Politics – please get involved!

I am a Conservative and I always have been. I sincerely believe that our approach to running the country, based on opportunity, freedom, fairness and enterprise is the best one. Other people think differently and say that Labour's greater emphasis on the role of government or that the policies of the Liberal Democrats will produce a better result.

But what we all agree on is that politics will only work if people get involved. What I invite you to do is to study the cases of the three main parties for yourself. Here you will find links to them all.

If you care about the sort of society you and your family live in, you owe it to yourself to join one of the three. Parties can't exist without the support of local activists. Membership of all three parties is smaller than people realise, so there will be a warm welcome for you!

It's no exaggeration to say the democracy depends on people joining parties. You may do very little – go to the occasional social event and offer some help at election time – or you may go on to be a candidate for local councils, the European parliament or for Westminster. Whatever you do will be valued and appreciated – and you will have done your bit to help protect our democracy.

Remember, joining a single-issue pressure group is not enough. In our democracy there must be successful parties to get things done at local and national level. So browse these three and make up your mind for yourself.

An interesting political site that offers lively discussion on issues can be found at www.ePolitix.com