DR PHILLIP LEE is to carry on his connections to Wokingham after being appointed by the local Liberal Democrats to be its parliamentary spokesperson for the year ahead.
The former MP came second to Sir John Redwood in December’s general election, seeing the party’s share of the vote soar.
He told Wokingham.today: “I was very proud to be asked to become the Wokingham LibDems parliamentary spokesman for the coming year and was delighted to accept.
* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist. He is one of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
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24 Comments
Really? [eyes roll back into another dimension]
This is ridiculous, here’s a novel idea, how about we give the electorate a genuinely liberal candidate to vote for in an election? Is that really too much to ask?
It’s good when people who have defected show a commitment to party and area. This is even more the case for those (unlike Lee) who have previously been part of Change UK instead of coming straight across. The future to me is to build up a strong voice in a local areas and be committed to that area whether or not the parliamentary seat is held.
Richard, what you describe is exactly what Daisy Cooper did in St Albans over a number of years. It worked out well for her in the end.
A former MP who obtained public office by misrepresentation having stood for election on a manifesto commitment to leave EU. Predicatably, they were all thrown out. Unfit for public office at any level.
When I first joined the party 47 years ago it was pretty common for candidates to nurse seats for years. Doesn’t seem to happen quite so much now.
Cal Roscow and Liberal97
Wokingham local party is very active and had, over a number of years, and does have a good number of excellent councillors.
Phillip Lee has just fought a very energetic campaign against John Redwood, in which he and the local party greatly increased our vote share.
Wokingham party have now democratically re-adopted Phillip Lee as their Parliamentary Spokesperson.
Have you met and worked with Dr Lee? Well, the members of Wokingham constituency Lib Dem party have, and they have made their decision. That surely should count for something. I also think that defecting from one party to another is a huge decision with, not least, vast personal ramifications. I think we should give Phillip Lee a break. His positions have been well explained and accepted by many Lib Dems.
Jeff
A principled person who, acting on the presentation of facts as they emerged, put principle and the good of the country before personal career.
Having been an active Liberal/Alliance Party of NI/Lib Dem member for 60 years I am as keen a supporter of the cause as anyone but I do have concern about some of the purism I see on LDV and elsewhere in the Party. We simply cannot have any meaningful influence on events if we do not continue to embrace people who have made something of a “journey” to get to us.
Despite a cool reception from many LibDems, Phillip Lee has at least shown his commitment to the party, and to continuing to represent it in the seat fought in the GE. I haven’t seen similar responses from the other defectors, who may now be seeking careers outside politics, or even slinking back to their old parties. though I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
Yes. These are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others …
A principled person would not have stood on a manifesto they disagreed with. A principled person would have caused a by-election after crossing the house. These are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others …
It would be interesting to know if other previous Tory and Labour defectors intend to continue their Lib dem party activity.
Phillip Lee increased the Lib Dem vote share by 22%. Where I live in west of England we lost all our parliamentary spokespersons in 2015 when they lost their seats. Ex-MPs like Steve Webb and David Heath were often on local TV. Once they lost their seats they disappeared forever never to be replaced! Having a spokesperson is better than not having.
Jeff,
Why so angry you won. O of cause with winning comes responsiblity and being held to account. Here was me thinking you where just an angry old man how stupid tis the fear of responsiblity that makes you lash out. Well fear not we won’t hold you solely responsible, but with so much responsiblity you’ll still get your belly full and a very sour meal it will be.
Well said Paul. As a former Berkshire County Councillor I have every faith in Wokingham Liberal Democrats to make the right decision. As for Jeff and his ilk, the same comment could be made about any MP who did not follow his/her manifesto to the letter.
It is time to stop looking backwards, this country is in a mess and we need every hard working liberal to help get us out of this. Look forward not back
David,
The ilk want us all to agree with them so when things go wrong no one can point fingers at those guilty of causing the mess because ” We all agreed”. Sadly for them that isn’t working and they are getting O so angry that we are not getting behind them. For the sake of Jeff and Co’s blood pressure and to ease the NHS crises, I would advise them to embrace the way of brave Sir Peter of Sunderland, acceptting bad things are and will happen but it is nothing to with Brexit/Lexit ( delete as approriate). Embrace further delusion my your blood pressure will thank you.
Philip Lee put forward an amendment which many experts in HIV and LGBT+ issues, and LibDem MP’s at the time denounced as homophobic. Philip Lee has never accepted that these concerns were legitimate or addressed them.
Until he accepts that others views of this particular action are valid he doesn’t qualify as a liberal in my book. It’s not the amendment that’s my issue- it’s his inability to countenance that he may have been wrong in the face of many experts telling him he is. Or to apologise at all for any offence his actions have caused, even if unintended.
I should point out the previous comment was half edited when my phone choose to post it. I fear my phone has gone down with the Brexi Lexi infection, it is doing strange things, inserting and deleting random words and seems very confused, I fear it will soon be on the recycling scrap heap and I will have forked out on a new phone. Alas poor frankie more expense.
I attended the meeting in Wokingham where Phillip Lee was announced as the new candidate. There were a number of robust questions, but not many particularly helpful answers. I recall a question about Dr. Lee’s previous opposition to changing the electoral system. His reply was to quote Maynard Keynes’ famous aphorism “when the facts change, I change my mind”. But of course the facts of the case for replacing FPTP have *not* changed one iota. All that has changed is Dr. Lee’s party affiliation.
Given some of the comments about Dr Lee I wonder why he is bothering. We hear much about spiteful Tories and brutal Labour. It would seem as if some of the Lib Dems are not far behind!
@ John Marriott “It would seem as if some of the Lib Dems are not far behind!”.
I would refer my honourable friend to the Leadership election in 2015.
What exactly is a parliamentary spokesperson?
Does the party have one of these in every constituency where it does not have an MP?
Peter, it is the person who speaks locally for the party on parliamentary matters – whether it be with the media or via visits, door-knocking etc.
There is a procedure so that every constituency can have a parliamentary spokesperson but it often depends on the timing in the electoral cycle.
@Paul Walter
Cheers. (Not sure of netiquette of replying like this in a thread but it seemed rude not to!)