Jo Conchie is the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner

We are delighted to have Winsford Comunity Campaigner as our Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate for Cheshire . Jo is someone who acts decisively and cares for the community

She provided a lifeline for the elderly marooned at home during the coronavirus pandemic and received a national award.

She was named Most Inspiring Rural Community Campaigner in the Community Champions in a Hall of Fame which honours unsung heroes who have helped the most vulnerable in the UK.

Jo set up a Good Neighbour scheme, recruited volunteers and organised an emergency outreach service.She secured insurance and funding, set up a helpline and took daily referrals from the council, NHS agencies, GPs, social workers, emergency services, pharmacies, vulnerable people themselves. Even families living as far away as New Zealand asked her to check up on their elderly relatives.

We are delighted that Jo is standing in the Police and Crime Commissioner in Cheshire for us and we’re looking forward to a busy and energetic campaign in May.

Tarporley and Beeston Castle Station Campaign update -Success !!

The Liberal Democrats have been long-standing supporters of the Campaign to re-open the station at Beeston and we are delighted that, as reported in The Times on July 1, the station has made a list of 50 lines/stations that the Government will consider for re-opening. (Times article HERE ).

The 6-year campaign started by Ian Priestner gathered pace recently. Last year he delivered a petition with 1200 signatures from local residents to then Eddisbury MP Antoinette Sandbach in July 2019 who was a strong supporter of the campaign and who spoke up for the proposals in Westminster and with the Department of Transport.   Antoinette, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman in Eddisbury, commented: “The Times article highlights there is a good case for re-opening the station. As we emerge from the Covid-19 lockdown reopening the station would be fantastic news both for the environment and the local economy as it could efficiently connect residents to Chester, Crewe and further afield to Manchester, Birmingham and London. The new MP needs to work with the local council to secure adequate parking at the site. ”

In the last two weeks, the campaign has gathered cross-party support with support from the Conservative MP for Eddisbury with Edward Timpson now supporting the application to the Restoring Your  Railway Ideas Fund.

Ian Priestner commented: “The Campaign was always intended to bring together everyone in the region to re-open this valuable resource. With the support of The Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership I am pleased to see that Ed Timpson has added his voice to our work leading to the bid for the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. I will continue to work with Antoinette Sandbach and others to be a vocal supporter of these efforts”.

More details about the campaign can be found on www.tarporleystationcampaign.co.uk

Our new Online Meeting and Social Events

During the COVID-19 Crisis and as the Lockdown unwinds, we have suspended our in-person meetings and events but have plenty of online meetings and social events. These are open to Members, Registered Supporters and anyone who would like to attend. If you are not a member or registered supporter please get in touch for details of how to join our meetings.

Please check our Facebook Page HERE for more details or Get in Touch HERE.

Current Schedule 

Thursday 25 June 7.30pm – Basic income, what are the options, should this be Lib Dem policy?

Sunday 28 June 11.30am – Should we cooperate formally with other parties?


Sunday 5 July 11.30am – What is the new normal, what changes do we want to keep, can they be part of a Lib Dem manifesto?


Thursday 16 July 7.30pm – Local democracy. What should we be doing on the ground?


Sunday 26 July 11.30am – 2 months on from George Floyd. Racism will not have gone away, what should we be doing?

Our 2020 Team is in place

AGM at Delamere

On Monday we had our Annual General Meeting (AGM) which we had postponed because of the General Election .

It was an excellent meeting and we elected our new local party Executive in place for 2020 you can see roles and responsibilities HERE . We discussed and agreed on our plans for this year and for the 2023 local elections and the next General Election.

Our Parliamentary Spokespeople for Eddisbury Antoinette Sandbach and Daniela Parker for Weaver Vale lead a great discussion on lessons learned from the last General Election and our plans in the run-up to the next one.

We are energised and positive and ready for the challenges ahead

Get in touch if you want to help us or join !!

Richard Dawson – Online Campaigns Coordinator

Antoinette Sandbach MP has joined the Liberal Democrats and has accepted our invitation to be the Liberal Democrat General Election candidate for Eddisbury this December.

Antoinette’s Campaign Launch in Farndon

For more information about Antoinette’s campaign click HERE

EWV Lib Dem Chair Mark Ireland-Jones commented “I am very pleased to welcome Antoinette Sandbach as both our latest member and our candidate for the 2019 General Election. She has been an excellent constituency MP which is a message we hear loud and clear from voters on the doorstep and our local party executive was unanimous in welcoming her this week.

Jo Swinson has been brave in welcoming people from across the political spectrum and recruiting politicians with the integrity and calibre of Antoinette is a clear vindication of that strategy. I am proud to be part of this change in British politics and along with our members, we will be enthusiastically putting across this vision to the people of Eddisbury.

A lot has been written about the abuse that politicians face, especially female candidates, and we must lead by example in this campaign. My experience from canvassing is that the vast majority of voters are not trolls and simply want politicians to present their message in a reasoned and measured manner. Compromise is not a dirty word and is central to a functioning democracy whilst the talk of ‘red lines’ and ‘betrayal’ is not a reflection of what real voters want from their politicians.”

As for the next 6 weeks, we will now be fighting a seat currently held by a Lib Dem, this means we will be getting central party support and we will be a high profile seat both locally and nationally, we will be in touch about the details but we hope that everyone can contribute to this effort. The party will throw everything they can into the campaign.

In Weaver Vale, I want to assure you that we remain committed to running a high profile campaign with Daniela Parker and we aim to win there too, We have just completed delivery of 35,000 leaflets and are getting excellent feedback. Our high profile in the next-door constituency can only benefit us in Weaver Vale.

Ian Priestner commented ”

I am delighted to offer her my support and will be working closely with her to help deliver an outstanding result for our residents and to make sure she is elected as Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eddisbury.

Any help you can give Antoinette or the Campaign would be greatly appreciated.’

Both our Parliamentary Candidates ready for the General Election

Ian Priestner and Daniela Parker at Lib Dem Conference in September 2019
Ian Priestner and Daniela Parker at the Lib Dem Conference September 2019

It’s great to see we have two excellent and very active parliamentary candidates for the next General Election !! Ian Priestner LibDem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in Eddisbury fought the 2015 and 2017 Elections and is a well known and successful local campaigner. He is especially well known for his campaign to reopen Tarporley Railway Station HERE

In Weaver Vale, Daniela Parker was formally selected as our Parliamentary Candidate in the Summer at a packed meeting in Frodsham. Her campaign team have been very busy ever since and the feedback from local residents has been great.

With a large active membership base in both constituencies and after very successful local and European elections ( we beat Labour and the Conservatives in both constituencies ), we are confident of our best results for many years. General Election? Bring it on !!

Weaver Vale Parliamentary Candidate Hustings

Daniela Parker became our acting Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Weaver Vale in December 2018. Since then she has been campaigning hard for the Lib Dems in Weaver Vale by canvassing on the doorstep, contributing articles in the local press and increasing her social media presence.

Our increased vote share in the recent local elections in Cheshire West and Chester and the European elections are testaments to our hard work and dedication locally and nationally.

We now need to formally confirm Daniela as our parliamentary candidate for the next General Election whether that be quite soon or as scheduled in 2022.

We have a Weaver Vale PPC Selection Meeting at 7.30 pm on the 15th July at Frodsham Community Centre.

The meeting is open to Lib Dem Members and Supporters though only Weaver Vale Members will be able to vote.

Euro Elections 2019 -THANK YOU!

The Liberal Democrats had a brilliant night when the European Election votes were counted.

In the North West we won two MEP seats – our best ever result. We won the most votes of any party in the boroughs of South Lakeland, Stockport and Trafford.

Returning former MEP Chris Davies is joined by Jane Brophy.

Nationwide we scored our best ever result in a EU election by some margin, taking 20% of the vote – our previous best had been 14.4% in 2004.

That translated into 16 MEPs – our largest ever group. Across London we topped the poll taking three seats, while overseas our fellow European Liberal (ALDE) parties won the most votes across the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Estonia.

Nationwide we beat Labour and the Conservatives by a clear margin and underlined our position as the principal party of Remain.

Thank you to everyone who gave us their support on Thursday 23 May.

Great Local Election results in Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC) and Cheshire East

We achieved our best set of local elections for many years locally and of course nationally and these give us a great springboard for the Euro Elections on 23rd May.

In Cheshire West, we now have two Councillors up from none 4 years ago.!

The Council is now in No Overall Control and we will use our influence to campaign on the issues we care about most.

Paul Roberts

Paul Roberts was elected to serve his community of Farndon – making him the second Lib Dem member after Malcolm Gaskill beat Stephen Burns, Labour, and former CWAC deputy chairman, by just 11 votes to represent Winsford Swanlow.

Malcolm Gaskill

In Cheshire East our Chair Mark Ireland- Jones built on his superb campaign at last year’s by-election and got very close to taking Bunbury Ward and Richard Derricutt gave Tory Council Leader Cllr Bailey a scare coming up only 78 votes short in Audlem! Overall we added 2 councillors in Cheshire East doubling our representation to 4 on what is now a hung council.

In Tarvin and Kelsall Ward a great campaign from Ted Lush and John Edwards meant we came within 25 votes of winning one seat in the ward

We fielded 80 candidates across Cheshire in the local elections on May 2nd.

There were 30 candidates in Cheshire East and 50 across Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC). This was a record number in recent elections and demonstrates the strength of the Party.

All our candidates worked hard and achieved excellent results and we now have a solid membership and campaigner base to build on.

Its a great springboard for the European Elections on May 23rd and we are working hard for those now too.

If you want to help us get in touch HERE

Please follow us Facebook HERE or Twitter HERE.

Richard Dawson. Online Campaign Coordinator

Chester West and Chester (CWaC) and Cheshire East 2019 Campaign

We are fielding 80 candidates across Cheshire in the local elections on May 2nd.

There are 30 candidates in Cheshire East and 50 across Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC). This is a record number in recent elections and demonstrates the strength of the Party.

A Lib Dem team canvassing in Kelsall supported by Daniela Parker (centre) Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Weaver Vale.

With over 100,000 members and registered supporters, we now have a larger membership base than the Conservatives.

Our candidates are campaigning on a wide range of issues, many specific to the local Wards but there are huge issues in both Councils relating to governance with Council Officers suspended in Cheshire East, planning and leasehold issues in new properties in Northwich and the environment where we opposed to fracking.

The Lib Dems are funded locally by member donations, we are not beholden to large private or business donations and voters can be reassured we are acting in their best interests.

Daniela Parker, Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Weaver Vale, commented:

“Lib Dems have been actively campaigning over Brexit and local issues over the last few years and our candidates have a built up a reputation for working hard all year round and not just at election time. We believe that we are in a strong position to win seats on both Councils and the feedback on the doorstep is that our messages resonate with people looking for better local services.”

Please contact our Press Officer Malcolm Gaskill on (01606863575 or [email protected] ) if you have any queries.

Mark Ireland-Jones
Chair