Exclusive: Carswell's Letter To People of Clacton

UKIP have already started campaigning in the Clacton by-election with a letter come leaflet. The letter spells out why Carswell left the Conservatives. The leaflet has an anti-establishment feel.

It's A Sad Day, But Don't Count The Conservatives Out

Today has been a sad day for the Conservative movement with the defection of Douglas Carswell to UKIP. People on the libertarian right-wing of are shocked, filled with disbelief, and are quite sad at Carswell's departure. Whatever banner he is standing under now his ideology is right. #ThingsElliottSays has shown admiration for Douglas Carswell on a number of occasions and is saddened by his departure.

The Conservatives are sad to see Carswell defect.

But clearly Douglas has forgotten about how these principles can be implemented and has joined UKIP, even though they are now a far cry from the libertarianism he represents.This country needs the Conservatives to win the next general election because if not we'll have to suffer the most left-wing government since the 1970s. What Douglas has sadly done is abandoned this position and made what he wants a lot harder to achieve.

And so to cut a long story short there is going to be a by-election in Clacton. This will be a very hard fight, much harder than Newark. But thank god we had Newark because the Conservatives now have a winning campaign strategy. Furthermore, even though we won that by-election there were many errors made which cost us thousands of votes. These however have now been learnt. Because #ThingsElliottSays was the Nottinghamshire CF Chairman at the time of Newark he knows about these mistakes and that they have now been fixed.

#ThingsElliottSays and Nottingham peeps in Newark.

CCHQ has learnt a lot of lessons in the way it runs by-elections and campaigns against UKIP. Despite what the national media made out and what it looked llike to the ordinary activist. It was not all plain sailing Newark for the party. There were several errors made in the way campaigning was organised but CCHQ has now done something about this. We now know how to make the waters smoother when it comes to the campaigning machine.

The Conservatives campaign is going to be much more well oiled in Clacton.

The Party will also try and get many more people to come. I suspect there will be more visits made by those on the PAB, more visits by committed Conservative MPs (there are a lot in East Anglia), and more importantly a Party Conference beforehand to rally even more Conservatives to the cause.

Expect to see these chaps out and about a lot more.

RoadTrip is also going to be much bigger as well. I expect there to be a sizeable increase in the 600 RoadTrippers who went to Newark. CCHQ now puts a lot of energy into CCHQ for starters. What is more the RoadTrip now has a united #TeamPaterson in the CF national exec. It is almost priceless to have a CF 100% committed to RoadTrip2015. Long gone are the days of petulant girls or people living in Dubai throwing spanners in the works.

Carswell is odds on to win this by-election but there are plenty of insider reasons why the Conservatives can actually win. #ThingsElliottSays can't wait to go for another seaside RoadTrip and have a cigar from Robert Halfon MP.

CF And RoadTrip Get Signed Up Over 1000 Activists To Fight The Clacton By-election

The CF National Exec and RoadTrip2015 have responded quickly to Douglas Carswell's defection earlier today with the creation of a 'RoadTrip2015 Clacton Volunteer Force' group on Facebook. This quick action has resulted in over 1000 Conservatives joining the group to make sure the Conservatives hold this seat.

In the first two hours of this group being set up 1,000 activists had already signed up for a RoadTrip to the Clacton by-election. At 7pm this figure had rose to 1,325 Conservative activists. Numbers have already gone past the 600 members of 'the people's army'* of Conservatives that went on the Newark RoadTrip.

Alexandra Paterson, the new CF Chairman, has already told #ThingsElliottSays "I'm absolutely delighted that so many CF members have already committed to supporting the Party in Clacton with RoadTrip2015. We need to show that if the British people want to have a say in an EU referendum, have a growing economy and better public services, they need to vote Conservative."

RoadTrip2015 was credited with playing a large part in the 7,500 Conservative majority in Newark. CF and RoadTrip will play a much larger part in the Clacton by-election

*The name was created in response to Nigel Farage saying he would muster 1000 UKIP activists to form a 'people's army' for the Newark by-election. UKIP never came close too this figure in reality.

Partial Victory For 'Stop The Hospital Car Parking Rip-Off' Campaign

#ThingsElliottSays is a great fan of campaigning Conservative MP Robert Halfon who has improved people''s lives across the country. #ThingsElliottSays was thus a big supporter of Rob's latest campaign to 'stop the hospital car parking rip-off'. It is thus pleasant to see a partial victory already for the campaign.

The Government has now changed the rules and regulations surrounding hospital car parking. From now on 'charges should be reasonable for the area'. Concessions should also be offered to groups like disabled people and families of those who are 'gravely ill'. Furthermore, there should be a switch to a pay on exit scheme for car parking.

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, has said "patients and families shouldn't have to deal with the added stress of unfair parking charges. These clear ground rules set out our expectations, and will help the public hold the NHS to account for unfair charges or practices."

Stop the QMC Parking Rip-Off

It is good to see some change to hospital car parking. The QMC in Nottingham is one of the worst for hospital car parking, charging £4 for the first hour to park. Hopefully this will now change as most people would not think it is a reasonable charge for the area.

The campaign however is not over. #ThingsElliottSays agrees with Rob Halfon MP that car parking should be free at hospitals in the UK. Thus I urge you to sign up to the campaign here to reach this goal hopefully sometime in the near future.

HarlowRoadTrip Mark II

RoadTrip2015 is going back to Harlow* to help out one of the best MPs in the country, Robert Halfon.

Road Trip went to Harlow in April earlier this year. Even though numbers were slightly below the now common 130 at RoadTrips, this was one of the best RoadTrips. The curry was very good, the letterboxes of Harlow were very easy too open and everyone had a really good time partying afterwards.

But one of the best things about going to Harlow is of course Rob Halfon, who has recently received a promotion and now works with the Chancellor. Rob is a top class campaigning Conservative. He has had great success getting the Government to cut and freeze fuel duty and number of times. Furthermore Bingo tax has been cut in half due to Rob's sterling work. Now it seems that Rob is getting somewhere with his plan to 'stop the hospital car parking rip off' (there'll be an article on this later). Rob Halfon is a top Tory and he needs to get back in again in 2015, Harlow is a pretty marginal seat.

RoadTrip is thus going back again Harlow to help out Rob as a thank you for his work and to make sure we have a Conservative Government come May 2015. The Road Trip will be on 6th September all details are available here.

*Dubbed the 'spiritual home of Roadtrip2015'.

Team Paterson Storm To Victory

#TeamPaterson stormed to victory in the CF national elections yesterday evening winning every single slot on the national executive and regional college (apart from London). Sadly #ThingsElliottSays couldn't cover the CF Elections because there has been mass computer problems for the past few weeks. Normal service has now returned.

Paterson has told #ThingsElliottSays "Firstly, I must give thanks to everyone. Thanks goes to Oliver Cooper. Thanks to everyone who backed me and my team. Thanks to #TeamPaterson and the CF'ers who give up their time to make this organisation work.

Colonel Cooper watching Paterson's speech after her election

"A massive congratulations also goes to everyone who was elected to national and regional positions last night. I can't wait to work with you all to help make sure we can have an organisation we are all proud of. Now these elections are out of the way, it's time to focus on what really matters - 2015 and a Tory majority. I, and my team, will work together to make sure CF campaigns together and helps deliver a Tory majority together."

Stephen Canning, who was elected unopposed, has said also "I'm absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as Deputy Chairman Political for the coming year where I'm taking the place of an outstandingly hardworking CF'er, Robert Manning."

India Brumitt, named as the 'big gun of CF', has spoke to #ThingsElliottSays as well "I'm excited to take on the challenge of the Deputy Chairman Membership role and look forward to working with the new executive, the new regional chairman and all CF in the run up to 2015."

Annabel Shaw, who had a three way duel for her role as Best Practice Officer, told #ThingsElliottSays "A massive thank you to everyone who voted for me, I'm so exited to get down to work and make sure CF is fighting fit and ready to play its part in delivering a Conservative majority in 2015."

#ThingsElliottSays wishes all those elected well.

Campaigning Queen Kude Would Bring London CF Closer To 2015 Victory

These CF elections have featured one major imperative, the ability to win in 2015. Charlotte Kude, who is standing to be London CF Chairman, is one of those exceptional Conservatives who has the ability bring 2015 victory that little bit closer. Kude loves a good party but would be the best person to lead campaigning into the next General Election in the capital.

Kude told #ThingsElliottSays about how much work she has put into campaigning and Road Trip 2015*. "Before Road Trip was created I used to go campaigning every weekend, at least Saturdays and sometimes Sundays too, mainly in target seats. In London but also across the country, I tried to help in the most vulnerable seats in the West Midlands and as far as in the North East too. Then I got involved with Road Trip and at the same time continued to support friends standing for council and Euro-Candidates during the locals and Europeans, which sometimes meant going out during the week as well."

Kude also has a great experience in organisation as well as being a foot soldier on the streets. She said to #ThingsElliottSays "I certainly intend to take the lead with campaigning in London and personally keep in touch with the target constituencies. This work can only be done properly by surrounding myself with the best possible people, dedicated campaigners but also good organisers. I have learnt a great deal on that front with Road Trip, from bringing as many new people as possible to each action day to sorting out transport and accommodation for them and making sure everyone feels part of the team. It has to be a two way deal, you can't simply ask people to turn up without them getting anything in return."

If you want to know who could lead London CF to General Election success look no further than Charlotte Kude.

*The campaigning phenomenon that has showed that partying and leafleting are synonymous.