Paul Ray
Paul Ray
Paul Ray

New Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Ray says his by-election victory shows that his party are still alive and kicking.

Cllr Ray held on to both the Lichfield City Council and Lichfield District Council seats in the Chadsmead ward following the resignation of the party’s previous councillor Marion Bland.

The local and general elections in May had seen the Lib Dems suffer considerable losses.

But Cllr Ray believes the by-election result highlights the fact the party can still get its message across.

“This does show that the Liberal Democrats are by no means at all a dead party,” he added. “We now need to use this as a platform.

“We have plans to move this forward and get more councillors in future on Lichfield District Council and Lichfield City Council and push our message out further.

“Our party believes in community. Helping people in Chadsmead with the day to day issues in their lives is key – I as a Liberal Democrat councillor will be committed to that.”

Marion Bland
Marion Bland

Cllr Ray also paid tribute to his predecessor who was forced to resign due to ill health.

“We fought a well organised campaign with a real strong team spirit,” he said. “But Marion Bland, who sadly had to step down, was an exceptional councillor.

“But because of her hard work, we knew we had that platform on which we could build.

“Through my skills and the skills of our team and the good message we’ve had, we were able to pull through with an impressive result.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.