Hotting up
Nine days to go until election day in Bury, and the Lib Dem campaign continues to gather momentum and support. Last night on the doorstep the groundswell of positive feeling was better even than last week, and for the first time during this campaign I survived a night without a single close encounter with a dog the size of a caravan.
It’s not a surprise to me that we’re doing OK when we meet local people. Nationally, Labour are imploding over a 10p tax rate abolition which makes the poorest poorer and which Lib Dems oppose. Lots of people are telling me that they’ll never vote Labour again. Lots more are saying that, for now, there’s no way they an believe a party who seem so out of touch and so willing to betray their traditional supporters for no apparent reason.
The Lib Dems nationally, and the Bury Lib Dems locally, present a real alternative. Locally, Labour are keen to escape their legacy of 21 years of neglect, their disgraceful attempts to close our local school, and their continuing plans to close local Post Offices. Lib Dems in Bury have been fighting for a fairer deal for residents for years. After we were the only party to fight the school closure, you elected Cllr Donal O’Hanlon to represent this war. As our work to improve local facilities and work with communities continued, you elected me last year to join Donal carry on the good work. And we’ve continued to work hard this year, with tangible success in Carr Clough, Rainsough, the Village, St Ann’s Road and right across the ward. So we’re asking you for your votes again so that Mary D’Albert can join us and become your third local Lib Dem councillor.
Assuming we aren’t all eaten one by one by angry dogs over the coming days, we’ll be out and about and anxious to meet as many local people as we can. If you want to get involved, just look out for us or get in touch using the Focus leaflets you’ll have been getting. Our community stands on the verge of a great change. In five years Prestwich Village will be unrecognisable to how it is today, as the regeneration and improvements take shape and transform the ward. I am proud to be a part of that, as is Donal, and as is Mary, elected or not. Join us and be a part of it too.
Rick
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