I find it amazing that so much emphasis is placed on reform of our 'voting system', when it is blindingly obvious that a vast number of the Electorate do not understand our system of Government as it is today. I haven't heard a single Party Politician highlight this, probably because there is no Party Political milage in addressing this issue.

At the Polling Stations, queues of people started to form at the Tellers. Most people believed that they had to provide their Electoral Number to a Teller before entering the Polling Place. I pointed out to a couple, who were clearly in a hurry that they were under no obligation to declare who the were to the Tellers. They walked straight into the Polling Place and cast their votes.

One lady however heard me explain this as she came out and was completely incensed, as she had believed this was all part of a mandatory process. She also believed that I was a Teller and vented her anger on me.

People do not understand why Tellers are there and that they have no legal rights to be in the Polling Place. This is why they have to stand outside in the rain. They're not allowed to even use the Loo if it requires entering the Polling Station.

To further illustrate the point, William Haig and David Steel, two experienced Politicians stated on National Television that Gordon Brown is not an elected Prime minister.

Since when did the Electorate on mass elect a Prime minister?

The only time you will see a Prime minister on a Ballot Sheet is if you happen to be registered to vote within his constituency. I was horrified by the number of people who were puzzled not to find a choice of Brown, Clegg or Cameron mentioned their ballot sheets.

Having stood as a Parliamentary Candidate, people have been very forthcoming with their choice of vote. In the vast majority of cases, people didn't even read the names of the candidates. They knew nothing about them.

"I voted Conservative" I'd hear them say, to which I would reply, "so who was the Candidate?" They had no idea. No a clue if a candidate was an extreme Socialist or the Tory end of the Labour Party scale. Or perhaps a Conservative extremist.

No idea if they had any experience, or if the incumbent, if they had actually achieved anything positive for their Constituency.

The Candidates have become nothing more than logo bearers, associated with popular household brands.

People don't elect Prime ministers, they only elect Parties. The Parties appoint leaders who in turn, if successful become Prime ministers. If there is a successful mid-government leadership challenge, the new Party Leader hops in to the PM's chair. The Electorate does not have a say in this process and yet after 3 TV debates, they still believe that they are voting for a Prime minister at the polling booths.

To make matters much worse, we've now adopted the Presidential style TV debates. Aside from the content being somewhat vacuous and lacking in detail, there is insufficient explaination to the voters that you can only vote for one of these people on TV, if you happen to live in one of their constituencies. At best, you can vote for your local candidate, who may be your local representative of the Political Party of interest on TV.

Very few people appreciate the significance of their constituency parliamentary seat.

The Electorate are sold purely on the basis of a Party Manifesto and yet, when was the last time you saw that Manifesto played out in full or even part? We are caught up in 'Plastic Politics'.

On the day before the election, the Daily Mail print a front page spread, telling the electorate to go with the 'tactical vote'. Nowhere did it say, look at the 'form' of your local Candidate, because he's (or she's) the person responsible for representing you in parliament.

We seem to be stuck in the mind-set for 'Got to vote RED else the BLUES might get in' and vice versa. It's little wonder that history repeats itself ad-nauseam.

The 'hung parliament' then rears its head and tribal party politics comes in to its own. Both Labour and Conservative solicit the support of Lib Dem and yet it is beyond their wildest imagination that a Con-Lab coalition might actually represent 75% of the County's vote.

Labour and Conservative are like oil and water. They just don't mix. Surely, they would condescend in the Public Interest to work with each other in a constructive fashion. But then this relies on the parties being made up of selfless, objective, experienced, versatile, seasoned professionals, who have run more than a 'whelk stall' in Margate.

I would like to extend an enormous Thank You, to all of you who voted for me in this General Election and for the warm reception from all of the people I have met over the past 2 weeks.

I would particularly like to thank the Hobgoblin in Church Street, Staines for their unwavering support, throughout.

I thoroughly enjoyed my campaign from beginning to end. I can honestly say It was a rewarding experience and a real 'eye-opener'.

It was interesting to attend my first 'count'. The Independents naturally gravitated towards each other, entering into the spirit of the occasion, whilst the 3 main parties dispersed and visibly found the process an ordeal. But then, the Independents were not in the pursuit of power.

So congratulations to Kwasi Kwarteng on his landslide victory.

I sincerely hope that he will prove himself to be a pro-active and effective constituency MP and not become seduced by political career aspirations over service to his Electorate. The Seven Principles of Public Life set out by Lord Nolan in 1995 require, selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership

Despite the Conservative landslide in Spelthorne and their significant gains throughout the Country, we find ourselves amid a 'hung parliament'. There is sufficient cross party consensus on the real priorities, so there's no excuse not to get the economy under control.

If they fail to make this government work, it will be a failure on the part of the individual parties and politicians, not the system. They have a responsibility to act in the Public Interest first and set aside their political differences and party objectives.

I sincerely hope they focus, else I'll be losing my deposit again in November.

Thanks again.

Thank you to everyone who supported and voted TUSC. In Spelthorne we got 176 votes but you could hear a pin drop when I spoke and warned of the cuts to come and the links we have made between the local trade unionists who will fight them.

If someone had offered us unanimous support from the local RMT and from activists in the FBU, the POA, the cabin crew strikers and Unison, with half a dozen potential new Socialist Party members thrown in for good measure at the cost of four weeks hard slog and about £2000 we would have taken them up - this election gave us all that and
more.

The country wakes up today to a blue hung parliament which will launch savage attacks on us all from day one. We now have to use these links, deepen them, widen them and strengthen them with the ideas of socialism in preparation for the fightback to come.

Well done to each and every candidate, campaigner and activist and to everyone who had the confidence and faith in working people to vote socialist and vote Tusc.

If you still haven't joined the socialist party now is definitely the time.

This is my last appeal to those of you out there who may still be wondering where to put your cross tomorrow. If you want your vote to mean something and you are opposed to cuts in public services, if you think the bankers and the very rich should pay for the crisis, if you think we should stand together to defend jobs, living standards and public services - then vote for me.

As I said at my well-attended election rally in Staines last night (see picture) - I do not expect to win here. That is not the point. The point is that our local services are being decimated. I have been campaigning and fighting to defend our schools, hospitals, colleges and fire stations since long before the election and I will continue to do so long after the election. But the more people who vote for TUSC tomorrow, the clearer it will be that people are looking for a trade union, working class, socialist alternative to the mainstream politicians.

More important even than voting - why not get involved and join the fightback? Join the Socialist Party here:
Join the Socialists

This morning sees a fresh batch of endorsements for David Cameron and the Conservatives - from familiar sources, like the Daily Mail, and unexpected ones, like Simon Cowell.

Perhaps the most interesting is City AM, which joins the growing consensus that only David Cameron can provide the economic leadership Britain sorely needs. The Editor dismisses Nick Clegg:

Today, I will be campaigning in Walton South and Long Ditton, and greeting commuters off the train from Walton in the late afternoon. Tomorrow, I will be covering the whole constituency, starting in Claygate.

I have a terrific team of volunteers, and we have covered a lot of ground in this campaign - so far! I have personally:

campaigned 7 days a week for the last month.

posted 29 comments on this blog on local and national issues.

received over 7,000 hits on my website and blog.

answered hundreds of emails and letters.

met commuters first thing at our 9 railway stations.

held 6 open public meetings with local residents across the constituency.

debated in 4 election hustings.
We have taken nothing for granted - and will be keeping up our momentum in the final 48 hours!

Visit my blog at http://domraab.blogspot.com/

With less than 48 hours to the start of polling station opening some are asking should voters in Runnymede & Weybridge consider "tactical voting".
In 2005 as the parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party I came second behind Phillip Hammond - so if anyone is considering voting Lib Dem or any other candidate then my answer would be to vote Paul Greenwood as I am the only realistic chance of winning the seat from the Tories.
But I am not asking people to vote for me as the representative of the Labour Party just to oust the Tory candidate. I am asking people to vote for someone who will take pride in representing Runnymede & Weybridge people. I am not a career politician I have always lived in the area - most of it in Chertsey, I have experience as a Borough Councillor and belong to several local groups and organisations in the Runnymede Area.
Phillip Hammond moved to the Guildford Area just to be a career politician for the Tories to ensure they had a loyal party member as opposed to representing the community voting on issues that reflect our communities needs.
I ask the voters of Runnymede & Weybridge how many public meeting have you been invited to - not during an election period - so that your representative in Parliament can consider your views??
How many people in Runnymede & Weybridge have been written to asking important questions relating to key issues since 2001?
Phillip Hammond voted against:-
Foundation Hospitals
The Hunting ban
Anti-terrirism laws
Removing Hereditary Peers from the House of Lords
Phillip Hammond voted in favour of "The Iraq war".

He has never voted on replacing Trident!!

The issues are not about how he voted but about "If and When" did he consult with the residents he is meant to be representing.
Claiming over £132,000 a year expenses for travelling, second home in London, staffing costs and Spouse travel it the question that should be asked; with all those costs where is the benefit of involvement of the residents in Runnymede & Weybridge?

With other members of the Conservative [Eatonian] Leadership there is a threat that a Conservative Government would:

Choke off the recovery by cutting public support for the economy too soon

Abolish investment tax allowences worth billions to British business; plans described as a "disaster" by business leaders

Scrap employer-led training, which improves skills, job performance and competitveness

Scrap Regional Development Agencies, which provide specialist support to local businesses

Put new housing, infrastructure and jobs at risk with their anti-development planning policies

I believe that the Government must play a supportive role in helping business succeed. Government invests in the infrastructure, helps fund the science and research and helps invest in the skills. The Tories believe that a governemnt only get in the way.

Labour is committed to a greener, smarter, even more skilled britian. The Tories' old-fashioned ideological rejection of any role for governemnt in equipping our firms and people for a global economy has left them stranded with no plan for growth, and no vision of Britian's industrial future.

But David Cameron made clear that he was still committed to cutting inheritance tax, giving the 3,000 richest estates in the Country an average £200,000 windfall costing us the tax payer £1.5 billion a year!

Are the Tories a change you can afford?

BBC Radio Surrey took a step in the right direction when they interviewed the smaller parties and independents standing for Spelthorne in this election. With about 2 minutes each, this was the first airtime I had received as a candidate.

You can listen to the interviews here: Independent candidates interviewed

The interviews run from 0:25.00 till 0:29.00 on the time bar.

As we head into the final few days of the election campaign, I'm reaching out to undecided Herald and News readers with three key reasons why you should vote for me and the Conservatives on Thursday.

First, because only a majority Conservative government will have the ability, commitment, and energy to tackle the serious economic difficulties our country now faces.

Second, because the modern Conservatives under David Cameron will tackle the government's deficit while protecting the NHS and other vital public services.

Only two days left till polling day and still so many people to reach. Those that I have been able to speak to have been very open to the idea of a socialist alternative - a local, working-class socialist at that.

It is very hard when you do not have the money, the resources, the media and press coverage that goes to the mainstream parties, but I am very proud of our campaign so far here in Spelthorne. We have had support now from the railworkers' union (RMT) and local reps from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Communication Workers (CWU), the Prison Officers Association (POA), the BA Cabin Crew (BASSA/UNITE) and from my colleagues in UNISON - the Public Sector Union. Colleagues and supporters from constituencies were there is no socialist alternative standing have come to support me from Hounslow to Hampshire. Our presence on Staines High Street on Saturday was magnificent.

Our election rally is tomorrow night at Staines Community Centre (7.30pm). All welcome.

Whatever the result of this election, I will still be at the heart of Spelthorne - fighting for the rights of ordinary working people and defending public services.

On Wednesday I spent a few hours with the students at Woking College. It was a very enlightening few hours talking to them about their feelings and concerns for the future. One of the biggest fears that students and their parents have today is the level of debt that they will be left with then finish their higher education.

This is why I was pleased with Nick Clegg's comments this week:

"The Liberal Democrats are different. Not only will we oppose any raising of the cap, we will scrap tuition fees for good, including for part-time students. We can't do it overnight, but we can start straight away with students in their final year - that way means anyone at university this autumn will have their debt cut by at least £3,000. Students can make the difference in countless seats in this election. Use your vote to block those unfair tuition fees and get them scrapped once and for all."

Under the current system of tuition fees and both Labour and the Conservative plans to raise tuition fees further over the next 5 years, students could be saddled with debts as high as £44,000. Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping tuitions fees altogether and oppose any attempt to raise them.

Leader Nick Clegg said: "Labour and the Conservatives have been trying to keep tuition fees out of this election campaign. It's because they don't want to come clean with you about what they're planning. Despite the huge financial strain fees already place on Britain's young people, it is clear both Labour and the Conservatives want to lift the cap on fees. If fees rise to £7,000 a year, as many rumours suggest they would, within five years some students will be leaving university up to £44,000 in debt. That would be a disaster. If we have learnt one thing from the economic crisis, it is that you can't build a future on debt."

We all want our children to do well and have the opportunity to go into higher and further education. The proposals to raise tuition fees will serve only to ensure that only a chosen few get that opportunity. Once again this government and the Conservative opposition are trying to fix the system so that those from poorer backgrounds and on lower incomes do not get the chance they deserve, regardless of how academically qualified they may be.

As someone who has championed the rights of the young throughout my service in Woking, I will be campaigning strongly on this issue in the months and years to come.

I today took part in a quiz from RNIB to raise awareness amongst election candidates of the leading causes of sight loss. Questions also ask who can get free eye tests and how many of us are already living with sight problems.

Six million older people at risk of blindness

There are around 1.8 million people in the UK already living with sight loss, with around 2700 in [name of constituency]. RNIB's quiz revealed that pensioners are most at risk of losing their sight, in fact two-thirds of partially sighted people are aged 75 or over. Yet, six million older people in the UK (47 per cent) are needlessly risking their sight by not having their eyes tested regularly, despite being eligible for free eye tests.

Saving sight

I was also shocked to learn that nearly 50 per cent of all sight loss is avoidable. This includes people with refractive error - that is people in need of a correct prescription for glasses or contact lenses - and people who have lost sight through conditions that could have been treated if detected early enough, such as glaucoma.

Sight is the sense we most fear losing, so why are so many of us are potentially putting it at risk through not having regular sight tests? There needs to be a greater public understanding that a sight test isn't just about whether you need glasses, it can also detect signs of eye disease. It's time we all took eye health and sight loss seriously.

RNIB recommends that everyone should get their eyes tested every two years, or more frequently if recommended by an optometrist. You can see more about their work here at www.rnib.org.uk

Fifteen TUSC supporters joined Paul on Saturday for three hours of canvassing on Staines High Street. Armed with leaflets, anti-cuts petitions and copies of the Socialist newspaper and wearing home-made VOTE PAUL t-shirts we had a great day. Some supporters even brought the family - we had babies, toddlers, teens, twenty, thirty, forty and fifty-somethings, as well as a couple of pensioners - all saying VOTE PAUL on May 6th.

We arrived at 11am and set up our stall. We were petitioning against the closure of Shortwood School and the local Fire Stations. Not long after we were joined nearby by the Tory candidate, the UKIP candidate and an independent all vying for votes. It was all friendly and we didn't get into any rows (tempting though it was). Around 1pm the other parties had all gone and we were the only ones left. We stayed till 2pm after we had given out over 1,000 leaflets.

Don't forget to come to my public meeting on Tuesday at 7.30pm at Staines Community Centre.

David Cameron says thousands of top businesses have told him they don't agree with the increase in national insurance contributions planned for next year by Labour.
Of course they don't - it will reduce their profit.

"We are coming out of a recession and the recovery has taken hold.
It doesn't feel like it, but it's happened.
The cycle is now growth".
(Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco boss, announcing a ten per cent rise in profits).

Boris Johnson has broken another pledge when he shelved plans to run late-night tube trains.
It is the latest in a string of campaign promises broken by the Tory Mayor of London.
During the 2008 election he also said he would protect the number of tube ticket offices - but he has removed 450 staff and reduced opening hours.
Other manifesto pledges included getting more police on the street and improving affordable housing stock.
But the number of police officers is set to be cut by 455 and he scrapped the affordable homes targets.
Boris is untrustworthy, as is his Tory leader Cameron.

In 2009, I wrote The Assault on Liberty, a lament for our lost freedoms, salami-sliced over 13 years under this Labour government. From pointless ID cards to draconian proposals to extend detention without charge (Labour wanted longer than they have in Zimbabwe or China). From a DNA database with 1mn innocent people on it - but two million criminals off it - to the state snoopers who trailed children home from school to check their catchment area. From the ban on free speech outside Parliament, to the political correctness that suffocates legitimate debate. There has been a tidal shift in the relationship between the citizen and the state - in favour of the state, and at the expense of our basic freedoms. We need to reverse the balance. The state should be accountable to the citizen, not the other way round.

One of the best British newspapers, I was curious to see who The Economist would back for Prime Minister. Having supported New Labour for 13 years, The Economist fell out of love with Gordon Brown's 'old-fashioned statism', turned off by Labour 'concentrating ... on scaring people about the Tories' plans'.

But, The Economist has never given David Cameron an easy ride and, given its liberalism, was evidently tempted by Nick Clegg's charm. In the end, it found him wanting on the substance:

With the local election meetings effectively barring smaller parties and independents from having a say, why not come to my election rally on Tuesday.

Tuesday 4th May at 7.30pm in Staines Community Centre (behind Debenhams).

Speakers include Bob Crow (General Secretary of the RMT union), Glenn Kelly (until recently on the UNISON National Executive Committee), Chris McNulty (A Senior GMB Union Rep at Heahrow) and, of course, Me.

We are now in the final week of the election. I have heard that there has already been one hustings meeting which I was not invited to and there's another tonight at Kempton Park. I may try to get myself invited onto the platform tonight but in the likely event that the big parties want to keep the limelight to themselves and refuse to let me speak I will post my election manifesto here.

The full Socialist Party Manifesto and reports from our candidates around the country can be viewed here Manifesto

What follows is a short summary:

This General Election will be the most important and closely fought we've faced in a generation. The future direction of our country for many years depends upon it. Yet many people have still to make up their minds how to vote.

The choice at the election could not be clearer. It's a choice between five more years of Gordon Brown, with his debt, waste and taxes; the uncertainty and paralysis of a hung Parliament; or real change with a Conservative majority government.

A Conservative Government will change Britain for the better. We'll cut Labour's waste to stop the jobs tax that will kill the economic recovery; we'll cut benefits for those who refuse work; we'll reform the welfare system; we'll fund new NHS cancer drugs; we'll have national citizen service for 16 year olds; we'll restore discipline in schools; we'll fix our broken politics; and we'll scrap ID cards.

Paul is a Watch Manager for Surrey Fure & Rescue Service and a former leader of the Labour group on Runnymede Council.

He contested the Runnymede & Weybridge parliamentary seat for Labour in 2005, finishing second to the Conservatives, and will be standing against incumbent Philip Hammond for a second time.

Show the other parties what you think of them. Download one of my window posters here and display it proudly.

Window PosterLandscape A4 Poster - PC 4 Spelthorne.doc

And how will it be paid for?
MOST RESEARCH suggests that the general population is living longer. Advances in science and healthcare mean that more conditions are treatable and many people with previously life-threatening conditions can now live well into old age. Socialists welcome these advances, but we also have to explain that people living in poverty or on low incomes still live much shorter lives than their rich counterparts.

One of the results of longer life-expectancy is the need for better and more widely available social care for elderly people and disabled adults. The New Labour government has published a White Paper (discussion paper) called Building the National Care Service. On the face of it, the proposals sound progressive. The new National Care Service will apparently:

At this time in one of the most exciting election battles in years, getting our message out to young voters is crucial. Two weeks ago we saw four first year Godalming Students, who are not yet able to vote, join our campaign.

They prove that you don't have to be 18 to participate in politics, and if you feel strongly about any issue, now is the best time to help make a difference. With the help of experienced Liberal Democrat campaigners they hit the streets of Horsell and Westfield helping to spread our election message as best they could. Although some of them were initially wary, they quickly got into the swing of the things and were able to canvas on their own.

It was impossible to miss Joe, Bilal, Shaan and Jared when walking into Town Square on Wednesday; each one deep in conversation with passers by as part of their young voter registration drive. Bilal even found time to strike the traditional politician pothole pose, saying that:

'you see so many posters and leaflets with people pointing at potholes, I thought I would do my own'!

Their efforts showed just how much young people care about politics, and when better to get involved than in a general election campaign?

I'd like to thank the students for all their hard work and enthusiasm over the course of their time with myself and the team and hope they come and help us again.

Show your support for the Liberal Democrats in Woking by downloading your own campaign poster here.

It's a much more environemtally friendly option!

Campaigners were in an optimistic mood today as the recommendations on the future of Shortwood Infants School in Staines were published on the Surrey County Council website - and it looks as if full closure is now off the table.

The report, which will be considered by Cllr Peter Martin, Cabinet Member for Children and Learning on Wednesday 5th May, recommends amalgamation with Knowle Park Infants and Kingscroft Juniors into a single, split-site Primary School, under the leadership of a single Headteacher.

On Wednesday evening i took part in a hustings at Christ Church in Woking Town Centre. All the candidates were interviewed prior to the event. You can watch the interviews here.

Dave Nellist, Coventry's socialist Councillor and ex-Labour MP, one of the leaders of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, gets a couple of minutes on live BBC TV.

Dave is standing for parliament in Coventry and is supporting Paul Couchman for Spelthorne.

Watch Dave Nellist's brief interview here:

TUSC Leader TV Interview

If there was ever proof needed that there is little difference between Labour and the Tories it was the article in this week's Surrey herald. The Conservative Party said the Labour Candidate was a 'Breath of Fresh Air'!

We don't want a Labour Candidate who is going to be the best friend of the Tories. We need a real workers' champion, like there used to be in the Labour Party.

Many people have stopped to talk to me on the campaign trail to say 'they are all the same' and many say they couldn't be bothered to vote at all. My campaign against the cuts, against career politics and for real human solidarity and socialist ideals is getting a good response.

The next two weeks will be crucial in getting this message across. If anyone wants to help out with my campaign just email me on paul@paulcouchman.com.

Last weekend, I was down at Hersham train station with local councillor, Mary Sheldon. We filmed a short podcast on the upkeep of the station, a bread and butter quality of life issue for commuters and residents. You can watch the clip here.