Alasdair Murray - Liberal Democrats

What is your background?
I am currently the director of a charity which is a policy charity covering relevant British politics. Before that I was a journalist for a number of years, mainly for The Times and briefly on the Mail on Sunday.

What is your connection to the local area?
I grew up along coast in Southampton so I have been coming to Bournemouth all of my life. I've had family in the area for two decades and I have family based in Southbourne. It's central to my life.

Have you got a favourite local space or facility?

I really like 'Sixty Million Postcards' on Exeter Road, if it's not that then it has to be the beach. If I'm not too busy then I like to run the whole stretch, particularly last year when I was marathon training.

What's your favourite TV show?
I'm a big fan of "The Wire" which I am watching on DVD. My family and I all watch "Masterchef", my children and wife absolutely love it.

Do you shop in Westbourne or know the district well?

I know Westbourne a little bit and I've stayed here when working and needed to be in the area. I've eaten at Cafe Rouge and various others, it's a very attractive place and as one of Bournemouth's secondary centres it's the one that has the most intense character. Some other areas could learn from Westbourne.

Westbourne has many small businesses and independent retailers, what policies do the Lib Dems have that look after their interests?
We have quite an array of policies, the Lib Dems are concerned about excessive regulation, we are concerned about taxation. We trying to make a fairer taxation system which should benefit most small traders, who may not be making vast sums of money, any taxation changes that enable them to keep more would be beneficial. We are also concerned about competition rules, current rules tend to look at things at the national level rather than the local context, but the Lib Dems would like to reform that so there is more local competition, so you don't get big companies coming in and using their might to push people out unfairly.

Bournemouth and Westbourne in particular appear to be doing well with fewer empty shops than the national average. Why might Bournemouth be weathering the economic storm better than other areas and how can this be maintained?
Unemployment hasn't risen as far or as fast as people expected. We also thought it was going to be more of a white collar recession and while there have been substantial job losses in the financial services including in Bournemouth, on the whole, the south escaped better than the national as a whole. I think if you have a good, vibrant local resource people will use it. In other areas of my constituency such as Northbourne and parts of Poole, things have been quite tough.

What about local policing?
There is a problem in Dorset generally in that the police are underfunded, that's well recognised and one of the jobs of the elected MP is to fight that. It is Lib Dem policy to increase the number of PCSOs and we have a costed policy to do that. On weekend nights almost all police officers are in the centre of Bournemouth leaving very few for other areas where there still may be a need to monitor antisocial behaviour.

What's your opinion on the 40mph limit on the Wessex Way?
I drove down it this morning and it was empty, you can't help but think "I would love to drive 10 miles per hour faster" but I've also driven it in rush hour where there's no chance of 50. They're trialling it, lets see what the results of the trial are. If there is evidence that it makes a substantial difference to safety then they'll be a case for it, if there isn't, let's get rid of it as soon as the trial finishes.

How will the Lib Dems make local transport greener?
One thing the Lib Dems are keen on is making sure transport powers are increased at local council level. One area that needs looking at in Bournemouth is the bus service which can be quite hit and miss, some areas do better than others. I'm a great believer that until you have a decent public transport system, you won't get people out of their cars. You've got to think about encouraging cycling and make it more pleasant to walk on short journeys.

Bournemouth West has been Conservative since it's creation 60 years ago, how confident are you that you can break this pattern?
I think we have a real chance of breaking the pattern. It has always been Conservative but their majority has been steadily falling. The boundaries have changed and that's broadly favourable to the Lib Dems. I think the old political affiliations have been breaking down and people are much more ready to consider an array of options before voting.

If you win the seat, what is the biggest change the local residents would see?
From talking to people on the doorsteps, the issue that routinely comes up is antisocial behaviour, we are committed to more PCSOs on the streets. I strongly support ideas like community justice for small scale crime that allows communities to make decisions on sentencing. This has been very successful in trials in Somerset.

The expenses issue has blighted politics for many months now. Do you think this issue will go away after the election and what are your thoughts on MP pay and expenses?
I think expenses will drop down the political agenda but I don't think it will be solved though. It is part of a broader disaffection with politics the public have that I don't think will be restored very quickly or easily. I think the next group of MPs will be very careful about their expenses, they all know what people really think. Expenses should always be the utter minimum needed to do the job. I think MPs are paid adequately, at a time when other public sector workers are getting pay cuts, I don't think there is a case for raising MPs pay.

Do you think a hung parliament is likely and would it be damaging to the country?
It's possible rather than likely, given the volatility of the polls, and that so many people haven't made their mind up, that we don't know what turn out is going to be. It's very hard to call. Do I think it would be bad for the country? No. It would be a different kind of politics, we have experience of it, many councils have no overall control and get on well. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all deal with it in a slightly different context. We have a problem where, in the last election, Labour won with a healthy majority yet less than 1 in 4 people actually voted for them. A hung parliament, while not a perfect solution, is a better reflection of majority opinion.

What do you think of the TV debates? Who will come off best?

Our only real experience of this is what happens in America and while we treat our system as a presidential system it isn't a pure presidential system. Gordon Brown will benefit from low expectations, David Cameron has a good televisual manner but is prone to reverting to a debating chamber stereotype that doesn't play well with the public. Nick Clegg also benefits from fairly low expectations, he has a lower profile in general but is very personable and will come across well.

Any final message for our readers?
There is a genuine choice in this election, all I can ask is that people read our literature and check out our website before they cast their vote.

Find out more about Alasdair: www.alasdairmurray.net