St Albans Liberal Democrats unanimously back Daisy Cooper as candidate for next General Election
St Albans MP Daisy Cooper has been unanimously reselected by local Liberal Democrat members to stand as the party's candidate at the next General Election, amid growing speculation about the possibility of an early national poll.
Under Liberal Democrat rules, sitting MPs are required to seek reselection from local party members if they wish to stand again.
At a recent meeting of local members, Daisy Cooper was unanimously endorsed as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the St Albans constituency at the next General Election.
Her reselection comes against a backdrop of increasing political speculation, with rumours of a snap General Election intensifying in recent weeks.
Speaking following her reselection, Daisy Cooper MP said:
"It’s a huge privilege to represent St Albans as our MP and I'm absolutely delighted to have been re-selected to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for the St Albans constituency at the next General Election - whenever it comes.
“Since first being elected in 2019, I have responded to more than 58,000 requests for help from local residents, have put local issues on the national stage and continue to stand up for our shared values.
“I live in St Albans, work here, shop here and commute from here - sharing many of the same experiences, celebrations and frustrations as my friends and neighbours, and local community.
"I promised to bring the issues impacting you to Parliament: tackling the cost-of-living and cost-of-doing-business crisis, fighting for health and care services, and protecting our local environment. These remain my priorities.
“I am also really proud that a number of my campaigns have already delivered results in the first two years of this Parliament.
“Some of our city centre GP practices were at risk of being pushed out to ring-road locations because of outdated Treasury rules, but after years of campaigning, these rules have been updated to recognise the value of having health on the high street.
“Summer born children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will no longer be forced to miss a year of education when moving schools, after the government heard my calls to issue guidance on this.
“After years of my calls for business rates reform which hammers high streets, the government is finally consulting on some changes to this broken system.
“For years, St Albans district taxpayers had been left to subsidise big developers to the tune of £3.2 million each year because of an absurd cap on how much local authorities can charge developers - the cap is now due to be scrapped entirely, hopefully this year.
“After years of my campaigning, the government has now consulted on changing a rule which times-out complaints of sexual assault being lodged against medical professionals in the NHS, and I’m hopeful this will change soon too.
“In St Albans itself, I’ve successfully campaigned for CCTV systems to be integrated at St Albans City Station to better tackle bike thefts.
“And, our precious chalk streams could soon be better protected, as Ministers actively look at my idea to force water companies to prioritise pipe repairs in chalk stream areas.”
“As the Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, I’ve used the real-life experiences of households and businesses here in St Albans to design and shape our national policies - putting local issues on the national stage. This includes proposals to cut the cost of essential energy permanently through an Essential Energy Guarantee, supporting our high streets with an emergency VAT cut, and growing the economy through a new Growth and Defence Partnership with Europe.
"At the next General Election, St Albans will face a stark choice between a candidate who props up the dangerous and divisive politics of a Conservative-Reform UK coalition, or a hard-working Liberal Democrat MP.
"People should be under no illusions about Nigel Farage's ambition to reshape the country in the interests of his crypto billionaire friends rather than the people of St Albans, or that given the chance, the Conservatives will hand Farage the keys to Number 10.
“Whilst Reform UK’s campaign will be fuelled by their £72 million donations from crypto billionaires, I’m determined to fight another people-powered campaign here in St Albans - pounding the streets with committed volunteers, talking to residents and getting on with the job.”