Paddy Ashdown backs West Dorset Liberal Democrats
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Pady Ashdown at the Lib Dem office in Sherborne
Lord Paddy Ashdown came to Sherborne on Saturday 25th April to open the Liberal Democrats’ new constituency office in The Old Glove Factory, Bristol Road.
The office will be the base of Dr Sue Farrant, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for West Dorset and newly appointed Constituency Organiser, Amy Tatum. Lord Ashdown, former MP for Yeovil and previous Leader of the Liberal Democrats, cut a yellow ribbon to declare the Liberal Democrats’ new HQ open.
Commenting on the number of people who had turned out for the occasion, Lord Ashdown remarked on how support for the Liberal Democrats was growing rapidly, both locally and nationally as both the Labour government and the Conservative-run County Council were seen to be failing people.
His comments were echoed by Kay Barnard, European Parliamentary Candidate and Richard Biggs, the leader of the Lib Dem group on Dorset County Council, both of whom are busy campaigning for the elections on June 4th. Cllr Biggs said, “Support for the Conservatives in Dorset is just ebbing away as people see how badly they have managed the county’s finances and are cutting vital services as a result. It is time to do things differently for Dorset and only the Liberal Democrats have the ideas and energy to put things right.”
Sue Farrant, who lives in Sherborne, welcomed Lord Ashdown, saying, “It is great to see Paddy here. He has a tremendous reputation locally and internationally and I am delighted to have his active support. West Dorset Liberal Democrats are going from strength to strength as people finally give up on both the Conservatives and Labour. It’s time for a change.”
Lord Ashdown treated the crowd to a reading from his new autobiography A Fortunate Life and shared several amusing stories of learning from West Dorset Liberal Democrats how to run his early campaigns in Yeovil.
