Simon Hughes speaking to the Watford Liberal Democrats at my Adoption meeting
Monday evening saw the Watford Liberal Democrat Adoption Meeting, and we were very fortunate to have Simon Hughes, from Bermondsey and Old Southwark and former President of the party as our guest speaker.
Simon is much loved in the party, and is a brilliant speaker, combining humour with a very liberal vision of Britain. He's travelled the country in support of Liberal Democrat candidates over the years, and some of his train journey stories of sharing trains with his beloved Millwall supporters had us rolling in the aisles.
Candy Piercy chaired the meeting, and asked the members to formally adopt me as their candidate for the General Election, and it was wonderful to be unanimously elected.
I spoke about the long journey that we've had in Watford over the last five years, and how much we want to see a much fairer Britain. In particular, parents have found it harder to get their children into the school of their choice, and the County Council had to admit in December that it is 1500 places short (and are proposing a shocking 41 temporary classrooms to solve the problem, rather than opening new primary schools to replace the ones that they closed in 2004.
I also talked about the importance of the Health Campus, and how Dorothy Thornhill had led the partnership that has made the scheme possible. Through my role as Deputy Chair at EEDA in 2003/4, I was able to see the land deals completed to make the whole health campus and affordable housing scheme fit in with Vicarage Road.
There were a couple of hundred members in the room, and Simon ended the evening with a fundraising appeal, which raised a very generous amount for the three campaigns we are running for 6 May, the Parliamentary, Dorothy Thornhill's relection campaign as well as 16 councillor elections. Thank you all!