Congratulations and Thank you !

Dear members and supporters

I hope by now you have digested both the national results and our successes in Epsom & Ewell. To recap the latter and to stress the CONGRATULATIONS in the header of this article:

1 - we won, no, not won, we TRIUMPHED in College ward with all of Julie, Julian and James being elected by thumping majorities, each getting over 1,000 votes - more than any other candidate in any other ward. This despite some negative campaign stuff from both the RA but in particular the Tories. So we go from 2 to 3 Councillors in College.

2 - a wonderful bonus was Alison's win in Stamford, with David B very narrowly missing out on the second seat. This despite doing no door-knocking and relying on 2 leaflets. This is a testiment to the personal reputation that both Alison and David B have in the community.

But of course this success wasn't just down to those 5 people's efforts. I'm going to miss someone out here (SORRY!) but I want to publicly put my appreciation on record for the work done by:

- Alison and Isobel in running such a smooth polling day operation. Calm, efficient, and even coped with my instant coffee being 2 years out of date !

- All those who have been door-knocking over the long winter months, despite the cold and wet. The efforts paid off. You know who you are but again special thanks to Alison, Paul, Steve, Helen and the other non-College candidates who turned up to help - including in particular Jenny and her colleagues from Sutton.

- And to Paul again for producing the high-quality leaflets, and putting up with constant un-helpful suggestions for "improvements" just as the deadline for printing came.

- To Karen for sorting out a Distribution list for Stamford and getting those all important leaflets out to our deliverers.

- To those who pound the streets come rain or shine getting those leaflets through the doors.

- To those who agreed to be "paper candidates" and have our name on the ballot paper.

- To those that were willing to be late to their work committments so that they could vote before driving across the county (thanks Mark !)

- To the FANTASTIC team (huge!) from Sutton that came and helped on polling day - a superb example of team-work and so motivating to meet other LibDem colleagues with their energy and experience.

- And finally, to all of you who have read this far. Thanks. I'm enjoying some wine to celebrate so apologies for any incoherence !

Have a great long weekend.

David Gulland

Chair - Epsom & Ewell Liberal Democrats