Thank you
Over 3000 of you voted for me and thank you to you all. And to all on the local Lib Dem team: Steve, Billy, Roger, Nina, Granville, Chris, Bob and our Lib Dem councillors Paul, Rob, Dave and Carol.
And of course my long-suffering wife Jane.
Congratulations to David and commiserations to Anna and my fellow candidates Peter, Tilly, James, Tom, Lara and Jason. I got to talk to you all and you’re all lovely people!
I continue to be a local community champion despite no winning the seat this time. I’m still a Liberal Democrat and will stand up for our values as best I can. I’m going to focus on our community with learning difficulties and the food banks first as that’s where I see the most need.
I’ll help our new MP David however best I can. Him and his party have the power now to change how the water companies act, how our NHS and its patients are treated and funding for our local council and all the services it provides. I’ve also offered Bayo our MP in Southend East all the help I can. It is one community not separated really by political lines. We’re a coalition on the council too.
The Liberal Democrats have become a large block in parliament again and we’ve a responsibility to prove we deserve to be there. I’ll work with the national party and our MPs on what we are pushing for there. Such as our emergency funding for the NHS bill. Victoria Collins, who’s a new LibDem MP in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, will hit the ground running. She’s holding Thames Water to account for what they’re doing. Their sewage dumping flows down to us as well as what Anglian Water is doing.
Change is in the air and I’ll do my bit to help bring it about.