letter stated that: "There is no reliable evidence that plain packaging will have any public health […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. 5.45pm Update: Expanding upon his earlier remarks, Jesse Norman appeared on The World At One, and described the reform proposals as "a constitutional monstrosity", saying the Bill "should never have reached the House of Commons": "Unfortunately the Conservative manifesto didn’t contain anything like the commitment that everyone’s pretending it […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Yesterday evening a debate was held on regional pay. I blogged earlier this week on why I don't think the Government will introduce regional pay bargaining – and the Commons debate last night certainly didn't dispel my theory. After initial pro-regional pay contributions to the debate from Elizabeth Truss, […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. 4pm update: People's Pledge sources tells me that Anne Marie Morris, the MP for Newton Abbot has come out in support of a referendum. Mike Freer, the MP for Finchley and Golders Green, has also backed a referendum. This is significant because Freer was not one of the 81 rebels, […]
Mike Freer is the Member of Parliament for Finchley and Golders Green. Is our Higher Education policy Frankenstein’s Monster? By bolting together a centralised state system that treats all universities as equals, and a funding system that puts the financial burden on graduates, we have built a hybrid freak that is the worst of both […]
Three of this week's maiden speeches delivered by new Conservative MPs featured particular praise for Baroness Thatcher. Mike Freer gained Finchley and Golders Green for the Conservatives – a seat taking in much of the constituency represented by the former Prime Minister: "Those hon. Members in the Chamber a couple of days ago will have […]
Deploying talented MPs from ‘ordinary backgrounds’ would help to overturn the widespread stereotype about Conservatives.