How compatible are local parties with Tory/Lib Dem policy?

Darling’s time has come and gone but we re-visit the responses of the erstwhile Westminster candidates - some of whom are running for office in the Local Government and Assembly elections - in light of the incumbent Tory Chancellor George Osborne’s recent budget.

Last year we wanted to know how candidates would raise taxes and how they would distribute them had they the power. We got a variety of responses and it transpires some candidates were more in tune with current Tory/Liberal Democrat policy than others.

Some of them are looking for your vote again this year. Here’s a flavour of what they told us in 2010.

ALLIANCE KEITH MCGRELLIS. Where is he now? Looking for your vote in the Assembly election. Canvassing for two Alliance hopefuls in the Council elections.

Mr McGrellis wanted a lower corporation tax. This has been granted by the Government who have reduced the rate to 24 per cent and will further reduce it to 23 per cent by 2014.

Mr Osborne also promises to “implement its Corporate Tax Road Map, including introducing new Controlled Foreign Company (CFC) rules to allow groups based in the UK to compete more effectively with those based overseas, and consult on the Patent Box.”

The Alliance candidate was opposed to National Insurance increases which have been introduced by the Government.

He wanted taxation on higher earners. This hasn’t happened: “All income tax rates for 2011-12 will remain at their 2010-11 levels.”

DESPITE BEING A FELLOW TRAVELLER OF NICK CLEGG AND HIS LIBERAL DEMOCRATS MR MCGRELLIS IS NOT ENTIRELY IN TUNE WITH HIS GOVERNMENT.

HE GOT WHAT HE ASKED FOR IN TERMS OF A LOWER CORPORATION TAX RATE BUT WILL BE DISAPPOINTED HIGHER EARNERS ARE NOT BEING FORCED TO PAY MORE AND THAT NIC RATES HAVE INCREASED.

DUP MAURICE DEVENNEY. Where is he now? Looking for your vote in the Local Government election. Canvassing for the DUP Assembly candidate and Local Government team.

Mr Devenney wanted to sue for lower interest rates. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has kept the rate at 0.5 per cent for two years - a record low over a period in which inflation has doubled to 4.4 per cent. This contrasts with European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet’s policy: he increased eurozone interest rates last week.

The DUP local election candidate wanted spending reduced. This was implemented across the board by the Government.

He also wanted a reduced corporation tax rate. The Government have reduced the rate to 24 per cent and by 2014 will further reduce it to 23 per cent.

He didn’t want National Insurance rates to rise and will be disappointed by the Chancellors moves to hike them.

He wanted the income tax and NIC threshold raised to £10,000. This hasn’t happened although personal tax allowance will rise a further £630 to £8,105 in April 2012. The primary threshold is currently £7,225 per year.

The DUP man also wanted the 50 per cent higher income tax rate to be made a temporary measure. The Government claims it will remain at 50 per cent but that it will review taxation to see how much this raises.

He also thought that people who inherited estates of up to £1m in value should not have to pay any tax on the property. The Tory/Lib Dem Government decided to freeze the £325,000 rate until April 2015, after which point the CPI will be used as the default indexation assumption.

MR DEVENNEY POLLED 4,489 IN THE WESTMINSTER ELECTIONS - THE BEST UNIONIST SHOWING IN FOYLE. HIS POLICIES IN TERMS OF LOW INTEREST RATES (THOUGH UNDER GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE RATHER THAN CONTROL), SPENDING CUTS AND LOWER CORPORATION TAXES CHIME WITH THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT AGENDA.

BUT HE DID NOT GET WHAT HE WANTED IN TERMS OF INCREASES IN THE INCOME TAX AND INHERITANCE TAX THRESHOLD AND NIC RATES.

ULSTER CONSERVATIVES AND UNIONISTS NEW FORCE (UCUNF) DAVID HARDING. Where is he now? Looking for the votes of the electors of East Londonderry in the Assembly elections. Canvassing for the UUP Local Government teams in Limavady and Coleraine.

Mr Harding wanted a review of tax rates. This was something of an open net pledge and was inevitably included in Budget 2011 by the tax suspicious Tory/Lib Dem coalition.

He also wanted corporation tax rates cut and will have been happy with Mr Osborne’s pledge to reduce them to 23 per cent by 2014, which was further than the 25 per cent advocated by Mr Harding as the standard rate for companies. The tax has already been cut to 24 per cent.

He wanted a reversal of the National Insurance increases implemented by Labour but his fellow traveller Mr Osborne did not grant this in Budget 2011.

He thought the 50 per cent income tax band should be subject to change. It remains 50 per cent but will be reviewed.

He wanted income tax rates to be reduced when the deficit is addressed. There is no pledge to reduce but neither is there any pledge to increase it significantly over the next four years.

He wanted the date at which pension age rises to 66 brought forward. The Government has already brought forward the rise in the State Pension Age (SPA) from 65 to 66 to 2020 from 2026. Mr Harding wanted public pensions capped at £50,000. No promise was forthcoming on this. The Hutton report on the matter will be considered.

The former Foyle UCUNF candidate wanted Ministers’ salaries reduced by 5 per cent. This was announced after David Cameron became Prime Minister.

Mr Harding’s wish for the number of MPs to be reduced by 10 per cent has not been granted.

THE UUP MAN MADE NO SECRET OF HIS AFFILIATION WITH THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY DURING HIS WESTMINSTER CAMPAIGN IN FOYLE LAST YEAR.

OVER 1,000 PEOPLE VOTED FOR HIM. HE ARGUED FOR CURRENT TORY/LIB DEM POLICIES SUCH AS CARRYING OUT A REVIEW OF TAXATION, REDUCING CORPORATION TAX RATES, BRINGING THE DATE FORWARD AT WHICH THE PENSION AGE RISES TO 66 AND REDUCING MINISTERS’ SALARIES.

BUT HE WAS DISAPPOINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT’S FAILURE TO REVERSE NIC RATES, SLASH THE NUMBER OF MPS AND LOWER INCOME TAX.

SDLP MARK DURKAN. Where is he now? Sitting Foyle MP. Canvassing for the SDLP’s Assembly and Local Government election hopefuls.

Mr Durkan told the Sentinel he wanted to scrap Trident and Eurofighter. Defence Secretary Liam Fox wants to replace the Trident nuclear subs by 2024 at an estimated cost of £20billion. He has been given permission to export some surplus Eurofighters but no buyer has yet been found.