Two bits of good news for anyone who wants to see Julian Huppert re-elected as MP for Cambridge.
Firstly, he had to quickly increase his fundraising target after a steady flow of donations took him within easy grasp of his original aim very quickly after his Back Julian site was launched. He now hopes to raise £15,000 and is well on target to meet that. The positive video, showing a busy team waving placards with all the reasons to vote for Julian, from civil liberties, to equalities, to science, drug policy reform. Every one of us actually has an interest in him being there because of his massive contribution on the national stage. In fact, the plea on his site is almost under-stated.
As one of only two MPs in Westminster with a science PhD, he has championed evidence led decision making. He’s been a strong voice for the environment, and led the way in pushing for same sex marriage. He’s been a strong advocate for cycling, co-chairing the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, and leading the Get Britain Cycling report. Julian has also worked tirelessly to protect our civil liberties, playing a crucial role in killing off the so-called Snooper’s Charter. He also understands technology, winning the Internet Service Provider’s Association ‘Internet Hero of the Year’.
Now Julian faces a tough fight in Cambridge against a well funded opposition.
Labour are funded by unions; Tories are funded by big business. Julian’s campaign is reliant on donations from individual supporters.
We need money from donors like you, and we need it before the final month of the campaign (which starts on 7 April) in order to be able to use it in time for the election. If you want to keep Julian in Westminster standing up for Cambridge and the values we share, please support the campaign by making a donation.
Students emphatically back Julian
The second bit of good news is that Julian emerged the very clear winner from a hustings held at Cambridge University last week, as Varsity reports:
Huppert was the only candidate to mention mental health; the part of healthcare policy that he stated was “always neglected, always forgotten”. He said he was keen to change this.
At the close of the debate, the results of hustings were as follows: undecided: 9 per cent, Liberal Democrats: 39.5 per cent, Labour: 22.8 per cent, Conservatives: 12.6 per cent, Greens: 9 per cent, UKIP: 7.2 per cent. This was in contrast to the results of the entry poll. This put undecided voters as 26.1 per cent, Labour at 24.2 per cent, the Conservatives at 17.7 per cent, Liberal Democrats at 17 per cent, the Greens at 9.8 per cent, and UKIP at 5.2 per cent.
Reece Edmunds, of the Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats, said of the final hustings vote: “I’m really glad Cambridge students seem keen on re-electing such a hard-working MP.”
Julian can win in May – and the more you can help him, the better. I’ve made a small donation because even though I live 300 miles from Cambridge, having Julian in the Commons with his understanding of equality, civil liberties and science benefits me, too.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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12 Comments
Julian is one of only 3 Lib Dem MPs who voted for same sex marriage, and against secret courts and tuition fees. We really need to make sure he is re-elected.
I think my face is just visible at the back of the crowd in that video! Julian is an amazing candidate for whom I’m extremely proud to be campaigning, and I’m really hoping that with some hard work we can pull off a win in May.
William – who wee the others?
I believe Greg Mulholland and Mike Crockart are the other two. Apologies for any I have done an injustice to – this was from a quick peruse of the following:
https://www.libdemvoice.org/lib-dems-secret-courts-33539.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11964669
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/05/same-sex-marriage-bill-how-mps-voted/
“one of only two MPs in Westminster with a science PhD” another indictment of our Parliament and Parliamentary Party. Julian is an excellent MP and deserves to be re-elected.
7.2% of Cambridge students planning to vote for UKIP? They must have been having a laugh.
And voted against the Health and Social care act. Might send him a couple of quid.
I echo what Caracatus says. Julian is an excellent MP and deserves to be re-elected.
@Sesenko: I was at the hustings, and the UKIP candidate was doing himself no favours at all with the student audience – indeed, he explicitly said we weren’t his target voters as we “didn’t understand” his policies or concerns. It’s amazing he saw any kind of swing toward him. The UKIP vote was most likely a few anti-EU students plus some local party types in attendance.
Labour “funded by the unions”.
Oh my.
This is the progressive Lib Dem, is it?
I mean that is pitiful. Trade unionists aren’t individuals?
Chris:
In my opinion there is nothing wrong with Labour being funded by many, not all, trade unions, but Liberal Democrats can make two legitimate points about this: (1), Unions are quite centralised bodies whose political priorities are not always those of their rank and file, and however laudable unions are, any party which mainly depends on their support may be over-dependent on the union leaders; and (2), if you like the Liberal Democrats, remember they don’t have the sort of funding sources Labour can rely on, still less those the Tories have.