Amongst our many gains in Richmond in the early hours of Friday morning was a very familiar face, pointed out by Michael Mullaney on Twitter:
Congratulations to former East Midlands Lib Dem MEP Bill Newton Dunn on gaining a safe Tory seat in South Richmond yesterday. Good to see him back in elected office
— Michael Mullaney (@miketmullaney) May 5, 2018
I was delighted when Bill joined the Liberal Democrats – which always seemed a better fit for his boldly pro European ideals than the Conservative Party. He served the East Midlands very well for 15 years. Now, at the age of 76, he’s taking on a new challenge as a local councillor.
Congratulations to him and we wish him, and all his Council colleagues, all the very best.
* 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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10 Comments
It couldn’t happen to a nicer chap! Well done Bill! I wonder what son, Tom, thinks (he of The Sun, The Sunday Politics, etc)?
I often ran into him when he was one of our MEPs and what a great representative he was, attracting particular approbrium from certain quarters when he ‘crossed the floor’ to join the Lib Dems from the Conservatives. Now there was a true European, and a real gentleman to boot!
I wish him all the best in his new adventure.
As one Bill Newton Dunn’s former Euro-constituents here in the High Peak, could I congratulate him on returning to active politics on Richmond Council.
To the Lib Dems and local residents in South Richmond I want to say “Our loss is your very positive gain.”
..
q=bill+newton+dunn+mep&form=WNSGPH&qs=SC&cvid=afd0797e030449729f51c4902127a33b&pq=billnewton+dunn&cc=GB&setlang=en-US&nclid=D19A84F13F0AA22DEE7AE50DDCF460A0&ts=1525603605791
Not to be confused with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Newton_Dunn
Are they by any chance related?
@Richard Underhill
Didn’t you manage to read my contribution timed at 9.24am?
Tom and Bill are father and son, although I don’t know what the latter’s politics are, despite his obvious association with Rupert Murdoch.
Would be interesting to know how many people here gave two votes to Lib Dem and one to Con. Bill N-D might have had Lib Dems elected with him but for the charity donation to the hard left Green Party
Very good to see that, when he was East Midlands mep, I met him at a meeting and said I wanted to join the party, impressed over Iraq, had been Labour so related to his having come from elsewhere too,he gave me his phone number if I needed any questions answered or further chat, a delightful fellow, and I joined the party!
My particular congratulations to Bill as I was Councillor for its predecessor Ward of Richmond Hill from 1990 to 1998. In 2002 the boundaries changed with the new South Richmond a much tougher prospect. We haven’t won there since – until now!
Watermelon Allergy is correct. Without the ludicrous Green pact two Lib Dems would have been elected. It’s clear 500 Lib Dems didn’t vote Green and it looks like they boosted the three Tories by around 170 each (500/3) – more than enough to win a second seat.
There was no pact in Kingston and an even better result was achieved there.
I have always thought that he would of been put forward for the House of Lords as he is still very well recognised in the East Midlands which now needs more representation in Parliament and is seen as a very Strong Pro European and respected voice in the European Parliament.
@David Dobbie
Grammar alert. It’s “would HAVE been”, David. Didn’t you used to be a teacher? Hope things are still going well for the Lib Dems in Gainsborough. It’s about the only place in Lincolnshire where they are!