Burnham-On-Sea’s former MP, David Heathcoat-Amory, has formally thanked those who voted for him in last week’s General Election and talked about how he will miss the constituency.
Talking on Monday (May 10th), he told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I would like to thank the 23,760 voters who supported me on polling day; more than the last time but not enough to win.”
“After 27 years, it is a wrench to be leaving this great constituency. It has been a privilege to represent it through six parliaments.”
“The electorate has now delivered a hung parliament, with all the uncertainties and horse trading which that brings. I hope it will not be used as an excuse for parties to break the promises they made during the election.”
“There will now be endless discussion about how to change the voting system. In my view there are more pressing things to fix, like the national debt and the state of the economy.”
“But there is a simple reform which would bring, ‘fair votes’. At present there are huge imbalances between the size of constituencies. Wells has nearly 80,000 electors. Glasgow North has 51,000 and there are many like it, particularly in other parts of Scotland and Wales. In the coming rush for party advantage, I wonder if this ‘English Question’ will be sorted out.”
“At least we are not in the euro. It was a near miss. If there had been a hung parliament in 1997, and Tony Blair had been forced to rely on the Liberal Democrats then, they would almost certainly have given up the pound and joined the euro. We would now be powerless, like Greece. I feel vindicated in my campaign to save the UK from that particular fate.”
“I will miss these parliamentary campaigns, and the constituency work, and all the friends I have made over these many years. I wish the constituency well, and all who live in it.”
