ON election day, The Argus has given five candidates from the main political parties the opportunity to make their final pitch to you the voters.

IN Stephen Lloyd and myself, both Eastbourne and Lewes constituencies would be served by ferocious community champions.

Time and again, both Stephen and I have spoken to people on the doorstep as we make our way around the communities we want to represent – and the views we receive back are unequivocal.

People reject the Conservative’s dementia tax, slashed school budgets or half-hearted attempts to solve the Southern Rail crisis.

People here are tired of having ultra-loyal Conservative MPs who say one thing to constituents and do another in the voting lobbies of Westminster.

The Liberal Democrats are the only party committed in our manifesto to tackling Southern Rail’s problems that have so crippled our commuters; we reject any attempts by Theresa May’s Conservative government to force the elderly to sell their homes to pay for care.

We oppose the slashing of local government funding – as voted for by the Conservative MPs for Lewes and Eastbourne – that has had an appalling effect on school budgets.

The ultra-loyalty shown by Conservative Party MPs in Westminster is having a detrimental and tangible effect on our communities. That can change on Thursday.

With Labour a distant third in our areas, a vote for your Liberal Democrat candidate is a vote for having a strong, local voice. People know how my good friend and predecessor Norman Baker stood up for our towns and villages here; people know Stephen Lloyd was an outstanding constituency MP. We have been missing that for two years.

We know what residents’ concerns are. We can respond to that and be a force for the people, not the party system, as we fight for what’s best in our areas. Three key Lib Dem manifesto pledges:

1. We need investment to protect our NHS. By increasing income tax by just a penny in the pound, we will generate an extra £6 billion a year to invest in our doctors and hospitals

2. We will put major investment in our schools. The Lib Dems will raise corporation tax by one per cent to generate an additional £7 billion to give schools the funding they need.

3. We will give people the final say on Brexit. The devil is in the details on Europe and the people deserve the chance to have a final say.