THE Chief whip of the Liberal Democrats joined party activists in a canvassing session in Wokingham last week.
Wendy Chamberlain was visiting the party’s candidate for the new Wokingham parliamentary seat, Clive Jones. As part of the visit, she joined party members as they knocked on doors in Winnersh, canvassing support for the would-be MP.
The East Fife MP’s visit was hours after Jeremy Hunt’s budget speech, and a chance to escape the Westminster bubble, saying there was a lot of speculation in the Commons about the date of the forthcoming general election.
“It is really important we go to places like Wokingham, where we are best placed to beat the Conservatives, and speak to voters to find out what is important to them and campaign accordingly,” she said.
“Somebody like Clive, who was leader of the council, understands the challenges local government is facing. He can come to Westminster ready to hit the ground running, and deliver in a way that has simply be lacking in this area.”
The Lib Dems has been bullish about their chances of winning the new seat. If they do, it would be the first time Wokingham has been represented by anyone other than a Conservative.
From her door knocking session, Ms Chamberlain said there was a desire from voters for something different: “People really are sick and fed up and wanting some real change. I think there is an increased disillusionment in politics and politicians. Some of that has been at the hands the Conservatives, particularly from a standards perspective.
“They haven’t delivered in terms of public services, they have shamed standards and public life. I think people do want to see change.”
How would she feel about being joined on the benches by Mr Jones?
“I’d absolutely love it,” she said. “We want to have an enhanced presence in Westminster so that whoever the government is after the next election, we can properly hold them to account.”
Mr Jones was grateful to Ms Chamberlain for coming to the constituency, and for meeting with party activists.
“It’s been a great boost for our members. We had 40 people who listened to Wendy, talked to her about the budget, and them they went to knock on doors.
“We’re already knocking on loads of doors in Wokingham, and we’ll be doing even more of it in coming months. We’ve got to get rid of this very tired, out of date Conservative member of parliament.”
Also standing in the Wokingham seat will be Sir John Redwood for Conservatives, and Colin Wright for Reform UK. Labour and the Green Party have yet to announce their candidates.
Ms Chamberlain is not the only MP to visit the borough in recent weeks. Ahead of a the budget, Jeremy Hunt visited Woodley and Earley Conservatives candidate Pauline Jorgensen and shopkeepers from Woodley.
