By the end of this weekend, the Liberal Democrats will have knocked on one million doors this year. That’s pretty incredible. Paddy Ashdown has been in Bath today to campaign for Steve Bradley and mark that important milestone.

Liberal Youth members have been out in force too. Bristol students called our election chief a “charm machine” which is a whole load more respectful than he got in Scotland last weekend when Willie Rennie dubbed him Father Jack after his sweary outbursts in press briefings.

Campaigning in Bath with @paddyashdown he’s a charm machine! @bradley_steve@TheDon_Foster@LiberalYouth@LibDemspic.twitter.com/69dVVqr1Nm

— Bristol LD Students (@LDSocBristol) March 28, 2015

Paddy has written to all Liberal Democrat candidates as the short campaign kicks off. This is the Scottish version of his letter:

Today we begin the great campaign for which we have all been preparing for the last 5 years, in Government and out.

We have, as you all know a tough fight on our hands – perhaps the toughest we have ever fought.

But our plans are well laid; we have a clear message – A strong economy, a fairer society, opportunity for everyone – the right strategy and a united team (the best I have ever worked with) which is up for the fight ahead.

Tonight I met with our campaigns team in HQ, who informed me we have now knocked on just under 960,000 doors since January 1st. That’s incredible. Let’s mark this opening weekend by passing 1 million.

1 million doors knocked on by Liberal Democrats this year.

It would be a superb start to our campaign. I’ll be in Bath with Liberal Youth tomorrow doing my bit to help us towards that number.   I was in Fife with Tim, Aberdeenshire with Sir Robert and Christine, and Edinburgh with Mike last week.

On Election Day, the voters have a simple, clear choice.

Do you want more power in Scotland transferred from Westminster? Do you want the NHS funded properly? Do you want to balance the books to secure the recovery? Or do you want to do all three?

Only the Liberal Democrats will deliver more powers for Scotland AND fund the Scottish NHS with £800 million extra AND balance the budget by 2018, keeping the economy on track .

The SNP want independence for Scotland but have taken their eye off the ball locally and let funding to the NHS slide, causing care standards to fall.

Only the Liberal Democrats can beat the SNP, deliver more powers for Scotland, ensure the NHS has the funding it needs and secure the recovery.

Britain needs Scottish Liberal Democrats around the cabinet table in Westminster, and together we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that happens.

Good luck – and good campaigning.

Paddy

We wouldn’t want all these teams who are out there knocking on doors to run out of stuff to deliver, would we? The party has another of these match funding things on. In January, this was very successful with £50,000 being raised in one day after Nick Clegg’s Last Leg appearance. The target for March is £300,000 which will then be matched by major donors. That’s over a half million pound boost to our campaign. The party is well on the way to achieving that. Every penny donated will be spent on the campaign to return as many Liberal Democrat MPs to Westminster as possible. We need to see people like Steve and Layla Moran and Christine Jardine and Dorothy Thornhill in the House of Commons in the middle of May. If you share that wish, please donate here.

* Newshound in training. I'm sweet and full of mischief, just like my stories.