There are many reasons to prefer a Labour government to a Tory government and Gordon Brown's speech yesterday re-stated many of those reasons, but we would like to add a few specific local reasons to vote for Labour in Horsham.
Because every vote counts
After reading the reports in the County Times about how all the results in West Sussex are foregone conclusions (except for in Crawley) Labour supporters could be forgiven for thinking that their vote will not matter, that they might as well stay at home or vote tactically, but nothing could be further from the truth.
This election there is a real chance of a hung parliament. If that happens then the overall percentage of the popular vote will be significant. Under our first-past-the-post system the share of the national vote has no official role in the formation of the government, but practically it can make a big difference if there is a hung parliament.
It could affect smaller parties' decisions on whether to support Labour or the Tories in a coalition.
Traditionally the support for Labour is understated because in safe Labour seats many supporters feel their vote is not needed so they do not use it. In safe Tory seats many Labour supporters feel their vote will not make a difference so they do not use it.
That is not the case this year. This year it is important that Labour supporters do use their vote: this year your vote will count, wherever it is.
To demonstrate support for local campaigns
Horsham Labour party has been pursuing several campaigns in recent years: putting pressure on the council to make a greater proportion new housing developments affordable for local people, fighting to keep council-funded holiday play schemes, and identifying council-owned derelict sites that are spoiling neighbourhoods.
Voting Labour now will demonstrate support for those campaigns and give more weight to the future development of those campaigns.
To show disapproval of the current MP's behaviour
Many people that we have met in the constituency over the last few weeks, in fact over the last year, have been angry about Francis Maude's record. They feel that he should not have claimed expenses for a home, especially not a very expensive home, in London especially when he already owned one in the same street. The fact that he was not asked to return any money did not persuade everybody that those claims were justifiable.
In addition there were the many additional directorships and jobs that Mr. Maude accumulated during his years as an MP, and his poor record of attendance in Parliament.
Many people have remarked that they are not satisfied with the representation they have been getting and have even been disenchanted with the whole system to the extent they were considering not voting at all. We say that if you want to show your disapproval of Francis Maude then you should vote against him rather than abstain - and vote for a candidate who has promised to take no extra jobs, to not claim for a second home and to attend parliament regularly - a candidate who has a track record of not claiming expenses when he was a councillor: our candidate!
Because the Liberal Democrats have failed in Horsham
The Liberal Democrats have been the only opposition party in Horsham district council, and the main opposition party in West Sussex county council, but they have failed to oppose effectively.
We have observed their actions in the council chamber and seen them nod through Tory plans again and again. Even when they have proposed alternatives their party has not been united. Labour is a party based on idealism, while the Liberal Democrats are a party of opportunism.
To send a message to the Tories
The Tories take constituencies like Horsham for granted. It is often joked that if you put a blue rosette on a monkey it would win. If an MP thinks he or she cannot lose then what incentive do they have to work hard for the constituency? Would an MP who thought they might not get re-elected be so quick to pick up a string of directorships or to attend less than half of votes in the Commons?
Because, you never know...
It might be considered wildly optimistic to think that Labour could have any success in Horsham, but remember that in the last election nearly a third of the electorate in Horsham did not vote. If half of those non-voters were Labour supporters and if enough Tory voters desert to UKIP or abstain over the expenses scandals...
Fanciful, but we are prepared for anything, and our party is founded on hope!
On Thursday, if you are a Labour supporter then stand up and be counted and vote Labour rather than staying at home or voting tactically.
If you are undecided, then have a look at the policies in our local manifesto, then take a long hard look at what years of Tory control (with Lib Dems' ineffective opposition) have done to local services and ask whether you want education, health and other nationally-funded services to suffer the same fate as play schemes in Horsham. If not, then vote Labour.
Ask yourself whether the economy should be managed by a party that has been consistently proved wrong in its reactions to the global economic crisis. If you think that having George Osborne in charge of our economic future is too great a risk then vote Labour.