Ed Davey will today launch the Lib Dem campaign for this year’s local elections, which take place on 4th May.
And he’s already getting some good coverage. The theme for today is health, as that is what people are raising most with us on the doorstep. We are calling for an extra 8000 GPs to fill the massive gaps in coverage and service.
Here’s Ed talking to BBC Breakfast this morning:
The Liberal Democrats have called for 8,000 GPs to be recruited to save "on-the-brink" local health services.
Leader Sir Ed Davey spoke to #BBCBreakfast as the party launched its local elections campaign.https://t.co/HxSGKnsuGT pic.twitter.com/e4D8RvlHIQ
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) March 29, 2023
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey called on the government to create a legal right for patients to see a GP within seven days.
May’s council elections are the “final chance” to send a message to the government before a general election, Mr Davey will add.
On 4 May, 230 councils across England will hold an election.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Mr Davey said: “People are having to wait hours for an ambulance, weeks for a GP appointment or months for urgent cancer treatment as the NHS crisis spirals out of control.
“The local elections in May will be the final chance before the next general election to send a message that enough is enough.
“People are turning to the Liberal Democrats because they know we work hard for our communities, we hear your concerns, and we never take you for granted.”
Ed will be in Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire and we’ll bring you photos of the launch later.
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4 Comments
This could be a difficult election for the party, having to defend the heavy gains of 2019 and faced with improving Conservative support.
Sad that local election campaigns are now fought on national issues rather than local issues. And we are just as guilty of this.
Mel Borthwaite – I agree. Doubly so because ‘local’ is where LibDems are strongest. How to create a credible national party has remained an unsolved mystery to generations of LibDem leadership.
“Ed Davey called on the government to create a legal right for patients to see a GP within seven days”
Huh? And if there aren’t enough GPs to hit that target does the GP get arrested? Or the Minister? Or what? Targets are a Thatcherite invention that just don’t work as advertised.
Come on, guys, it’s really simple: a national launch and the national local election campaign will focus on national issues with local impacts.
In each locality, the campaign will largely focus on particular local issues.
How could it be any other way?
How could Ed go into hundreds of different local issues in a national launch? “I am now going to talk in the state of potholes in Missenden-on-Trent. Next up is the budget deficit in Willing-on-Thames town council.”