Big Win For Liberal Democrats In Queen's Park

1.00.00pm GMT Sat 15th Mar 2008

It's the Lib Dems or Labour in Brent

The people of Brent have sent a strong message to the Labour Government by giving Brent Liberal Democrats a big victory in the Queens Park by-election on Thursday 13th March 2008.

On the back of huge swings from both Labour and the Conservatives, local campaigner Simon Green became the youngest councillor in the borough with an increased majority of 391, up from just 43 in 2006. The election was fought on the back of Labour's unpopular local Post Office closures and crippling health cuts including the Mortimer Road Clinic.

The Conservatives are out of the race in Brent, having finished a distant third. The collapse in the Conservative vote mirrors other recent polls in Brent: the Tories also came third in the Dudden Hill by-election and fourth in Stonebridge in the Summer

Queens Park ward is currently split between hard working local MP Sarah Teather's Brent East constituency and Brent South. The ward will form part of the new Hampstead and Kilburn constituency at the next election and the result is being widely seen as a big boost for local Parliamentary spokesperson Ed Fordham.

Local Liberal Democrat Brent East MP Sarah Teather said:

"I'm delighted for Simon, he'll make an excellent local councillor for Queen's Park. Simon has campaigned hard alongside me against Labour's Post Office closures and the crippling cuts to our local health service.

"I look forward to working closely with Simon and Ed Fordham in the coming years on the issues that matter to local people in Queen's Park."

Newly elected Liberal Democrat Councillor for Queen's Park Simon Green said:

"I would like to thank the people of Queen's Park for their support. It will truly be an honour to serve the area that I care about so much.

"I promise to continue fighting alongside Sarah Teather and Ed Fordham to get the best deal possible for the people of Queen's Park."

Simon Green's election agent and Brent Liberal Democrats Spokesperson Peter Hannon said:

"This is a disastrous result for Brent Labour, and a real tribute to the hard work of our hard working local MP Sarah Teather. People in Brent just aren't ready to forgive Labour's catastrophic record of cuts to our valued local services.

"Once again the Conservatives have shown that they just can't win here in Brent. It's no wonder that David Cameron has ruled his party out of the race in Brent Central.

"People in Brent who want to take a stand against the unpopular policies of Gordon Brown's Labour should back the Liberal Democrats."