The officers of the Association would like to wish everyone a (belated) very happy new year. And after the General Election result just over a month ago, it certainly promises to be one. Thank you all for your hard work and participation in the election campaign here. We had the largest number of members contributing to an election campaign for many years, and every bit of support, from voting for our candidate here and encouraging friends and family to do so, through to donating time and money towards the campaign itself is greatly appreciated. Stewart Harper, our candidate, in coming second for the first time since 2001, managed to achieve the highest Conservative vote here since 1997 and the highest vote share since 2001. We also managed to beat the Liberal Democrat candidate by almost 4,000 votes in what they had considered to be one of their top targets in the North of England, reducing them to their lowest share of the local vote here since 1979! Hopefully this will at least mean that they don't darken our doorsteps with more leaflets proclaiming that we can't win here!
After having had a short and well-deserved break over the festive season, we will shortly recommence campaigning activity locally. There are Leeds City Council elections in May for each of the four Wards in the Constituency and we hope that we can count on your support to help us to build on the excellent General Election result here and nationally. Being able to campaign throughout the year, particularly in the three Wards where we do not currently have a councillor, will make a big difference and put us in a good position not only to win more Councillors to work for local people and to provide an alternative to the policies of the currently Labour-run Council, but also, to enable us to have a much better chance of winning the Parliamentary seat from Labour at the next General Election in 4 or so years time.
If you can spare any time or make any other form of contribution towards these efforts, please do email [email protected] to get in touch.
