The Liberal Democrats have fired the starting gun on their General Election campaign in the Lichfield constituency.
Paul Ray will represent the party on 4th July – the fourth time he has stood to become the area’s MP.
He has previously finished third behind Labour and Conservatives in the last three outings, having been fourth behind UKIP in his first General Election in 2015.
The member of Lichfield District Council and Lichfield City Council said the Lib Dems could offer “a positive future” for people.
“Across the country and here in Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages, we are desperate for a change of direction away from this awful Conservative government which has trashed the economy and run our public services into the ground.
“And the Liberal Democrats have the policies to give our country a positive future.
“I am looking forward to setting these out for the voters in our area.”
Paul Ray
The Lib Dem manifesto puts forward plans for improved access to GPs, improving the UK’s relationship with Europe and tackling the problems of sewage being discharged into waterways.
Their local candidate said affordable homes would also be a key area of focus for the party.
“Our housing market is fundamentally unfair and broken. We know this only too well in our area.
“We would build 150,000 social homes each year and protect renters by banning no-fault evictions – and we would fund this by a fair taxation system so that the tax burden does not fall disproportionately on lower earners.”
Paul Ray
Candidates confirmed so far for the Lichfield constituency are:
- Sir Michael Fabricant – Conservatives
- Richard Howard – Reform UK
- Heather Mcneillis – Green Party
- Paul Ray – Liberal Democrats
- Dave Robertson – Labour
Dear Lichfield Liberal Democrats: Your man can’t win. Current polls show Tory and Labour neck-and-neck. FPTP is not a good system but it’s what we’ve got and even Ed Davey says tactical voting is needed by Labour voters in seats where the Lib Dems are in 2nd place. You really must vote tactically if you want change.
Total wasted vote if you want Fabricant out. Ray may well finish 4th behind Reform this time if enough disgruntled Conservatives vote for Reform.
And why have we got “first past the post”? Because the two largest parties have been blocking any attempts at reform since the 1950s (2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum – Wikipedia). A vote for Labour (or the Tories) in those circumstances is a vote for maintaining the duopoly. Unless Labour are willing to offer something in return (e.g. genuine electoral reform), I see no reason why a LibDem or Green supporter should give them their vote. Maybe you could persuade Kier to make an offer – I’m sure they’d bite his hand off if he did.