So, at last, the long-awaited general election is upon us and the Conservative Party is hoping to be re-elected as the governing party. Considering their performance over the last 14 years and especially since 2016 why should we be so foolish to re-elect them?

Since 2016 we have had five Prime Ministers, including Boris Johnson, who brought shame to the office and the disastrous Liz Truss who brought the country to near financial ruin. Each change of Prime Minister resulted in frequent changes of departmental ministers. Since 2016, seven health ministers, three of whom served for less than two months, six education ministers, two of whom served for less than two month, seven Defra ministers, of which only two held office for more than one year and one was only in office for a month.

At Cabinet level there has been a constant game of political musical chairs – seven home secretaries, two of which were in office for less than two months and one, Grant Shapps, for six days. Grant Shapps has held a total of six posts, James Cleverly four posts and Michael Gove seven. This frequent reshuffling of ministers means that many of them were not in post long enough to master their brief or initiate and oversee policy.

The results are plain to see. The NHS is, in effect, broken, with some seven million people awaiting operations, overwhelmed A&E depts, a shortage of hospital beds and overworked doctors, nurses, midwives and support staff such as radiographers. NHS dentists are scarcer than hen’s teeth. This government tries to lay the blame on the Covid-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine but the fact is that back in 2019, after nine years of Conservative government, the UK had fewer doctors, nurses, hospitals and hospital beds per head than any other comparable European country. Boris Johnson promised to solve the social care problem. He did not and despite the ever-increasing problems it faces, social care was not even mentioned in this year’s budget.

Every Conservative Prime Minister has promised to reduce immigration and each promise has been broken, resulting in an increasing rate of immigration that is out of control. The justice system is on its knees.

Defence of the realm is in an equally poor state. The Army has been reduced to its lowest strength since the end of 1815. The Royal Navy has only some 15 destroyers/frigates, many of which are nearing the end of their useful life. It has two massive, modern aircraft carriers which, it was claimed, would allow Great Britain to project power and influence throughout the world. But the Royal Navy does not have any fixed wing aircraft of its own and must rely on the RAF to provide them for its carriers.

Successive Conservative governments have presided over a steady deterioration in all public services and infrastructure. A privatised Royal Mail consistently fails to meet its delivery targets, Water companies are private monopolies which, while paying dividends to investors and excessive salaries to their executives, still discharge raw sewage into our rivers and seas. Our pothole riddled roads are of third world standard. Our fragmented privatised railway system is the least efficient and most expensive in western Europe.

 Anyone who works in public services, teachers, nurses, junior doctors, care workers, firefighters, ambulance paramedics, police officers et al, have all seen their pay, in real terms, drop by some 20 per cent over the last ten years. The outstanding exception to that is, of course, MPs, whose real term salary has not been significantly reduced.

This government professes to want to lower the tax burden but has frozen income tax thresholds until 2028. The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) has stated that by 2028 this will result in 2.8 million more people paying basic income tax and another 2.7 million move onto the 40 per cent rate – the highest tax burden level since World War Two.

This government has increasingly passed responsibility for local services onto local authorities without providing the necessary financial support. Central government grants to local authorities (local government finance settlements) saw a reduction in real terms of 31 per cent between 2010 and 2022.

This is exacerbated by the way it is distributed, county councils receive £153 per person for local services, 52 per cent lower than metropolitan boroughs or cities. Examples of what this means to us in Devon. Adult Social Care, County Council receives 65 per cent less for over 65s than London. Home to school transport costs £193 per head compared to £10 per head in urban areas.

So, I ask again, why should we re-elect this government? I do not know if a Labour government will do better but it is hard to see how it could do worse.

Oh, in case I am thought to be a tree hugging, leftie socialist. I have voted for the Conservative candidate in every local and general election since 1959. I have served as a committee member of my local branch of the Conservative Association and served for ten years as a town councillor after being elected on a Conservative ticket.

Unfortunately, far, far too many of the electorate would vote for an organ grinder’s monkey if it wore their political party rosette. I do not intend to be one of them.