This was the final conference before the General Election and it was interesting to see how many stall and businesses were in Manchester to advise and give us their views on a wide range of subjects. I spent most of the conference talking to businesses with interests in Portsmouth and encouraging them to continue to invest here and also in our young people. Many companies do provide apprenticeships but we need many more of them. Catch 22 had a stall at the Conference, I have visited their organisation in Portsmouth already and am really impressed with the work that they do to get youngsters who are not in education, employment or training motivated – one in six 18 year olds are in this category.

David Cameron talked passionately about getting people out of poverty during his conference speech and got a standing ovation. We have far too many people who don’t know where to start to get a job or are penalised by the benefits system which makes it uneconomical to go back to work. This has to change and I was pleased that we will be working hard to make this happen if we get elected.

I was also impressed by the knowledge of all the MPs I met, not just the Shadow Cabinet. Many MPs have become specialised in an area which bodes well for future policy making. Ann Mackintosh MP was at a meeting I had with Southern Water, and she knew all about the issues of flooding and potential risks for Portsmouth.

The overall mood of the conference was sombre as we are all facing the realities of the debt caused by the over spending of government and banking crisis – at least the banks are starting to pay off the debt. Government spending does not seem to have been so productive and although initiatives like Sure Start have been a great idea, many of them are not reaching the people they should be. We will be using many organisations in the third sector to make sure that money is well spent and makes a significant difference to the people that really need it.

There is much to do to put this country back on its feet but it is very apparent that we have the right people and policies to do that and I am looking forward to campaigning on our policies over the next few months.