Duncan Hames for Chippenham

Duncan Hames, prospective Lib Dem MP for the new Constituency of Chippenham addressed students at the opening ceremony of a Model United Nations Conference last week at St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon.

Students from 6 local schools took part in the event which aims to encourage political interest amongst students by debating & lobbying to form their own solutions to global issues.

Speaking after the event, Duncan said: “It was great to see so many schools from the area taking part in the Model United Nations at St Laurence School. The opportunity to develop skills is outside of a classroom is really valuable for young people about to make their way in the world.”

The organiser of the event, Naill Allsopp said: “The event was a fantastic success, all the students in attendance spoke during the conference, which was a big achievement and they commented on how much they had enjoyed themselves. The evening was full of some stimulating debates. Duncan Hames’ speech was well received; it was great to have him there.”

The Liberal Democrats have pulled off some stunning victories in parliamentary by-elections over the years. They provide an excellent opportunity for people to send a powerful message to the government.

During the last Tory government, massive swings to the Lib Dems in by-elections were credited with persuading them to abandon to hated Poll Tax, and ultimately demonstrated how far Margaret Thatcher had lost the confidence of the people. This summer, voters in Ealing Southall and Tony Blair’s own constituency of Sedgefield will have the chance to send their message to Gordon Brown.

I’m really pleased that our candidate in Ealing Southall, Nigel Bakhai, is campaigning on the issues of hospital deficits, safer streets, and the waste of lives and money that was the disasterous decision to go to war in Iraq. If Gordon Brown really wants to “let the work of change begin”, he could start by helping NHS Trusts burdened by debt, funding more police officers instead of wasting money on the ID card scheme, and setting out a plan for bringing our troops home from Iraq. Another Lib Dem victory on July 19th in Ealing will tell him exactly that.

Ealing Southall really isn’t that far away for us here in Chippenham. I went along to help the campaign all this weekend, and I’m recommending it to all our local campaigners too, if you possibly can. There’s always a great team spirit at a by-election headquarters, and it’s a great way to learn the very best practice from our party’s leading campaigners.

Don’t leave it for someone else - it will all be over in less than three weeks - so your help is needed now.

Our former party leader, Charles Kennedy MP, came to see us in Wiltshire this weekend. He was speaking at the Devizes Literary Festival on Saturday eveing. Earlier in the day he also came to an event organised by Devizes Lib Dems at the home of Shelagh Ainslie, the wife of the late Jack Ainslie, in Marlbrough. It was a chance for my colleague in Devizes, Wendy Johnson, and I to discuss our campaigns with him, and let him know about the major issues here in Wiltshire.

Charles was pleased to see so many Liberal Democrats present and in such good heart. He talked to us about his past visits to the area and the work he had done with the late Jack Ainslie, whilst he was our agriculture spokesman.

He reminded everyone that Jack Ainslie had been a recognised authority on agriculture and the countryside as well as a prominent, long-standing member of the Liberal Democrats in Wiltshire. In particular, he used his visit to encourage the prospect of an annual countryside lecture as a suitable part of Jack Ainslie’s legacy here.

Charles obviously enjoys the peace of rural Wiltshire, and it was wonderful to see him among friends here. The Liberal Democrats have a long tradition for speaking up for rural areas in Parliament and it would be a privilege to do that on behalf of residents of the new Chippenham constituency after the next election.

A huge effort went into our local election campaigns this year. Thank you to everyone who took part, and to everyone who voted Liberal Democrat in North and West Wiltshire in these elections.

We did particularly well in the towns of Chippenham, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge and Westbury, but lost out to the Conservatives elsewhere in the two districts, including in Corsham and in Melksham where Labour are now in third place.

Highlights include gains in the Chippenham constituency area:

• Chris Caswill in Chippenham’s Monkton Park was elected in a ward previously held by an independent on one of the highest turnouts of the day.
• Jules Whincup joins Patrick Coleman as a new district councillor in the Chippenham Park ward of North Wiltshire District Council.
• Isobel Martindale and David Bolwell bring new energy and talent to the Liberal Democrat team in Bradford on Avon which now also represents the parishes of Westwood and Wingfield, the latter not having elected a Liberal Democrat for many years.

The Conservatives now have majorities on both North Wiltshire and West Wiltshire district councils, as well as Wiltshire County Council, yet in the Chippenham Constituency the Conservatives elected 17 district councillors this May to the Liberal Democrats’ 15 and 3 for the rest.

Liberal Democrat members in North and West Wiltshire have this weekend selected local councillor Duncan Hames to be their candidate in the new Chippenham constituency at the next election.

Speaking after the declaration of the result Cllr Duncan Hames said:

“I shall be campaigning… championing the cause of our community hospitals.” Cllr Duncan Hames

“I am absolutely delighted to have been chosen to lead the Liberal Democrat campaign in the constituency that is my home. This new seat is set to be a very close race between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. I shall be campaigning on the issues that matter to local people here: championing the cause of our community hospitals, listening to concerns about the health of our local economy, and supporting neighbourhood policing.”

Welcoming the result, Bath Lib Dem MP Don Foster said:

“I know Duncan from his past campaigns in West Wiltshire, he works tremendously hard and I am sure that he will be a first class MP for the new Chippenham constituency.”

Duncan Hames lives in Holt in West Wiltshire (part of the new Chippenham Constituency) where he is a district councillor. He trained with accountancy firm Deloitte, before joining the board of the South West of England Regional Development Agency in 2003, and starting his own business last summer. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Westbury constituency at last year’s general election where he polled over 19,000 votes and secured a small swing towards the Lib Dems.

The new Chippenham constituency includes the towns of Chippenham, Melksham, Bradford on Avon and Corsham, and the neighbouring villages including Holt, Bowerhill, and Hilperton. Independent analysis suggests that the new parliamentary boundaries will wipe out past Conservative majorities in the area, producing a constituency that is finely balanced between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.

Editor’s Note: This post has been transferred from Duncan’s previous website archive.

Duncan is backing the Liberal Democrat group ‘Reflecting Britain’ which is committed to working to improve the opportunities for women and ethnic minorities in the Liberal Democrats to ensure the party better reflects Britain.

“The 2005 election saw real progress for the representation of women among Lib Dem MPs” says Duncan.

“Unfortunately, it was also a step back for our representation of ethnic minorities - not succeeding in holding the Leicester South seat where we had elected our first ethnic minority MP” he added.

“The Lib Dem parliamentary party remains disproportionately ‘pale and male’. The root cause is under-representation of women and ethnic minorities among the pool of Lib Dems seeking election as MPs. We must all take responsibility for doing our bit to support colleagues from these under-represented groups become parliamentary candidates.” concludes Duncan.

An on-line petition is available on the Reflecting Britain website, where Lib Dem members can declare their support for the campaign which is challenging all Lib Dem leadership candidates to provide support from the highest levels in the party.

Editor’s Note: This post has been transferred from Duncan’s previous website archive.

Duncan Hames, Lib Dem candidate for the Westbury constituency at the last election, has declared his agenda for public service reform in an interview with BBC television’s ‘The Daily Politics’ at the party’s annual conference in Blackpool.

Asked by presenter Sally Magnussen whether he favoured a move to the left or further public service reform, he said:

“The reform I want to see is local people having a real say over their public services. There are plenty of boards and hospital trusts around, but they aren’t accountable to local people, the people who run them aren’t elected, and the public can’t get rid of them if they don’t agree with their decisions. It’s time local people had a proper say in the way their services are run.”

Editor’s Note: This post has been transferred from Duncan’s previous website archive.