The Party Conference season has now drawn to a close and the battle lines have been drawn for next year’s general election. The main parties have now delivered their vision of how the country will look after the next election: an election that will have a significance for this country not seen since 1979. At the heart of it will be the ruined finances of our once great country, and how we repair the damage inflicted by 12 years’ of profligate spending. It will be about where the cuts will come and how we help the most vulnerable through it. It will be about how we help our troops, overcommitted and underfunded in too many wars. And it will be about how we deliver our great public services.

Wyre Forest will be asked to decide who it will want as its next MP and we will all have to make that decision carefully. In Wyre Forest, we have a more careful decision to make than perhaps most constituencies because we are currently represented by an outsider; an independent (and much respected) MP. But when we go to the polls, Wyre Forest residents will have three important considerations.

Firstly, who do you want as the Prime Minster? If you want Gordon Brown, then a vote for Richard Taylor will achieve that outcome. Labour’s candidate, Nigel Knowles (a man whose party’s policies I disagree with, but a man whose commitment to his community I have huge respect for) will never win in Wyre Forest. That is why Gordon Brown wants Wyre Forest to vote for Richard Taylor – anything to stop a Conservative victory here. But if you want a new start, then it is vital that Wyre Forest has a Conservative MP to form the majority needed.

Secondly, are the issues at stake locally. My priorities are local jobs, the local economy, those people who find themselves struggling with long term unemployment, households struggling under huge debt, pensioners getting no return on savings and who need more help, school leavers who may face a lifetime on benefits, local crime and antisocial behaviour. Or, we can return with Richard Taylor, who continues with his cause on the local hospital, but now (according to his website) intends to stand in Wyre Forest to save A+E services in Telford – a unique proposition, but I am sure he will explain closer to the time who will be minding the shop in Wyre Forest whilst he is in Telford.

Finally, with the axe falling on spending cuts, who will be more effective in Westminster? Will it be an independent MP, unsupported by any allies and (by his own admission) no influence at all? Or will it be an MP who has the support of a major party – maybe even the government itself? We don’t know how these cuts will manifest themselves (more detail will come before people need to make the choice), but every part of the country will need a strong voice in Westminster and I have every intention of making sure that Wyre Forest gets its investment in schools, hospitals and local infrastructure. Can Wyre Forest afford to be excluded for another five years at such a crucial time?

I am realistic enough to know that this contribution will not make everyone rush out to vote Conservative, but I do hope that when we come to Election Day, everyone will have thought long and hard about the choices in Wyre Forest: this is a very tough time and we all have some very tough decisions to make.