Lib Dems announce general election candidate

AS announced yesterday (29/10), the country is to go to polls on December 12, 2019, for a General Election. Laura Coyle has been announced as the Lib Dem candidate for Henley & Thame and, say the party, they are confident of winning the seat from the sitting MP, Conservative John Howell.

Laura Cole

In the European elections earlier this year, the Lib Dems became the first party other than the Conservative to win an election across the Henley constituency since 1910 – over a hundred years – when they received 36% of the vote with the Brexit Party second on 29%.

Laura has lived near Goring for eight years with her husband Ray and six year old son who attends the local school. She also has two teenaged stepchildren.

It was as a Lib Dem councillor in London that Laura started to fight for the homeless and those who are living in substandard and insecure housing. Laura now works as a housing solicitor in Oxford providing advice and legal representation to tenants and homeless people, primarily through legal aid. Sheis also a director of a small almshouse charity.

Laura believes that access to good quality housing is fundamental to social justice and human dignity. She campaigned for remain in 2016 and has continued to campaign against Brexit ever since. She wants to give the people of Henley the chance to vote for someone who believes that the UK, and the world, will be a better, greener, safer place if the UK remains at the heart of Europe.

Laura recently spoke out against Government interference with the South Oxfordshire local plan, saying: “South oxfordshire residents decided what they wanted in the local elections when they chose LibDems and Greens to represent them. The Government should not be interfering with local councils. If our councillors choose to withdraw the controversial Conservative plan because it damages our local communities, that is their decision to make.”