Now that the nomination papers are in, I can announce that I will be standing for the new Unitary Council on May 1st, alongside my colleague Redvers Crooks. We are pictured above with some of the Lib Dem candidates for the other divisions in the District.

The long term future of County Durham will be decided on May 1st. Either we will have more years of Labour failures – with continued waste of taxpayers money – or a new beginning for the County.

In the Framwellgate Moor Division your Lib Dem candidates only need 76 people to switch from Labour for us to win the seat and become your elected representatives – compared to the by-election in 2006. This means that every vote really will count on May 1st.

We both live in the Division and have both served you on the City Council since May last year. Between us we are also Parish councillors on all three parish councils in the Division, and continue to work with our Lib Dem colleagues on all three councils. Labour has no representation at all on either Framwellgate Moor or Witton Gilbert parishes.

If the democratic deficit left behind after the abolition of our City Council is to be filled, this link between the parishes, unitary council and local community will be essential. We feel that we are ideally placed to make sure that all five of our villages as well as the more rural areas of the Division are fully represented.

We have started to knock on doors across the division and the response has been tremendous. If we happen to miss you or don’t make it round to everyone, please accept our apologies.

There are over 4000 homes within this Division, and as you can see from the map below it covers a significant area. We are up for the challenge and hope you are willing to give us the chance.