Eric Pickles: You Ask The Questions

Don't you find it frustrating that the top party jobs are taken by Cameron's old school mates?

Neil Hemp

Warwick

That is only true in the twisted world of obsessive Labour class warriors. The Conservative Party was welcoming to a working class lad 40 years ago, and is run by people today who share a common purpose of making the UK a safer, greener place with a more secure economy. It is not where you were born that matters it is who you are.

Isn't Cameron just using you as a sop to prove he's not just for the elite?

Sean Reilly

The main reason we are so far ahead of Labour in the polls and by-elections is that the left has always underestimated David. If it was all about "Toffs and Prols" Labour would have little to worry about. It is David Cameron's vision on social justice, the environment, safety and the economy that has caught the imagination of the public.

What's Gordon Brown's greatest weakness?

Andrew Whitmore

by email

He is all political calculation without any conviction, purpose or vision.

I'm not sure what the Tories stand for. Can you tell me in five words?

Iain Pitt

London E4

Social justice with economic responsibility.

Were you surprised at the Labour "toff" tactics during the Crewe and Nantwich by-election?

Phillipe Wise

Lowestoft

I was surprised that they thought it would have any resonance with ordinary people; but I was genuinely shocked at Labour's racist attack on the town's Polish community.

Labour did your work for you in Crewe and Nantwich. Do you now expect a general election victory?

Naomi R

Felixstowe

The Conservative Party must take nothing for granted, we have come a long way under David Cameron; once again we are in touch with the hopes and aspirations of the British people. But we still have more to do. We need to show people how a Conservative government will improve people's lives.

Why was it we never heard anything from Edward Timpson? Was he really that embarrassing?

Michael McClarke

by email

You will hear lots from Edward in the coming years. He made a fine maiden speech, full of knowledge and compassion, of which Gwyneth Dunwoody would have approved. Check it out for yourself at http://www.publications.parliament.uk

Did David Davis make a mistake in resigning and calling a by-election?

Danielle Reese

by email

He has propelled the issues of civil liberties and the surveillance state to the top of the political agenda.

Will you be helping David Davis in the same way you helped Edward Timpson?

Henry Poulston

Edinburgh

He is an old friend and I hope to get up to Yorkshire to support him.

The Tories are still all white men. Would you ever support positive discrimination?

Bruce Liddle

by email

That's not the case – as evidenced by the fact I work closely with Caroline Spelman as party chairman and Sayeeda Warsi as shadow minister for Cohesion. Britain is a more tolerant nation today, but inequality and discrimination still persist, and I support a forward-thinking, positive approach to equality and fairness.

Isn't it odd that a man who made the Conservatives hated in Bradford is now an election tactician?

Ruth Medway

by email

Pleasingly, it is a good few years since Labour were in control of Bradford Council. Now the city is led by the Conservatives. In the rest of the country there are now more Conservative councillors than Labour and Liberal Democrats combined.

You turned Bradford into a Thatcherite plc. Has your thirst for job cuts, lower spending and ruthless underfunding waned?

Luke Brightmore

Bradford

The reforms were designed to strengthen frontline services like education and personal social services. Ironically, while the Conservatives protected teachers the incoming Labour administration reduced teacher numbers and sold off old people's homes.

Apparently there's a book about you. So what's in The Pickles Papers?

Charlotte Dean

Leeds

They were a hostile critique of local government reforms in Bradford which, with the passage of time, turned out to be nothing more threatening than modest economies and good management practices that, in the intervening decades, have been adopted by most councils of all political parties.

The first sign of losing support, and the Tories have dropped their green stuff. Why?

Zac Nevin

Luton

Climate change remains one of the top policy priorities of our party and we believe we can deliver the necessary change through positive, job-creating, policies rather than using the environment as an excuse to raise revenues when the going gets tough. If we fail to tackle climate change now, the economic going will get much tougher in the future.

Do you agree that the Lisbon Treaty should now be declared dead?

Riz Khalid

Bristol

The Lisbon Treaty should be dead. It is profoundly undemocratic and it is breathtakingly arrogant that Labour and the Liberal Democrats have forced this treaty through Parliament without the British people having any say over it. The Prime Minister does not speak for the majority of the British people. Gordon Brown should either declare this treaty dead, or call a referendum and let the British people have their say.

Are you being held back by being a pro-European?

Bryn Jones

Cardiff

In common with the mainstream of public opinion, I oppose the euro single currency and the European Constitution. I have also been critical of the worrying rise of new EU "transnational regions", which seek to break up our nation state and undermine both local and national identities.

Who's the best leader the Conservatives never had?

Vic Edwards

by email

Rab Butler.

Shouldn't we be doing more to help Zimbabwe – should we invade?

John Moregate

by email

There should also be wider EU sanctions on Mugabe's regime members; a UN commission of inquiry into human rights abuses, with a view to future action by the International Criminal Court; and preparation of an international rescue programme for when Mugabe is gone. This is a criminal government, and should be treated as such. Sooner or later it will fall and we must be ready to help the new leadership.

Should a politician really be a part-time DJ?

Judy Wakeclift

Fulham

With the arrival of the iPod and the death of New Labour, spinning is no longer desirable in either profession.

Any embarrassing moments live on air?

Sam Hughes

Bradford

Plenty, but none I would care to share.

There's one thing I want from local government – weekly bin collections. Can you guarantee them under the Conservatives?

Peter Franklin

Birmingham

While refuse collections are ultimately a matter for local councils, we have been highlighting how the cuts to weekly collections have been driven by Whitehall policy. Councils aren't being properly compensated for the effect of new waste directives and regulations, while government quangos are bullying town halls into making the cuts.

It's obvious why no one votes in local elections – councils have no power. Will you hand power back to local government?

D Rutherford

Newcastle

Yes – and the first step will be to dismantle the unelected and unaccountable regional government, giving their powers and billions of pounds of funding to local councils. But localism should be about empowering local people, not replacing an intrusive central state with an intrusive municipal state.

Who would you support as the next Labour leader?

Nicola Wilby

by email

Is Ramsay MacDonald still alive?