But hang on; what have we done? Well quite a lot actually.

Are you a pensioner? Well thank your lucky stars that the Liberal Democrats are part of this coalition. Without us there would have been no linkage of pensions back to wage increases.

As of April 2012, the basic state pension will increase by £5.30 per week, the largest ever cash increase for pensioners.

Due to Liberal Democrat influence a clause was put into the coalition agreement that every pensioner should get a guaranteed rise in their state pension according to a set formula.

This means that this year around 25,000 people in Sevenoaks will get a rise of £5.30 a week because of the Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats have restored the link between the basic State Pension and earnings broken by the Conservative Party. Labour had thirteen years to do it themselves and did nothing. The earnings link alone will give the average pensioner an extra £15,000 during their retirement.

Remember the pitiful rise in the state pension of 75p under the last Government? Insulting wasn’t it? This new flat rate will particularly benefit women and will ensure future pensioners have the guarantee of a decent future, something the Liberal Democrats have been campaigning on for years and are now delivering in Government.

Are you  basic rate tax payer?

Well thanks to the Liberal Democrats the government has raised the level at which people start paying tax to £7475 this year and £8105 for the next financial year.  Our plan this parliament is to raise the threshold at which people start paying tax to £10,000– meaning 3.6 million working people and low income pensioners will no longer have to pay any income tax at all, while millions more will have an income tax cut of £700.

Pensioners will get up to £100 extra. The change will be paid for by introducing a tax on the wealthiest members of our society.

Neither Labour or the Conservatives would have done this.

These are big, important real improvements. Changes that would not have happened had we not been in government.

So what else? All of the following were manifesto pledges and all have happened since May 2010:

1) We have met the manifesto commitment to provide a week of respite care to almost one million carers who work over 50 hours a week.

2) Ensured the Government maintained the commitment to end child poverty by 2020.

3) Already taken 880,000 low earners out of income tax altogether through the key Lib Dem policy of raising the basic income tax threshold.

4) Met a manifesto pledge to introduce a banking levy that will raise £2.5bn a year.

5) Backed the scrapping of burdensome Home Information Packs – but retaining the requirement for homes to have an energy performance certificate.

6) Announced a £900m crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion.

7) Fulfilled a manifesto pledge to scrap the rule compelling people to buy a pension annuity at 75.

Ensured the expensive and impractical ID cards programme has been scrapped.

9) Successfully pushed for dementia research to be prioritised within health research and development.

10) Mapped out the Government’s path to renewable energy to 2050, including massive investment in low carbon electricity.

11) Created a UK wide Green Investment Bank, which will put more money into green infrastructure.

12) Backed Coalition plans for a Superfast Broadband Future including a digital hub in every community.

13) Met a manifesto pledge to extend the right to flexible working for parents.

14) Delivered on the key Lib Dem pledge of a £2.5bn pupil premium to bring extra funding to disadvantaged students.

15) Announced that wheel-clamping on private land will be banned.

16) Forced the Tories to make key changes to the Health Bill, protecting the NHS and giving patients more say in its running.

17) Backed a deal to compensate people who lost their money through the Equitable Life scandal, ending years of Government stalling.

18) Expanded access to talking therapies for those suffering mental illness, including for the first time children and adolescents.

19) Secured a judicial inquiry into Britain’s role in torture and rendition.

20) Supported plans to end the compulsory retirement age.

21) In February 2011, Vince Cable announced an agreement with the biggest UK high-street banks which will see them lend 15% more to Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises this year.

22) Project Merlin ensured that we have the most transparent pay disclosure regime in the world, and that pay and bonuses will be lower this year than last – and lower than they would have been without this agreement. Thanks to the Liberal Democrats in government the FSA will now also have a role in checking bonuses and pay, and lending figures will be independently checked by the Bank of England.

23) And on and on and on. All told the Liberal Democrats have had 67 separate manifesto pledges implemented by this coalition government so far. And for a full list you can look here: Liberal Democrat Achievements since 2010.

So next time someone asks you what the Lib Dems have done; tell them.

To anyone who thinks that Labour was a success in office I say 2 words: “Council Tax”.

Over a decade of inflation busting rises and what do we have to show for it other than Chief executives earning £150,000 a year?

And now they want cuts but can’t tell us where they will make them.

We must be prouder of our achievements and not shy away from saying we are in government and we are doing exactly what we said we would. If anything we are achieving more than the Tories; they constantly moan that they are not getting as much influence on policy as they should. But with Andrew Lansley as an example perhaps they should be thankful.

For West Kent we propose keeping more closely to the three main centres – Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells – as the basis for constituencies, as at present.

For Sevenoaks this would be achieved – within the given electoral numbers - by Ash/New Ash Green being transferred to Dartford, whilst Edenbridge and other part of Sevenoaks District currently attached to Tonbridge constitueuncy would be reunited with Sevenoaks. We recommend this as a much more coherent constituency than we have at present.