Richard Baum

I was proud last night to join many other local residents in signing the nomination papers for Mary D’Albert to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for St Mary’s ward in the local elections on May 1^st.

Mary’s long-standing record of hard work and local activism is to be admired, as is her sommittment to the local party and its efforts to make Prestwich and Bury better for local people. I have no doubt that she will be a very capable Councillor working continually for the people of the ward.

Mary has lived in Prestwich for decades, and is not only familiar with the issues that matter locally, but feels them personally because she has been a member of this community for so long. Local candidates are vital for local Councils.

Mary has campaigned hard to protect our local Post Offices, in contrast to our local Labour party who’s own MP voted to close thousands more Post offices just last week, including potentially nine more in Bury. Labour should be ashamed. They can’t claim to be standing up for the community when they tried to close our school a couple of years back, and are trying to close our Post Offices now. We opposed them then, we oppose them now, and Mary D’Albert and the Lib Dems will continue to support local community facilities forever.

Mary D’Albert has campaigned with Liberal Democrats in Bury on many issues – she joined our campaigning to stop Labour proposals to close Prestwich Arts College, for instance. She’s been working with Rainsough residents trying to broker a solution on the shops issue, and she’s been instrumental in working with Lib Dems and the Local Area Partnership to bring tens of thousands of pounds to communities across Prestwich.

In the coming weeks Mary and I will be joining the rest of the Bury Lib Dems in asking you for your votes on May 1^st. We are confident that a local, hard-working candidate is a better bet for Prestwich than Labour’s party hack who has been parachuted in to replace the retiring Labour Councillor who led the failed policy to close our local school.

There’ll be plenty more written here and in leaflets about the election in the coming weeks, but for now let me say again that I am proud to have nominated Mary D’Albert to be the next Liberal Democrat councillor for St Mary’s ward, and to join Donal O’Hanlon and me in leading the renaissance of our area.

Rick