BLACKPOOL South Conservatives hope their newly-selected prospective parliamentary candidate will be a cut above the rest.

For 33-year-old David Morris is a hairdresser with a chain of salons around Greater Manchester. Married with a baby son, he lives in Leigh, but his grandfather lived in Blackpool and his family still owns property near North Pier.

Top of his agenda is to persuade the government and EC to channel more cash into tourism and the service industry: "I believe we've put our money into the EC and we should get our pound of flesh out of it. Eighty per cent of Blackpool's economy is based on tourism and the service sector, and a boost to them will help the area's prosperity and small businesses." As a businessman himself, he believes the government should be more flexible toward small businesses - for instance on the minimum wage for college-leavers, which he claims has hit his own and the catering trade hard.

Pledging to knock on every door in Blackpool South before the next election, and to hold fortnightly surgeries starting November 1, he said: "I'm keen to get out and meet the constituents and listen to their problems so that I can represent them."

As a former chairman of the North West Young Conservatives and current chairman of the Leigh Conservative Association, Mr Morris has met William Hague several times, supported him in the leadership battle and is fully behind Mr Hague's brand of Conservatism. " The wake-up call of dissatisfaction with New Labour started long before I was selected, and I will be holding to account the Labour government and its representative here in Blackpool South," he said.

"I'm fighting to win this seat back, to get the best deal possible for the residents and business people of Blackpool South."

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