“RALLY FOR REFERENDUM ON FAIR VOTING SYSTEM - 13th MAY in York.

We are holding a cross-party rally in York at 1pm - 2pm on 13th May to call on national politicians to agree to hold a referendum on voting reform”

The results - 2010

Labour retain control of York Central but their vote slumps from 50% to 40%. The Lib Dem vote went up from 19.4% (based on the projections at electoral calculus) to 25.2%, an increase of 5.8%, or up 3,801 voters from a projected 7,893 votes in this new constituency to 11,694. Put another way, we increased the Lib Dem vote by 48%! My thanks to all of you who supported our campaign for a Fairer Britain, a fair voting system, fairer taxes, and real action on tackling climate change, improving education, and seizing the opportunity to create a new green economy.

Across the country the voting system continues to show why we are a laughing stock in the democratic world. On the results in so far (midday Friday 7th May), it takes around:

• 33,000 votes to elect a Labour MP

• 35,000 to elect a Tory MP

• 126,000 to elect a Lib Dem MP

• 268,000 to elect a Green MP (at least we finally have a figure for the Greens!)

• and more than 917,832 to elect a UKIP MP (they still have no MPs).

At a local level, the changes in the constituency boundaries were expected to lead to our share of the vote dropping from 21.8% to 19.4%. The reverse happened and our vote went up to 25.2%

In the rest of Europe there is no such thing as tactical voting - people vote for the party they want, knowing their vote will count, instead of voting negatively to try to keep the party they don't want out of power. One day the British people will also vote for the politicians and parties they want in power. Join us in campaigning for that day to come quickly.

Many hundreds of you have emailed me to discuss national and local issues and to support my campaign to be the next MP for York Central. Thousands of you collected leaflets from our campaign team over three Saturdays in Parliament Street and we spoke with hundreds of you on the doorstep. Thank you to you all for showing confidence in me and in the Liberal Democrats. Young and old, right across the city, you have been switching to the Lib Dems and we will work hard to retain your support in the months ahead.

To read my Manifesto and vision for York Central click here. Click here to select and print your own customised campaign poster

A lack of vision at the heart of government

Wherever we look we can see that 'reacting to events' has replaced 'shaping events'.

The challenges of the 21st century require politicians with vision, courage, ideas and a reputation for getting things done, not yesmen and yeswomen who vote for whatever ministers put in front of them.

Voters were not wrong in 1997 to vote for a party that promised to create a fairer Britain. The tragedy is that Labour have failed to deliver on their promises. The gap between rich and poor has grown wider not smaller. From Gordon Brown's 10p tax fiasco penalising the poorest in society, to the scandal of allowing bankers to trousers billions of public money in bonuses while public services suffer, Labour has failed the nation. As the poverty gap widens our children are the most stressed and unhappiest in Europe.

It's time York had an MP who lives in York

Shouldn't York have an MP who sends his children to York schools and uses York amenities, post offices, swimming pools, streets and shops? Shouldn't York residents be entitled to expect their MP to be a member of the community and not someone living hundreds of miles away? Bayley admits to York Press he lives in London

York, the nation, and the world deserves better

This campaign exists to call for a fairer nation that is properly engaged with international affairs, living up to its global responsibilities, nurturing the talents of its people and protecting our environment. Our nation's security relies on us engaging with the challenges of our century and not simply trying to manage a return to business as usual.

Published and promoted by Maurice Vassie on behalf of Christian Vassie of York Central Liberal Democrats, 10 Blake Court, Wheldrake, York YO19 6BT