Welsh Liberal blogs

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds has responded to the Government's plans to ask the Queen to suspend Parliament from mid-September. Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds said: Boris Johnson cannot be allowed to silence Parliament to drive through a catastrophic no deal Brexit he knows Parliament will block. I was elected to be the voice of my constituents in Parliament. By shutting down Parliament, he is shutting out the public and their voice. It’s an insulting, disgraceful and anti-democratic scheme to impose a devastating no deal Brexit on the Welsh people. Boris Johnson will find it’s much harder to silence me than he realises. Alongside my Liberal Democrat colleagues in Parliament, I will do all I can to fight this outrageous move, to block no deal and to stop Brexit. Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson commented: By suspending Parliament to force through a No Deal, Boris Johnson and the Government would remove the voice of...

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds has stated it is an honour to be named Shadow Cabinet Member for Wales and for Food and Rural Affairs in Jo Swinson’s first Shadow Cabinet. In announcing her Shadow Cabinet, Jo Swinson declared she has built a team that will provide “the real alternative our country needs”. The Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet is 50/50 gender balanced and has a membership of 15% BAME. Kirsty Williams is also in the Shadow Cabinet as a Spokesperson for Wales. Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds commented: It is an honour to be given two vital roles in my party’s Shadow Cabinet. I look forward to highlighting Alun Cairns’ consistent failure to deliver for Wales and standing up for rural communities across Wales and the UK. I join an exceptionally strong Liberal Democrat team that is ready to continue leading the campaign to stop Brexit and create a fairer, freer and more liberal Britain. Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson...

We've just announced a reorganisation of our spokesperson roles into a Shadow Cabinet Now more than ever, people are crying out for a new vision for our country. They want an alternative to creeping nationalism and populism. People want a new vision for our country, and only the Liberal Democrats can supply that. That's why today, we're announcing our new Shadow Cabinet to stop Brexit. People want a new vision for our country, and only the Liberal Democrats can supply that. The Conservatives want no deal Brexit, no matter the cost. Labour is more interested in winning a General Election than remaining in the EU. Only we can be the real alternative our country so desperately needs. This is a team that's ready to offer solutions to the big issues people are facing, like rampant inequality, the climate crisis and a cash-strapped NHS. But Brexit has starved these issues of oxygen. And whenever we do head into the next General Election, we'll do so as the ...

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MP has enthusiastically welcomed Sarah Wollaston to the Liberal Democrats, following her decision to join the party. She is the third new MP the Liberal Democrats have gained in the last three months, following Jane Dodds' by-election victory in Brecon and Radnorshire, and Chuka Umunna joining the party. Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds commented: I’m delighted my time as the Liberal Democrats newest MP has been so short-lived! Sarah’s been one of the most effective and respected MPs in Parliament over the past decade and has a record of prioritizing the national interest above her own . I’m looking forward to working with her in Parliament to prevent no deal and to give the people the final say and the opportunity to stop Brexit. Our best ever European election results, my victory in Brecon and Radnorshire and the defections of both Chuka and Sarah now prove the Liberal Democrats have real momen...

Newly-elected Lib Dem MP Jane Dodds has called for an urgent meeting with Powys council bosses about school funding. She said it was a key issue raised by voters during the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election campaign. A Lib Dem councillor claimed schools would not be funded for extra pupils in September, but faced warnings if they did not balance their budgets. But council bosses said schools were only warned if they failed to explain how they would tackle ongoing deficits. Ms Dodds won Brecon and Radnorshire back for the Lib Dems last week after the constituency was held by Conservatives for four years. She said she wanted to meet the council's leader Rosemarie Harris and chief executive Caroline Turner, with school funding one of the issues she intended to raise. Despite a review of school funding in Powys to make it fairer, the group which set the new rules said it was £5.5m short of what was needed. Lib Dem group leader James Gibson-Watt said: ...

Hear from newly elected Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, Jane Dodds. We did it! We won the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election! We won the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election! I am so incredibly grateful to every person that got me here. Thank you to everyone who traveled, from near and far, to get here and campaign with us. Thank you for the thousands of doors you knocked on, for the tens of thousands of leaflets you delivered, the letters you wrote and stuffed, the leaflets you bundled. Thank you to the members in Brecon and Radnorshire, and in nearby constituencies, who opened your homes to host campaigners. Thank you to the hundreds of people who helped us by making calls to voters. Thank you to everyone that donated to this campaign, with money or food or office supplies - to make sure we could run the biggest operation possible. Thank you to the core campaign team of staff and activists. They have gone above...