Conservative Party Chairman Marks Bucks By-Election Victories at Breakfast Meeting with Local MPs

The Conservative Party Chairman, The Rt Hon. Richard Holden MP, was joined by Buckingham MP Greg Smith, Milton Keynes South MP Iain Stewart and more than 30 local Conservatives for a breakfast meeting in Winslow on Friday (Feb 23).

Iain Stewart, who is the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new Buckingham and Bletchley constituency, welcomed the Party Chairman, saying: “It is timely for the Party Chairman to be visiting us when we have just won two by-elections in the county.”

Richard started off by praising the two candidates who hours earlier had won two wards in Buckinghamshire Council by-elections. David Moore was elected in Farnham Common and Burnham Beeches and Steven Roy was chosen as the new councillor for Hazlemere. 

Richard said: “I am so pleased to see these by-election victories for Buckinghamshire Council. I have seen the difference on the ground that a good Conservative Councillor can make compared with a wishy washy Liberal councillor.”

He flagged some of the party’s achievements to those having breakfast at The Bell Hotel and Pub, Winslow. He said: “We are putting more money back into peoples’ pockets. We’ve made progress  – National Insurance cuts for example.

“We have made huge strides in education. When we came to power less than two thirds of our schools were rated good and now 89% of our children go to a good school. Lots of lives are being transformed by our education system. We have put sensible reforms in place.

“We’ve made take cuts for small businesses. We’ve managed to lift the minimum wage up. There is 20% more in take home pay. There’s Universal Credit – all big changes.”

He warned a Labour Government would undo the progress. He said: “It is the same old Labour Party of the past. Keir Starmer said nothing when anti-Semitism ripped through the party for four years when Jeremy Corbyn, the man he campaigned to be prime minister, not once but twice twice, was in charge.”

He thanked the local MPs for their sterling work. “We have a great MP in Greg Smith and we will have just as good an MP when boundary changes mean we’ll have Iain Stewart in Buckingham.”

Greg Smith added: “We have achieved lots locally in Buckinghamshire.” He added one example is the “new Accident and Emergency at Stoke Mandeville has been signed off under us” and he added: “Nationally improvements include the triple lock, the National Insurance cut and extra hours of childcare being offered that will be so important in improving the futures of so many.”

Local Conservative members quizzed the Party Chairman on a range of issues. Winslow Conservative resident Oliver Rhodes said: “It was good to hear the Party Chairman talking positively.”