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Today is Polling Day in the European Referendum.
On Thursday 5th May, you will be able to vote for a new Police and Crime Commissioner in Derbyshire. I'm standing as our Lib Dem candidate in Derbyshire.
Many members, both old and new, turned out to close what has been a traumatic year for the Liberal Democrats on a more positive note at the AGM of the High Peak Lib Democrats.
I was 14 in 1966, living in New Mills. For those who don't know it, it is at the top left corner of High Peak. Quite a bright spark for a girl from such a working-class family, daughter of a builder's labourer and part-time factory worker, who always voted Labour. I'd got a scholarship to a "posh" girls' school, but never quite learned how to be "posh". I went to the local Youth Club, that so-called "den of iniquity" that reputedly attracted yobbos and louts (mostly male, by definition). I never believed those labels. I never met any yobbos or louts there, just ordinary teenagers. Yeah, lots from the council estate. So what? I'd spent 10 years with mates from the council estate. Most of my relatives lived on council estates. Great places to be back then.
Dennis Wrigley, who died last week, was an inspirational pioneer in the rejuvenation of the Young Liberals and the Liberal Party in the Manchester region and the North West during the 1950s and 1960s. Dennis came to national prominence in the High Peak by-election in 1961, in the year before Orpington. A combination of the rising national Liberal vote, a lot of outside help including Manchester students and YLs, and Dennis's personal charisma and campaigning energy produced a Liberal vote of 30.5%, narrowly third but up by more than 10% from the General election in 1959. He contested the seat at the following three General Elections, polling well but never as well as at the by-election.
The Liberal Democrats are committed to rebuilding the trust and compassion that the UK was once known for. We believe that our country has a responsibility to support those in need, no matter where they are in the world.
For too long, years of neglect and mismanagement by the previous Conservative Government have pushed our prison system into a deep crisis.
The Liberal Democrats have long championed proportional representation, advocating for a voting system where every vote truly counts. We believe that reforming our electoral system is crucial for a fairer democracy and better governance.
