Political

The importance of local council by-elections

Starting as I mean to go on… my first campaign outing after taking up office as President of the Liberal Democrats was this morning to help Anton Georgiou in the Alperton by-election (Brent Council).

Do come and help Anton if you can.

By-elections such as these have been and will continue to be a crucial part of the party’s rebuilding.

All the more so in communities such as Alperton which visibly suffers from the neglect of the Labour councillors and council. It’s just the sort of place where an active, committed Liberal Democrat councillor makes a huge difference to people’s lives.

Such contests are also an important part of how we keep people involved, recruit new activists and hone our campaigning skills. They matter in their own right and also for the contribution they can make to subsequently winning in other elections too.

That applies more generally to local elections too, which is why one of the first financial decisions the federal party has taken since the financial situation post-general election has started to become clear is to double our usual investment in cash support for the May local elections. The budget for that has been frozen for many years (at least five, and more I think). I hope this year’s increase will be the first of many years of increased support for these contests.

 

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3 responses to “The importance of local council by-elections”

  1. I think a friend of mine Mike Harskin got elected to Alperton many years ago. Sadly he died very young. Do hope you can help them win this.

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