Hypocritical Lib Dems could select Parliamentary Candidate from PRESTON

Hypocritical Lib Dems could select Parliamentary Candidate from PRESTON

Southport Liberal Democrats have come under fire today after it emerged that the party are to shortly select a parliamentary candidate to contest the next General Election from a pool of activists, including one councillor from Preston.

The revelations follow as the Liberal Democrats in Southport fought the last two General Elections by casting the other main party candidates as ‘outsiders’, including labelling the new Conservative Member of Parliament for Southport as the “tory from Preston”.

It has now been leaked by disgruntled Lib Dem activists that officials have drawn up a shortlist of candidates, where two-thirds are not from Southport, but are from Preston and further afield.

Commenting on the potentially damaging leak from the Southport Liberal Democrats, a Conservative spokesperson for Southport Association said:

“This latest information will come as no surprise to Southport residents who are, by all accounts, disgusted at the sheer hypocrisy of the ineffectual Liberal Democrats in recent years; they [local Liberal Democrats] have always imposed a hostile and aggressive campaign intended to bully and intimidate opposition candidates.”

“During the 2015 and 2017 General Elections, the Lib Dems here in Southport ran what was one of the most disgusting and negative campaigns in modern times and it spectacularly backfired. Not only did they attack the now Conservative MP for Southport, Damien Moore in a personal capacity, but they routinely referred to him as an outsider, despite only living 20 minutes away.”

“It is nothing short of hypocrisy for the Lib Dems to now select from a pool of candidates, with one coming from the neighbouring town they suggested was too distant. They should be ashamed of their actions and tactics in recent general elections and should bury their head in Southport’s sand.”

One of the activists seeking the nomination to be parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats is Preston City Councillor and twice-failed parliamentary candidate, John Potter, who continues to sit on the same Preston City Council as Southport’s new MP prior to his resignation.

In a bizarre letter to local party members, Cllr Potter also conceded that the Liberal Democrats would not be in a position to contest the parliamentary constituency of Southport for the next nine years, much to the disappointment of local members.
—
For more information, please contact ukoffice@southportconservatives.org.uk