LibDem candidate for Mid Bedfordshire says by-election is chance to get a new 'hard working' MP

The Liberal Democrat candidate for Mid Bedfordshire said the by-election is a chance to get a new “hard working” MP.

Emma Holland-Lindsay said she has had a “really positive” response on constituency doorsteps.

“And I’m talking to lots of people who’ve said that they’ve voted Conservative all their life and they absolutely will not vote Conservative again.

“They want to support the Liberal Democrats to get change, to get a hard working MP.”

Ms Holland-Lindsay was in Aspley Guise on August 29 with the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, to give her campaign a push following the former MP, Nadine Dorries, resigning over the weekend.

During May’s local election, the Lib Dems only polled 1.2 per cent of the vote in the Aspley Guise and Woburn ward, with the Independent candidate polling 90 per cent.

Are residents telling Ms Holland-Lindsay that they’ll be voting Independent in the parliamentary by-election?

“Actually people really understand that when it’s a national election the picture is a bit different,” she replied. “Around here people are absolutely fed up with the Conservatives.

“They understand that in a rural seat like this, where we have lots of villages, it’s the Liberal Democrats who are the challengers. And they’re willing and happy to support us because they know that’s how they’ll get a hard-working MP.”

If elected, Ms Holland-Lindsay said: “I want to be an active and visible MP, running surgeries, taking up residents’ problems, whatever they are, and also being a really strong voice in Westminster. So speaking up about the issues people are concerned about.

“And they’re telling me that they can’t get a doctor’s appointment when they want one, they’re really concerned about the cost of living crisis.

“So the residents of Mid Bedfordshire are my top priority, and I want to be a champion for them.”

Ms Holland-Lindsay was asked about Conservative claims that the Lib Dems want to bring back new home targets for local authorities.

Ms Holland-Lindsay said: “Look, we’ve had a Conservative government imposing top-down housing targets on this area. And residents are telling me that they feel we’re getting development in the wrong place, with the wrong kind of housing, and we’re not getting the infrastructure that matches up with that.

“It’s the Liberal Democrats actually, and me as a hard-working MP, who’s going to be standing up for residents and fighting for the right houses in the right place.

“But also what we need is a community driven approach to this, we need to be trusting local residents and talking to them about where housing is built and what that looks like,” she said.

Much has been made in the Lib Dem campaign material about Ms Holland-Lindsay being a “local” candidate, so will she be voting for herself at the by-election?

“Look, I grew up in Bedfordshire, I live here with my family, I’m something like, well, I said third generation Bedfordshire, but my grandmother informed me it’s actually fifth generation Bedfordshire.

“I’ve got really strong local links to this area, I’m a local councillor, I know the issues that face local residents because I am one.

“So I’m going to be focusing on being that strong voice and winning this election for local people,” she said.