Political

Former council leader is front runner to replace Mike Hancock as Lib Dem candidate in Portsmouth South

As PoliticsHome has reported, Gerald Vernon-Jackson is one of the three bidding to be the next Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate in Portsmouth South.

Former leader of the council, Gerald Vernon-Jackson is one of the party’s most skilled campaigners and led the council team there to a series of political gravity defying wins, until the Hancock scandals brought things crashing down this year.

On that affair, and the resulting demands from some that he stand down as council group leader, he told a local newspaper earlier in the year:

‘There aren’t any Lib Dem councillors calling for my resignation,’ he said.

‘If my colleagues wanted me to, then I would. So the people who have said it are my political opponents, and they do not wish to do anything that is supportive of us.

‘I accepted Mike’s word and I was totally wrong. I fired Mike from the cabinet and he fought tooth and nail against it, but I said no.’ [The News, Portsmouth]

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