Daisy Benson was among the crowd welcoming Nick Clegg to the Special Conference held at the NEC to debate a motion agreeing to the historic coalition between the Lib Dems and Conservative parties.

Many thanks to the thousands of people who backed the Liberal Democrats at the national and local elections. We hope you enjoyed our positive campaign.

There is another way in politics... one where you can vote for something, instead of against something. Where you are given a reason to vote rather than being scared about not voting. There is another way and that way is Lib Dem.

And a big thank you to all the volunteers who help deliver the campaign - literally - across Reading West. We do not have millionaires or Trade Union franking machines to help us and we couldn't have done it without you.

This contract lays out exactly what you can expect from me as MP for the Reading West constituency.

• I will put local people first.
• I will be there to help, to listen to your concerns and to stand up for our community.
• I will make sure your voice is heard - locally and at Westminster. I will be a strong voice for Reading West.
• I will be open and honest about all expenses incurred in representing you.
• I believe representing you is a full-time job, and I will not take up any paid advisory roles or directorships.
• I will continue to live in the constituency and I will not have a second home.

My record shows that I have a clean record on expenses as a councillor.

As Chair of the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel since 2008 I have worked hard to ensure that mental health services are regularly on our agenda to try and inject much needed local accountability into our services here in Reading. Most recently we scrutinised the effectiveness of so-called 'Talking Therapies' which are having a really positive impact on people. The Lib Dems are committed to extending access to counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy to more people. In this picture I'm pictured with Paul Farmer, Coley resident, who has been campaigning tirelessly for a better deal for patients for many years - a lot longer than I have.You may have seen his letters in the Evening Post.

Paul has written to me many times to raise issues about mental health services and I have done my best to respond to his concerns. One of his major concerns has been the treatment of minors in adult wards in Prospect Park Hospital - something that we pressed officers from the Trust about several times in scrutiny. When I met him on Friday he told me about his latest campaign - highlighting the number of young people who are still receiving Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) this is a concern and I will be investigating it further with health officers. It is estimated one in three people suffer from depression at some point in their lives and one in four people are affected by mental health problems. This is a lot of people in Reading West constituency. I am signed up to Rethink's General Election 2010 campaign which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues. We need people like Paul to campaign for thousands of people who use mental health services in Reading each year. I have pledged to to continue to champion mental health in the next Parliament if I am elected the next MP for Reading West.

My name is Daisy Benson and I am the Lib Dem prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Reading West.

You can find out more about me, my campaigns and how you can help me secure a fair and free society.

Over the next few weeks I will be updating the site with more information and I hope you will join me in my campaign to take back power from the two other parties who have both lost touch with the ordinary person.