Caroline Spelman, Conservative Party Chairman, introduced members to the idea of Friends of the Party at a lively meeting in Lewes on Monday where she met with senior members of the Lewes Constituency Party.

Mrs Spelman told members about the brand new way of becoming a member. She explained “by becoming a Friend, you will be helping us campaign for the change people in the Lewes Constituency really want. Donate as much or as little as you like, and help us to get rid of this incompetent Labour Government at the next election.”

“As a Friend you will receive a weekly newsletter and regular updates on how to get involved in your local community- for example in one of our Social Action Projects. You will also get access to our new Affinity Programme, which will give you discounts on a great range of products.”

Mrs Spelman said “This Constituency has been transformed over the last 18 months to become a well organised and enthusiastic Conservative Organisation. They can now give excellent support to our local Councillors and in particular to the candidate Jason Sugarman whenever an election is called. We intend to win Lewes.”

This is the third Shadow Minister to visit our Constituency this year. This demonstrates that the Conservative Party regards our Constituency as very important and shows the local people that voting Conservative in the next election will really make a difference for them.

This week’s big news is the parliamentary watchdog criticising our Lib Dem MP Norman Baker for breaching spending rules.

Earlier this year Baker put out a newsletter paid for with money that MPs can use to tell people about their activities. But Baker used the newsletter to promote the work of the Liberal Democrats, which is not allowed under the rules.

Thankfully the committee in Parliament that keeps tabs on MPs’ behaviour has now criticised Baker for wrongly using public money to promote his own party.

Baker is always keen to jump on the bandwagon when other MPs breach the rules so it seems hypocritical that he himself is breaking those same rules.

Some really bad local news is the plans to shut several Post Offices across the constituency. Post Offices in Landport, North Chailey, Polegate, Newhaven and Seaford are all set to go. It’s an outrage and will hurt older and disabled people.

These closures could of been avoided if the Labour government didn’t repeatedly block Conservative efforts to give Post Offices more freedom so they could stay profitable and open.

I find it particularly hypocritical of Norman Baker to start moaning about these closures when he voted with Labour stop the reforms our Post Offices need. Norman Baker should be ashamed of the role he played in Parliament in killing off our local Post Offices.

We held the first of what I hope will be many Conservative Action Days on Saturday. We’ve already done a few smaller action days - including one against Labour’s NHS cuts - but this was event was on a different scale with more than 30 activists taking to the streets of Lewes and Newhaven.

We spent the morning in Lewes, distributing leaflets in Landport as well as meeting and greeting people in the town centre. We also gathered signatures for a new petition calling for improvements to the parking regime in the town - something that gained widespread support from the people we met. Our mobile campaign unit was also out in the town and got lots of interest.

In the afternoon we headed to the centre of Newhaven and to Denton, where the focus was on my call for the creation of a Newhaven Development Corporation to bring more investment into the town. You can read more about this in our latest In Touch magazine, which is being distributed across the constituency as we speak.

It was a great day and signalled the official start of our campaign to get results for our area. Norman Baker and the Lib Dems have had more than a decade now to get results for our area but have failed to deliver. Where are our flood defences? Why aren’t our roads safer? Why is Lib Dem Lewes District Council still missing its recycling targets year after year? Our area deserves so much better. It’s time for results. It’s time for an end to Lib Dem failure.

Had a meeting about the Lewes parking scheme with Matthew Lock, the county councillor in charge of transport policy, and Kevin Scott of Lewes Chambers of Commerce. I’ve had several discussions with both of them on the subject before so it’s good to keep the dialogue open.

The parking system in Lewes needs improvement and I think until we’ve got the Lewes scheme right it is best to put the plans for parking restrictions in Seaford on hold. The meeting also gave me another chance to press the county council to think again on the Newhaven Incinerator. Find out more about my campaign on parking.