David Cameron visits Wetherby with one week to go

Following a walkabout when he spoke to local business owners, Mr Cameron issued a warning on the steps of Wetherby Town Hall.

Standing next to Elmet and Rothwell Conservative candidate Alec Shelbrooke, she said: “Please send him back to Parliament, we have got just seven days to go and we need to hold seats like this and we need just 23 more in order to deliver that strong and decisive Conservative government that will take the country forward, that is what we are fighting for.

“At the end of the day it is a choice between two people who can walk up Downing Street and take on that job, it is either me or it is Ed Milliband.”

Brandishing the now infamous letter left by Labour’s ex-treasury secretary Liam Bryne Mr Cameron said: “They left a total mess and we’ve been cleaning it up, sometimes I feel like a firefighter, we’ve been putting out a blaze in this building and there is Ed Milliband coming round day after day the man who set the fire there in the first place complaining were not putting it out fast enough. That’s why we need another five years to sort out this problem.”

Following his speech, Mr Cameron spoke exclusively to the Wetherby News.

When asked about balancing the need to build houses and local opposition to development he said: “Alec has taken a very clear view that you have got to build sustainable communities rather than have the expansion on every village. We need local authorities to draw up their local plans and to think about local plans so then they can say yes to development they think is good and no to development they think is bad. That is what our reforms are about.”

Mr Cameron said that the Conservatives would introduce seven day GP surgeries which would help in places with an elderly population, like Wetherby.

He said: “We’ve introduced the Better Care fund which started only on the first of April and Wetherby will get its share of that money and that is to help bring together the NHS and social care to make sure elderly people who can get stuck in a hospital can get the care they need in their home, bringing health and social care together. The other thing of course is having seven day opening of GP surgeries which is coming down the track if we get re-elected I think that will help elderly people get the care they need in the community rather than having to go to A&E.”

The Prime Minister joined members of the Yorkshire Country Women’s Guild for their coffee morning and craft fair.

Anne Hugill, 70 from Tadcaster was quite taken with the Conservative party leader and said: “He is a lot more handsome then he is on the TV. I had no idea he was coming, I didn’t recognise him at first. He was very nice and very pleasant.”

Christine Clayton, 67, from Wetherby said it was a bit of shock when she found out he would be visiting.

“He was very down to earth to speak to he seemed to be genuinely interested.” “

In the last year Wetherby has seen visits from half a dozen senior conservative politicians and the Labour party has responded with high profile visits from Yvette Cooper and Eddie Izzard.

Mrs Clayton said: “They are really trying to win our votes this time.”

Long time Conservative supporter, Susan Eldred, director of Wetherby Property Management on Church Street said she did consider UKIP in the lead up to this election.

She said: “I seriously looked at UKIP but I just feel it is too extreme and they don’t have the backing needed to make changes.”

She is supporting Alec Shelbrook’s bid to be re-elected. She said: “My feelings are very much what David Cameron said, the improvements to the economy has in my opinion been incredible.”

However Mrs Eldred said she wants to see more house building under a Conservative government.

“In this business I see it, I see young couple renting because they can’t afford to buy, then they can’t afford to save for a deposit because they are renting. Housing is an area they could work at harder and build more homes.”