Eileen English R.I.P.

Eileen was born in London (to the sound of Bow Bells!) and brought up in Tottenham. She read History at Exeter University with a strong element of Archaeology: she was already a practising archaeologist with a lot of excavation experience notably at Verulamium and Wroxeter. She met Geoff at Exeter through a common interest in both archaeology and walking, and they married shortly after leaving university, in 1981. Eileen stopped excavating shortly after starting a family (there was one barrow excavation at Challock with a baby beside the trench!), but she continued teaching the subject for many years. 

Eileen's political interest started in the 1980s and like Geoff she was a founder member of the SDP. In 1983, she stood for Ashford Borough Council in Pluckley ward, narrowly losing to the incumbent Conservative, but joined Pluckley parish council the same year. In 1987 she was duly elected to the borough council for the SDP, which changed to Liberal Democrat a few months later. She then served until her retirement in 2003. That included 4 years as a senior member of the LibDem administration as the environment spokesperson, holding the 3 chairmanships which influenced the council's environment policies: Environmental Health, Local Agenda 21, and Hothfield Common (the latter dealing with all nature reserves on borough council land,not just Hothfield). She always strove to push the Borough in a greener direction, and always remained positive, ambitious and community minded. 

 She also had a big, and transformative, role within the church, taking a strong interest in children and families particularly. 

 She leaves Geoff, her younger son Stephen, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Her elder son John died in March this year. 

The funeral is arranged for Nov 21 at Pluckley Church at 11.30 am

I joined the party in 2021, wanting to make a difference locally and disillusioned with the handling of the pandemic. Having supported local candidates in County elections I turned my attention to campaigning to make a difference in my own District Ward and became Chair of Folkestone and Hythe Liberal Democrats. I stood as a candidate in the 2023 local elections and this will be my first time as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC). I have recently completed a MSc. in Global Public Policy and am about to start my PhD in Diplomacy and International Governance. Currently working as a university lecturer in London, passionate about education and employability. 

Lib Dems select experienced campaigner for Weald of Kent seat

Cllr John Howson will fight Weald of Kent for Liberal Democrats

Cllr Howson said, ‘It is an honour to be asked to fight this new seat for the Lib Dems. With the experiences from four previous general elections under my belt, and a new seat with no sitting MP in place to fight, I look forward to the Lib Dems doing everything to add Weald of Kent to other seats in the South of England where we are looking to win in 2024’.

‘The Tory Party is on the ropes, and the Lib Dems have shown tory voters from Chesham and Amersham to North Shropshire and the West Country that Lib Dem MPs provide a better alternative for tory voters than a disunited Labour Party.’

‘Tory voters in The Weald of Kent are as disillusioned as those elsewhere over Richi Sunak’s government’s handling of the cost-of-living crisis; the NHS, and lack of funding for roads, schools and other public services’, added Cllr Howson.

‘Lib Dems support funding for the NHS; we need to cut waiting times, train more dentists and GPs, and ensure we can recruit enough nurses. The scandal of water companies pumping raw sewage into our rivers may well be adding to the NHS workload, as well as harming our pets’

‘Farming is an important activity locally, and the Lib Dems have promised to fight for more cash for the farming community’.

Cllr Howson is an experienced Lib Dem campaigner, and currently cabinet member for Children, Education and Families on Oxfordshire County Council, where he has been a councillor since 2013.

‘The country has lost confidence in the Tories, and I offer voters a real, credible and experienced alternative,’ said Cllr Howson

His contact details are Howson4WealdofKent@mail.com

Nicholas Chan has a passion for making true to the promise that “No one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity”. He co-founded the Liberal Democrats Friends of Hong Kong. It’s a LibDems-affiliated organisation driving policies to build resilient networks in both private & public sectors to defend the Rules Based International Order. A psychologist, and now in criminal law, he’s focused against modern slavery. Standing up for fair international values transcends to everyday life opportunities just as campaigning for safer roads. We can form stronger industrial strategies for local communities, and the fairer chance for all human rights campaigners by standing firm on inalienable rights.

He campaigns with Medway LibDems, and has recently been looking at the local plan of that part of Kent.

Sir Vince Cable: ‘be proud of our achievements in office’

At a dinner in Maidstone on 29 October 2023, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Vince Cable, defended the reputation of the coalition government in which he served from 2010 to 2015.

Liberal Democrats, he said, should be proud of their record in government. It was, he emphasised, a remarkably stable time in politics when compared to subsequent administrations. He, for example, held the post of Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills for five years, whereas one current minister has held five different ministerial posts in the last year!

Sir Vince highlighted three achievements in particular of which he felt Liberal Democrats should be proud: while in coalition, we

1. 1. prevented David Cameron holding a referendum on the EU
   2. were instrumental in introducing Universal Credit
   3. raised the tax threshold to take lower-paid workers out of the tax system

Sir Vince spoke in a relaxed and engaging manner and afterwards provided comprehensive answers to questions ranging from his record in office to his views on rejoining Europe.

The dinner was organised by Maidstone’s Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, David Naghi, and was attended by representatives of Ashford, Medway and East Sussex Liberal Democrats as well as members of his own constituency party.

Jacquie Stamp

31 October 2023

Adrian Gee-Turner, prospective parliamentary candidate for Ashford, took a turn at the mid-Beds Byelection campaign. Charlie said he completed a "difficult" round of delivering the campaign newspaper. It was pouring here in Ashford. Wonder if they were sloshing around in mid-Beds !

 Mid Bedfordshire has traditionally been a Conservative Stronghold ever since the last Liberal MP lost his seat in 1929, but its most recent MP (the infamous Nadine Dorries) has completely neglected it, with individual and community issues left completely unresolved. This has given us a very rare window of opportunity to overcome such a large majority by getting out to places that haven’t seen serious political campaigning for decades and talking to lifelong Conservative voters who are totally repelled by Suella’s rhetoric and are looking for a serious alternative. All of us here are working hard to make sure to reach as many voters as possible, as a five to ten minute conversation works wonders on the doorstep and it feels like we are cutting through and persuading the many undecided voters that the Lib Dems are the party that will reverse Nadine’s neglect.

Three volunteers from Ashford are driving to mid-Beds on Oct 17 to join Charlie in this By-election campaign. There's room for one more in the car ! To volunteer, contact info@ashfordlibdems.org.uk