Tag Archives: jane brophy

Biscuits in Brecon….

This weekend, Liberal Democrats have been flocking to help Jane Dodds win Brecon and Radnorshire for the Liberal Democrats.

This time next week, I’ll be there. I am so excited because I have never been out of Cardiff before and I’m so looking forward to seeing more of Wales.

Here are just some of the people who have been helping.

Cambridge PPC Rod Cantrill said:

Great to be back again in Brecon with two car loads of activists from Cambridge door knocking for Jane Dodds on the Brecon Ro(a)d trip!

Alex Cole-Hamilton’s wife Gill may well be annoyed that they decided a long time ago to go to Wales for their Summer holiday. Alex made his second trip today and found two more Lib Dem parliamentarians to play with:

And he revealed that he has some family history in the area.

Amid reports of copious supplies of cake, Lib Dem Friends of Biscuits hit back in style:

And Dominic Buxton gives us a glimpse of how gorgeous it is there:

https://twitter.com/MrDominicBuxton/status/1150041195906818051

I don’t see any canvassing going on here…

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Tim Farron MP writes…Thanks to our team in Oldham West and Royton

I am not going to sugar-coat it, the result in Oldham West and Royton is disappointing.

It was always going to be tough. Liberal Democrats have never won this seat and the highest we have ever finished is third.

But, nevertheless, I am hugely proud of Jane and the campaign the team has run. I cannot thank her, Claire, Nassar, Lisa and Chris enough.  They went above and beyond.

Jane worked tirelessly and was a great candidate for the party whether it was in hustings on the television.

It is has been great to get back to pounding the streets and even better to see so many new activists getting involved.

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Oldham West and Royton result

The result has just been declared

Jane Brophy and her team ran an energetic campaign and the party owes them a huge debt of gratitude. It’s not easy facing a by-election in these circumstances and they did so with great spirit and energy.

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Oldham hustings quiz

A bit of Sunday morning fun. Here are some quotes from a hustings in Oldham West and Royton. See if you can match them up to the candidates taking part who are:

John Bickley (UKIP)

Jane Brophy (Liberal Democrats)

James Daley (Conservative)

Simeon Hart (Green)

Jim McMahon (Labour)

Such a pity that Lord Oink-a-lot, the Monster Raving Loony Party couldn’t make it. He evokes memories of that delicious night in the Liberal Democrat Conference bar when that story about David Cameron rippled its way round. Groups of people convulsed with laughter as the news made its merry way round.

But back to serious business. Here are the series of quotes. Your job is to match them up with the candidates. Which one would you want as your MP based just on the following?

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Nick Clegg on Jane Brophy and the #libdemfightback

On Thursday alone, 5 of the Lib Dems’ 8 MPs were in Oldham. Tim Farron had been there on Monday and Sal Brinton is there today. You never know who you might meet if you go there this weekend.

Nick spoke to the Oldham Evening Chronicle, saying he thought Jane was fantastic and talking about the #libdemfightback

As a party that took a real knock in the General Election this by-election gives us the opportunity to get out and speak to people again, explain who we are.

I think Jane’s getting a really positive response on the doorstep and I am very confident that she is going to do a lot better than we did in the General Election.

We have got to rebuild like any party, like any individual that takes a hard knock. You have got to lick your wounds a bit but move on and dust yourself down.

The party’s finding its zeal and fighting spirit again. In a constituency like this where we haven’t traditionally been competing at Westminster level we still have scores and scores of activists coming into our HQ and knocking on people’s doors.

It shows that, as much as our opponents might suggest that the Liberal Democrats have been put out of action, we’re mounting a fight back. We’ve had a massive influx of new members.

He also commented on the Autumn Statement and in particular the Chancellor’s u-turn on tax credits:

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A real opportunity at Oldham West and Royton

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I spent the weekend helping Jane Brophy’s campaign at Oldham West and Royton. Here are some of my observations in random order:

  • Jane Brophy is an excellent candidate with a proven campaigning track record.
  • There is a fantastic, young and enthusiastic team running the campaign – working extremely hard.
  • We are fighting in what is a “development constituency” for us – which means there are great gains to be had in terms of new members and supporters to be recruited.
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Tim Farron MP writes…Come and help Jane Brophy in Oldham West and Royton

Tim Farron & Jane Brophy OldhamThis party has given me so much. I joined as a 16 year old and it has given me lifelong friends and an extended family.

Today I am asking a favour from you. I hope you know me well enough to know that I only do that when it matters. I am asking for your help to support my good friend Jane Brophy and our Oldham West & Royton campaign.

I was there a couple of weeks ago to launch the campaign and to be honest you will struggle to keep me away! Our MPs and virtually all of our peers will be going too to support Jane. So I am asking you to help her too.

The energy of the campaign was brilliant. It was great!

We are campaigning on our record – the only party that actually opposed tax credits, fought the welfare changes and is standing up for small business and entrepreneurship. We have a strong message. We just need to sell it.

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Go to help Jane Brophy in Oldham West and Royton or Paddy will be coming after you….

Last week I wrote about the three reasons you should go to Oldham for your own good. I said:

If you’re looking for ways to invigorate your campaigning locally, a busy by-election is the place to be. The most up to date campaigning tricks and techniques will be there for you to see. Also you might learn about things as simple as ways to organise your delivery rounds or canvassing. If you’re in the office doing clerical work, learn from how it’s managed. You can pick up tips on all aspects of running an election that you can develop and use back home.

You would hope that it would be shining Lib Dem examples of brilliance that you would learn from but the other parties can teach you stuff too. There was one Scottish by-election where a former Lib Dem parliamentarian was seen shinning up a lamppost at dead of night to nab an SNP poster which, he declared, was brilliant in its simplicity and effectiveness. Well, he may not have put it quite like that, but you get the drift.

If you are the only Lib Dem in your village, used to leafletting with only your dog for company, it can be really invigorating to be part of a big group going and covering loads of ground really quickly.

There now appears to be a fourth reason – self preservation. Paddy will be after you if you don’t.

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Three reasons why you should go to Oldham West for your own good

Tim Farron went and opened Jane Brophy’s campaign HQ in Oldham West and Royton today and, as is the way with these things, was surrounded by lots of colourful diamonds:

I would strongly recommend that if you can get over to Oldham between now and the by-election on 3rd December, you do – for your own benefit as much as any help to the campaign. Yes, Jane Brophy is a fantastic candidate, a brilliant social liberal who really knows how to serve her community, and of course we want to support Tim Farron in the first by-election of his leadership, but there is a veritable cornucopia of good things that we can get for ourselves too. Here are just three.

Feel the Lib Dem Buzz

Once you’ve felt the vibe of a Lib Dem by-election hq, you will never want to miss another one. It’s great fun, you meet people from all over the country whom you wouldn’t necessarily meet at Conference and it’s actually good for the soul. My first by-election was Littleborough and Saddleworth (which is the neighbouring seat to what is now Oldham West) back in 1995. I met people there who are friends to this day. We only went to help for a day and then go on to have a bit of a touring holiday but we ended up staying for the whole week and went back for several weekends and the last week because we were having such a good time.

People have even met their partners at by-elections. I was particularly proud at playing “Cilla” during the Livingston by-election to a couple who celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary last week.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 29 Comments

By-election news – Jane Brophy selected for Oldham West and Royton

jane_brophyThe Lib Dems have selected Jane Brophy as their candidate in the by-election in Oldham West and Royton, caused by the death of Michael Meacher MP. Polling day will be 3rd December.

Although Meacher held the seat in May with a majority of nearly 15,000, the Liberal Democrats ran the council until 2011.  Elections in Oldham tend to be Labour/Lib Dem battles and are often close, so we will be fighting hard in the by-election.

Jane is an experienced campaigner and has been a councillor for over 15 years. She works for the NHS in Greater Manchester.

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Recent Comments

  • Hywel
    This is a valid strategy. But it does take a toll on the activists who do it and they may not realise that until quite some time later........
  • Margaret
    @David - selecting the candidate isn't the same as starting the campaign. I understand there has been local activity for some time....
  • Alan Jelfs
    Runcorn? We should be gearing up for Hampstead which is winnable....
  • Nonconformistradical
    "We need politicians to stop attacking tax as some kind of evil and constantly promising to reduce it and instead recognise in the words of JK Galbraith ‘that...
  • David
    In the past we would have been out there delivering leaflets as soon as the Labour fists began to fly. Why has this not happened? Anyone could see this was a re...