Tag Archives: liz evans

Liz Evans

Welsh Lib Dems’ Leadership: Liz Evans writes…We must offer a positive alternative to nationalism

By Liz Evans | Wed 18th October 2017 - 11:55 am

Changing our constitution is recognition of where we currently are as a Welsh party; a brave, necessary and ultimately exciting step. My name is Liz Evans, I’m a County Councillor for Ceredigion, an intrepid campaigner and committed liberal! So here we are, two Welsh speaking women from the coast and countryside of Wales; campaigning colleagues looking to be the next Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader – how amazing is that!

Be in no doubt that Welsh politics is the poorer without Welsh Liberal Democrat parliamentarians, both in the Welsh Assembly and Westminster. Yet this is the reality check. The last eighteen months has been the stuff of nightmares; four of our five Assembly members gone; talented Councillors gone and losing the seat of my close friend and colleague Mark Williams was devastating. Having ran his office for nine years the principles of liberal democracy were at the heart of everything we did.

Secretary of Education Kirsty Williams is improving and developing education in Wales and delivering on our manifesto commitments as part of the progressive agreement with Welsh Government including 20,000 new homes; prioritising links between education and industry; the establishment of a Wales Development Bank to help people set up business and grow existing businesses; extra money to help schools support teenagers with mental health problems and where mental health discrimination is ended. That’s not bad going for one Liberal Democrat in government!

I am rooted to this party and I care deeply about its future direction. I am a proud European, a  devolutionist to the core and I am ambitious for Wales. I also recognise that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have an identity problem.

We are the party of home rule, radical liberalism and social democracy. We are outward looking, British, European and truly internationalist. Yet we see a growing warmth towards nationalism in Wales and we must offer a clear, positive alternative. We are the antidote to nationalism and the champions of self determination and we need the people of Wales to know.

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Caron Lindsay

Liz Evans and Jane Dodds meet in Welsh Lib Dem leadership hustings

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th October 2017 - 8:55 am

Lib Dem Voice is always neutral in leadership elections of any sort and so we will be for the Welsh Liberal Democrat Leadership election which culminates in 2 weeks’ time. The two candidates are former Assembly candidate for Ceredigion and local Councillor Liz Evans and former candidate for Montgomery Jane Dodds.

The only thing I will say is that having met both Jane and Liz, I think that they are both absolutely amazing and either would be a worthy successor to Kirsty Williams who has resumed the leadership temporarily. This election is unusual in that it is being fought between two non parliamentarians. The Welsh Party’s constitution was changed earlier this year to allow this because of the unfortunate circumstances in which it found itself.

The Welsh Party has, despite some spirited campaigning and inspiring leadership from Kirsty for most of the last decade, suffered huge setbacks in the last couple of years. The coalition legacy and the rise of UKIP has cost the party dear. While they have the one Lib Dem Cabinet minister in the country at the moment, she is their only parliamentarian. Unfortunately Mark Williams lost his Ceredigion seat by a heartbreaking 150 votes in the General Election in June.

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Caron Lindsay

Poll boosts for Kirsty Williams and Eluned Parrott in Wales

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 27th April 2016 - 3:45 pm

The only poll that actually matters is the one that happens 8 days from today, but there is encouraging news from key Welsh marginals. The caveat is that it’s based on extrapolations from a uniform national swing, but it is a sign that the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Kirsty are having a good impact with their campaign calling for improvements in health, education, housing and the economy, all of which are suffering under Labour rule.

Wales Online looks at a number of seats including two of particular interest to Liberal Democrats:

Brecon and Radnorshire

The constituency was won comfortably by the Conservatives in last year’s general election.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams is on 40.4% with Tory Gary Price on 27.4%.

Cardiff Central

In Cardiff Central, where Labour took the seat from the Liberal Democrats in last year’s general election with a comfortable majority, the party’s Jenny Rathbone, who narrowly won it in 2011, is said to be trailing the Lib Dems’ Eluned Parrott by 35.1% to 28.6%.

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The Voice

“A Wales that works for you”: Kirsty Williams launches Welsh Assembly campaign

By The Voice | Thu 31st March 2016 - 5:54 pm

Today, Kirsty Williams launched the Welsh Liberal Democrat campaign for the Assembly elections on 5th May. The theme is A Wales that works for you.”

She unveiled three key priorities:

  • More Nurses – extending the More Nurses Bill to include mental health wards, maternity wards and community nurses
  • Smaller class sizes – establishing an Infant Class Size Reduction Grant, with funding prioritised towards the largest classes
  • Opportunity Economy – promoting a package supporting people’s aspirations by increasing the number of apprenticeships, supporting small businesses, helping people buy their first home, and delivering a childcare package that enables people to get back to work if they choose to.
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Caron Lindsay

Elizabeth Evans’ speech to Friday night Conference rally

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 6th February 2016 - 3:04 pm

Liz EvansWay back in 2011, Mark Cole wrote for this site about his wonderful local candidate for Ceredigion, Elizabeth Evans:

So she knows her stuff does our Elizabeth and she’s taking her passion for her home county out onto the doorsteps. Her concerns for our local health service are chiming with the fears and worries of local residents – it being the biggest concern the length and breath of the county. The packed public meeting held in Aberystwyth only last week regarding the future of healthcare provision in Bronglais Hospital proved testament to that. Elizabeth has a particular empathy with these concerns because as a past-chair of Mencap Ceredigion, she has an interest that is reflected in her current campaign to secure local facilities for elderly patients suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Last night, I met her for the first time when she spoke at the rally. She spoke with such clarity and passion and concern for her community. She’s smart, caring, strong and funny and she’d be a fab AM.

Here is her speech in full:

Fellow Liberal Democrats. I wish I knew then what I know now!

I’m going to take you back to 2011.

I was the candidate in Ceredigion and the Liberal Democrats were a year into the Westminster coalition. Yet it felt like a Westminster election – of course Plaid and Labour wanted it that way. They behaved as if they truly had the moral high ground, preaching the politics of betrayal and blame. The Liberal Democrats in coalition had let everyone down. Really? Well look at the government we have now!

In 2011 Plaid said they wouldn’t close schools, wouldn’t close libraries, and they certainly wouldn’t close residential homes. Well they’ve done all that running Ceredigion County Council!  Plaid made so many manifesto promises they knew they couldn’t keep and they’ve broken just about all of them. We broke one.

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