Some of which has been replicated in my Tory counterpart's column this week.

There is an interesting narrative developing from the Conservatives about making the last few months before the General Election a 'clean fight'.

This, I suppose, is something about not having posters which show Tony Blair with the Devil's eyes and things like that...

I guess it is intended to show that the Conservatives have changed, and that they are not the toxic, Nasty Brand that they once were.

Perhaps this is true, amongst those that are most regularly on show.

If it means that there is a hope from the Conservatives that the election will be contested on the basis of the different parties' policies, then I support that unequivocally.

I think it is now quite clear from the policies of the main three what their core concerns are. And as a Liberal Democrat, I am content that we have a raft of joined-up and costed policies that will help the economy back to growth; clean up politics, and combat climate change.

If the Tories mean that they don't want politics to get overly personal, then I agree with that as well.

However if they choose to define fighting dirty as attempts by other parties to deconstruct the (few) Conservative policies that are on the table at the moment, then that's just not going to wash.

Although I don't think that someone's background should dictate whether or not they get elected to Parliament, I do think that the electorate should dissect candidates' experience before deciding whether or not they are well-placed to represent the particular constituency that they are standing in.

I hope very much that local people will do that in Hastings & Rye.

As far as I am concerned, it should be views about the national parties' policies and the local candidates' skills that should determine how people cast their vote.

As the New Year comes around, and we enter the final yards of the final straight to the General Election, I am confident that we Liberal Democrats can do well on both counts.

I reject wholeheartedly David Cameron's suggestion that the Tories and the Liberal Democrats are more similar in their policy positions than ever before.

We are fundamentally different – from our Freedom Bill, to our tax proposals, and our willingness to introduce heavier penalties for environmental pollution.

Sidling up to floating voters, my Conservative counterpart will ask, in so many words, that you forget about her own Party's past and live in the now, and for the future.

In the present, for example, we most certainly need a Conservative champion of local rail services, despite it having been the Conservative Party that decimated our public transport infrastructure through privatisation when last in Government.

This said, I agree with those who hold that the General Election will be won by the party that offers a vision for the future that appeals most to the electorate.

However it will be the integrity of that vision that will count, just as much, on polling day.

For political parties, that kind of integrity is founded in political philosophy and past records of action; as well as promises of more.

Happy New Year!

(To read more about what Nick has been up to, check out his blog – 'Nick Perry for Hastings & Rye' at www.nickperrylibdem.wordpress.com; or reply to him: @nickperrylibdem on Twitter]