Reading Liberal Democrats

Reading East Liberal Democrats have selected Reading resident Gareth Epps as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate.

The result was announced after a one-member, one-vote selection at the hustings meeting held on Saturday (20 January) at the Oakwood Centre in Woodley.

Gareth takes over from John Howson who fought the seat at the last General Election. He stood in the 2001 General Election against David Cameron in Witney, increasing the Liberal Democrats’ share of the vote. He works in London on a major infrastructure project. Gareth has been vocal in the campaign against Labour’s plans for a one-way IDR.

Commenting on his selection, Gareth said: “This is a tremendous opportunity for the Liberal Democrats – we only need a 5.7% swing to win at the General Election. With Labour in freefall, the choice in Reading East will be clear – it will be us challenging the Tories. Our commitment to a clean and green environment, our clear stance on the one-way IDR and our commitment to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour has already found resonance on the doorstep. I will campaign on our strong track record locally and national policies domestically and abroad that brought us a swing at the last General Election.”

The Chair of Greater Reading Liberal Democrats, Coling Lawley said: “I’m delighted that with Gareth as our candidate, we have selected a good local campaigner who has already built a strong team around him. We are all looking forward to the challenges ahead and are confident that we can get a excellent result at the next General Election.”

Editor’s Note – The independent UK Polling Report website ukpollingreport.co.uk/ lists Reading East in the top 40 most winnable seats for the Liberal Democrats at the next election, with less than 5,000 votes between the Tories and Lib Dems. The last two local election results across the constituency have seen the Lib Dems in second place ahead of Labour.