THE 37-year-old lives with his partner Jackie and daughter Eleanor in Worcester. He is a senior microwave engineer.

It appears likely that MAFF are about to declare Worcestershire "foot-and-mouth free".

However, the work of the Government and of local authorities must not end there.

If elected, I will devote time and energy to ensuring that the funds available through the Small Business Loans Guarantee scheme are well advertised within the constituency, and also that there is a much increased take up rate.

I would use my position as Member of Parliament, to ensure that footpaths in the county are opened up, without further delay. In my role as ambassador for the local economy, I would be keen to discuss with local businesses and farmers, how best to reclaim all business lost as a result of foot-and-mouth, and then go further. If I am elected, Mid-Worcestershire will have an MP determined to shout about what the area has to offer, from every available rooftop.

If elected, one of my first acts as an MP will be to sit down with individuals and community groups in Evesham, to discuss how best to use the £1m granted to the town through the Labour Government's market towns rejuvenation initiative. If used correctly, this investment could act as a huge boost to the local economy. But how it is best used must be a matter for local people and local businesses.

In Droitwich, the process of redeveloping the local canal infrastructure is supported by all parties. But this initiative, coming as it does from the drive and determination of local people, must be seen as the start of a major process of social and economic regeneration for the town.

As a Labour Government expands its investment into areas such as neighbourhood and town centre renewal, I will fight for every available penny of this investment for Droitwich.

Drug-taking and crime related to it, are still a major scourge, destroying young lives and affecting entire communities.

Both the Government and the police must continue to bear down hard on this, along with other areas of crime. There is a lot a local MP can do in terms of supporting both the police and local community groups, not just in tackling the problem, but also in providing constructive outlets for our young people.

If elected, I will work to ensure that Mid-Worcestershire gets its share of the extra 6,000 police officers to be recruited during the next term of a Labour Government. We must remember, that despite moaning about police numbers, the Conservatives are giving no specific target for recruitment of officers. Tougher sentences for drug dealers, are also central to Labour's strategy of confronting head on, a problem which was effectively ignored by successive Conservative Governments.

The work being undertaken by the Environment Agency in Worcestershire, assessing the options for improving flood defences along both the Avon and the Severn, must continue to be supported.

The choice between these options must be based on scientific evidence relating to the effectiveness of each option.

There are areas - particularly in Evesham - where old river defences are in urgent need of repair. If elected, I will work with the various agencies involved - Environment Agency, National Rivers Authority, county council, district council - to ensure that whichever range of options proves most applicable, these measures are implemented with the utmost urgency.

I will also lobby to ensure that the necessary funding is made available from central Government, in support of this work. During its first term in office, Labour introduced rules limiting the future building of houses in flood plains. These rules need to be stuck to.

Worcestershire has been waiting for a new district general hospital for 40 years.

Indeed, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, successive Conservative administrations made promise after promise that such a hospital would be built to serve the area. Unfortunately, throughout that time, not a single brick was laid.

Now, after a single term of a Labour Government, that brand-new, modern, high-tech hospital is being built.

Furthermore, despite claims by our opponents, it is an inescapable fact that as a result of the county wide review of health services, there have been no cuts in Worcestershire as a whole, in either Acute Care or Critical Care beds.

What has threatened to hold us back however, has been the shortage of nursing staff which Labour inherited from the Conservatives.

I will therefore fight for Worcestershire's share of the extra 20,000 trained nurses and 10,000 doctors promised in the Labour party manifesto.