The General Election campaign in Wimbledon (the closest LD/Con seat in the country) got off to a cracking start at the weekend.

On Friday we heard that one of our longest running campaigns – for step free access at Raynes Park station (used by 4.3 million people a year) has succeeded in getting funding from the ‘Access for All’ fund for feasibility works on making it step-free. Key to this was our Raynes Park Councillors meeting with the rail companies and co-ordinating letters of support from the public.

We knew that it would help to have an initial engineering study carried out by Merton Council – but Labour Councillors voted to block this. Local Liberal Democrats have already succeeded in a campaign for step free access at Motspur Park station and will continue to campaign for step free access at Haydons Road and Wimbledon Chase stations.

On Saturday we had our big start to the campaign – around seventy people out canvassing and delivering with a hugely enthusiastic team meeting to kick off the campaign. As it happens the Prime Minster was also in Wimbledon on Saturday morning – pictures on Twitter show him with a fairly sorry looking group of just twenty people.

The campaign in Wimbledon is going to be a tough one. Notwithstanding their low turnout for the PM they Tories are never to be underestimated and we have a Labour Party determined to keep Wimbledon blue if it keeps us out. They managed this successfully in 2019 and have even less love for us now, after we reduced them to two councillors in Wimbledon, including defeating the then Labour Leader of Merton Council.

We have plenty to do – canvassing, delivering and clerical work and if anyone can spare us any time they will be most welcome.

* Simon McGrath is a Councillor in Wimbledon and is a member of the Federal Policy Committee and Federal Council.