Mid Dorset Lib Dems Gain Seat In By-Election

6.02.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 9th Jun 2005

Annette Brooke MP, Cllr. Michael Peacock, Rosie Endecott (Agent), Ian Scott (organiser).

Liberal Democrats in Mid Dorset celebrated a spectacular win yesterday in the ward of Lytchett Matravers when their candidate Michael Peacock gained a seat on Purbeck District Council.

Only weeks after an exhausting General Election which saw Annette Brooke re-elected with an astounding 5,482 majority, the activists of Mid Dorset were unnerved by yet another election campaign and worked tirelessly to ensure a Lib Dem victory following the death of a longstanding Independent councillor. With a turnout of 37.5%, the Liberal Democrat's gained 63% of the vote.

Annette Brooke commented: "As well as the excellent local credentials of the Lib Dem candidate, much of the credit for such a successful result must go to Ian Scott the election organiser. Ian, who is now 77, is a lifetime Liberal and has been a tireless and passionate campaigner for the party since he was 22. I want to thank him sincerely for all his hard work and for his energetic, single-minded campaigning for me and many others over the years."

Following Annette's success at the 2005 General Election, Ian has agreed to slow down his campaigning and will now retire from the front line of political campaigning - acting as agent or organiser - but will continue to deliver with his wife Mary, when necessary.

Michael Peacock, the new Lytchett councillor, is the 40th person Ian has been organiser for in a Council election and who has won a seat on a Council he/she has not been on before. Ian was the organiser for a large rural sector of Annette's constituency in both the 2001 and 2005 elections, and continues to run his Committee Rooms on the 'shuttleworth' system. It continues to be effective.

Living in Weymouth, the Labour seat of Jim Knight, Ian drives the 70 mile round trip almost daily just to help Annette in Mid Dorset. He even makes a 3 hour journey to London weekly when the House is sitting to help in Annette's Westminster office, organising all the tours and visits to Parliament by constituents - providing welcome assistance help for Annette's researcher Peta!

It is thanks to the passion and commitment of people like Ian across the country that the Liberal Democrats continue to gain support in both local and national elections - "working for you all year round".

ENDS