John Brigden is Dover and Deal Liberal Democrats' prospective parliamentary candidate. Party members meeting at Whitfield village hall on Friday, 18 December unanimously voted Brigden as candidate. "I'm looking forward to getting to grips with the campaign," said Brigden earlier in the week. "Everything is wide open - there is massive disillusionment with politics and people are looking for a fresh lead with fresh ideas. I look forward to putting across our case with vigour."
"A vote for Labour is a wasted vote. A vote for the Tories is a vote for privilege and PR style over substance. A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for substantive change. My predecessors increased the vote share here at the last two elections and I intend to continue and improve on this record," said Brigden. John Brigden has the full support for the previous Liberal Democrat candidate Antony Hook who is now Chair of the local party.
Hook said: "Councillor John Brigden is a first rate candidate and will be a great MP for our area. He has valuable experience and skills to get the best for local people. Liberal Democrats offer a fresh start for Britain. I was greatly honoured to represent the Liberal Democrats in the last two elections. I voted for John in the selection for a new candidate and as chair of the local party, I will be doing all I can to help him win. I'm sure that once people hear from him and meet him they will find him to be someone they will want to support," Hook said.
Brigden said: "The issue facing the electorate at the next election is simple - the economy. The only party that has any credibility is the Liberal Democrats and Vince Cable. The choice is simple, if you want more of the same, bumping from one financial disaster to the next, vote Labour or Tory, but if you want a party that understands the situation and will get you out of it, then vote Liberal Democrat," he said.
About John Brigden
John Brigden runs Bluesky PR, a public relations company based at Sevenoaks, where he has been a town and district councillor for more than 10 years. His family has strong connections with Deal where his grandmother lived for many years.
John Brigden: Acceptance speech for the candidacy
Whitfield: 19 December 2009
Thank you Mr Chairman,
I would firstly like to express my thanks at being adopted as the standard bearer for the Liberal Democrats in Dover & Deal. I understand the importance of this position and the responsibility that comes with it. I have been a life-long Liberal Democrat and find it humbling to carry the hopes of the party members and local people who are looking for Real Change in politics.
In return for your vote of confidence I promise to push the case for Dover & Deal at the National level and ensure that the needs of my constituents have a local voice.
You probably have two questions - Why Stand Now? .... And Why Dover & Deal?
Of all the times to seek out election to Parliament now would seem to be the least popular - bearing in mind the expenses scandal that has swept through politics over the last year. But, for me, this was the spur; to help make a better Britain and find a sensible way out of the mire the Tories and Labour have led us into.
Despite all the rhetoric the seeds of the current situation date back from the days of Margaret Thatcher with successive incompetent Chancellors and an un-regulated freeing up of the markets that has led to greed and self-serving in our Banking sector. The Labour party compounded the problem by slavishly following Tory policies.
For the next election the issue nationally is simple - The Economy. And the only party that has any credibility is the Liberal Democrats and Vince Cable. The choice is simple, if you want more of the same bumping from one financial disaster to the next, vote Labour or Tory, but if you want a party that understands the situation and will get you out of it, then vote Liberal Democrat.
A better and a more representative parliament can only be good for the UK.
Why Dover & Deal? And Why me here... Simple...Family Connections. I have not had to buy a second house to prove I have a connection with the area. Indeed, I can't afford a second home .to buy my way into a Parliamentary seat. The truth is that my grandmother lived in Deal in Peter Street for many years, seeing out her last few years here very happily. In fact so good was the air and the life that she died at the ripe old age of 92! I visited often, and as my parents also lived in Sandwich and Woodnesborough, I have strong connections to this part of Kent. Not only that, as a Town and District Councillor for 10 years and having run for County twice, I have an understanding of the way the County works.
I feel that to run for Parliament is a natural progression in my political life; it will give me a better chance to make a real and positive contribution to all our lives.
What also drives me? As a long standing resident of Kent, is the fact that the County has yet to elect a Liberal Democrat to parliament. We MUST strive to change this and I see no reason why Dover & Deal cannot lead the way. Kent SHOULD be a liberal heartland, but the first step is always the greatest challenge. I want Dover & Deal to be that first step - we have the team, we have the people and we have the drive.
Europe is coming out of the recession while we still languish in economic backwaters, which means we must make the case for closer integration all the more - not shy away from it. We are the closest constituency to Europe - without the EU, the citizens of Dover would be much the poorer. The success of the way we work with our friends across the channel must surely show the way forward.
The Labour party which has left this country morally and economically bankrupt is now proposing to sell off the Port of Dover! An idea proposed by the Tories not so long ago. We, on the other hand will do no such thing. It works well as it, reinvesting its profits into the port and therefore local area. Any sell off will see the profits go to shareholders who don't and won't care about the local people.
Now - more than ever - a vote for the Labour Party is a wasted vote. They are out of money, out of ideas and out of authority. They have turned their back on their supporters and the electorate and we are now the natural party for the vast majority of the British public who want real politics and real policies.
As a Liberal, I want to see the British people freed to help themselves but taxed to help others. Society must look after those who can't look after themselves but benefits must not be a way of life. They must be a way to a better life.
We all know that in reality a vote for the Conservative party is a vote for the wealthy and privileged. Don't believe their talk of being the party of the poor! Remember his cast iron guarantee to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty! . Does every Tory pledge carry the weight of that cast-iron guarantee? And what about their Local Tory council's plan to build 10,000 houses on Greenfield sites in Whitfield and Sholden? Even their own candidate claims not to agree with that policy! But that is what we come to expect from the Tories. At the national level, they say one thing and at the local level, they do exactly the opposite. And both parties, combined in some giant pincer movement of national and local efficiency, have created a terrible shortage of sheltered accommodation as can be seen from the closures at College Road Deal and at Ash Village. Our retired people deserve better than being turfed out of homes. It would be far better for the Tories to at least offer the buildings to a local housing association first, that way, the residents could have stayed.
What makes people all the more dispirited about politics is this lack of difference between the Labour Party and the Conservatives. They have completely different core votes but rely so much on a small minority of the public to elect them to office. Hence the similarity of a lot of what they say.
Yes, the Labour party took us into this particular credit crisis but there was certainly no opposition to Labour's economic policy from the main opposition party. If anything the Tories wanted LESS regulation and goodness knows where that would have led us. Just to pay the interest on debt built up by Labour we will have to pay more than the combined defence and education budgets. IN INTEREST - EVERY YEAR. We, the people get nothing in return; except reduced services and a lower standard of living. Do we really want more of this? **Just today, Govt borrowing hits £20billion in Nov alone - total debt is now 60% of GDP!
It makes me angry to think of the way the country has been brought to its knees by the e failure of the Conservative/Labour Axis of Incompetence. While the government and opposition have floundered over the economy, we, led by Vince Cable, have consistently called the credit slump right and produced the best policies for dealing with this crisis. Only Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats have put forwards plans to constructively get Britain out of this mess.
Cancelling the £50bn Trident project and ID cards. Saving money where it needn't be spent in the first place. Not continually throwing money at the ever-deepening black hole. This crisis was created because government and the banks took the easy option every time. They fudged inflation, unemployment debt, credit, and the rest of the financial indicators to make the situation appear better than it was. And this HASN'T changed - all we have done is throw money at the problem and not changed the very system that created this collapse.
And now we hear that the board of RBS will resign unless the government release their control bonuses. Am I alone in thinking, "Let them go?" No. Both Nick Clegg and Vince Cable believe that we must not be held to ransom by these people. There will be more than enough competent people to replace this board in any case.
We have been vindicated on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only the Liberal Democrats stood firm against the need for the Invasion of Iraq while the Conservative Party fell for Blair's presentation over truth. Which sums up the modern Tory leader. Style over very little substance. He cycles to work with his change of clothes in the car behind. Here we are back to spin without substance. Their own deputy chairman lives most of the year in Belize and won't reveal where he pays his taxes!
Our policy on Europe has been the only consistent one of the main parties and it has been consistent since our inception. Our green policies seek to preserve the environment not just for ourselves but future generations - too often, the Labour party's laws seek to rein in freedoms and raise cash in the guise of environmentalism.
The Liberal Democrats are the only party of truly bringing a new approach to government. We will strengthen local democracy and empower local education and health authorities. Students and patients will come first; not some centrally set target. University education should be free. We are the only party that stands for this.
We are the only party committed to constitutional reform. Part of the reason for the expenses scandal and the economic problems of this country is that - alone in the Western world - we do not have an elected second chamber to hold the Commons to account. Any government that gets around 40% of the vote can ram its policies through without scrutiny and, in direct opposition to what the majority of the country wants.
We will abolish ID cards- a needless and hopeless expense to concentrate on real policing. Just by not implementing the ID card scheme, we can afford an extra 10000 police on the beat nationwide. We will also reverse the Labour government's desire to criminalise us all in the name of safety.
12 years ago Labour pledged education education education and yet just this week we have seen youth unemployment reach record highs. We are the only party who have successfully led the Commons to defeat the government on its policy on the Ghurkhas - a shameful episode of modern politics that exposes the government approach to our armed services. It is the only time that Gordon Brown has been defeated on the Houses of Commons.
For 70 years this country has been governed by the two big parties and Britain has suffered 70 years of managed decline. They have failed the people of Britain and we must convince the electorate both here and across the nation of their failure and our desire to reverse this decline.
A vote for Labour is a wasted vote. A vote for the Tories is a vote for privilege and PR style over substance. While a vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for substantive change. My predecessors increased the vote share here at the last two elections and I intend to continue and improve on this record.
For this I will need your support. And I thank you for this. Thank you in advance for your help - I know campaigning can seem like a thankless task and an awful lot of hard work but I know the results are worth the effort. Should I win in the election this result will be more down to you than to me. I realise this and am thankful of it.
As I finish up here so begins a new chapter for Dover and Deal and I hope one of success based on our values of decency and radicalism.