Liberal Democrats elect new East Cambs leader

LIBERAL Democrats have elected a new leader to take the fight to the Tories in East Cambridgeshire after their previous chief resigned in protest.

Haddenham councillor Gareth Wilson will now lead the nine-strong Liberal Democrat group on East Cambs District Council after Ian Allen quit over his disagreements with the Coalition Government in Westminster.

His deputy will be Littleport West councillor Neil Morrison, who is also chairman of the Party in the district.

Cllr Wilson, who has represented Haddenham for nine years and also sits on the village’s parish council, said: “I am grateful to my colleagues for honouring me with this responsibility and will do all I can to fulfil their expectations.

“The Liberal Democrats in East Cambridgeshire have a long history of campaigning for services that provide benefits to all sections of the community, and we look forward to continuing with those aims.”

The vacancy arose when Cllr Allen decided to switch to being an independent as he could “no longer support coalition policies that are unfairly directed at worsening the lives of the least well off in society”.

He added: “While some would seek to promote the idea that there are political gains from being in coalition, I can only see the losses to the most vulnerable in society as the Lib Dems in Westminster jointly embark on policies that undermine the welfare state.”