I have worked as a care worker for the last twelve years, and as many things before then.

Full statement

I am divorced with four children and three grandchildren.

It was at the time of the Maastricht Treaty that I came to realise the true nature of the beast. I wrote to Sir George Gardiner, then MP for Reigate, promising my vote for him if he voted against the Treaty. He did, and I was more proud to vote for him in 1997 than on any previous visit to the ballot box.

Sir George introduced me to the Campaign for an Independent Britain, an umbrella group for EU-realists from all political parties. I soon realised the big three parties were fully signed up to the European Project, and there was nothing that their rank-and-file members could do about it.

Then I fell in with UKIP. I joined the party in 1999, and I have stood in elections at least once a year since 2000, sometimes twice a year, and three times in 2009. There have been many false dawns along the way, and we have learned just how deeply entrenched are the forces of compulsory integration. But we have also learned to fight harder, and never to be discouraged. I have joked in the past that I have lost count of how many elections I have contested, but not of how many I have won: none. But in May of this year, I came within a whisker of winning two elections.

Of course, I benefitted from the national swing to UKIP which has brought us so many victories and near misses this year, but I like to think that I have built up something of a local presence, with my relentless campaigning and letters in the local press, not to mention getting coverage for some of my less political activities. People sometimes recognise me in the street, and they usually have something supportive to say.

If we are to achieve our aims, we must broaden our appeal to those who once would have been considered natural Labour supporters. NuLab abandoned them, and they know it. A quarter of a century ago, Jacques Delors seduced British unions with promises of prosperity and security. What we have got is chronic unemployment and stagnant living standards, while a tiny minority have grown stinking rich. I do not blame the EU exclusively for this, but it has been an integral and willing part of the process. I know from canvassing how much potential support we have from the worst hit: men and women who once would have been proud to describe themselves as patriotic socialists, and we know from election results that we are more than the Conservative Party in exile.

I shall never lie to the people of this constituency. The truth is the one weapon that the enemy does not possess.