Sunday, July 27, 2008

A high society experience in North Wales

A brief hop across the border took us to Gresford, the home of Martin Thomas and Joan Walmsley, two of Ros's colleagues from the Lords, who hosted a campaign event for members in North Wales.

Ros and I arrived in good time to help out with preparations and were put to work hulling strawberries, lots of them. Then, whilst Ros freshened up, I found my way to the entry to the drive to do gate duty with Bruce Roberts, Chair of Wrexham Liberal Democrats.

The sun was shining strongly, and people were arriving from as far afield as Llandudno (I should namecheck the noble Lord Roberts of Llandudno who looked incredibly sharp in a black shirt) and we were reduced to directing traffic towards hopefully nearby parking opportunities.

Meanwhile, the garden party was in full swing, with real ale to drink, some great food, and at least four Liberal Democrat council group leaders talking about the challenges facing them.

Martin made a speech welcoming everyone before turning to Ros for a few words, followed by a speech from Alan Butt Philip, the newly selected number 1 on our Euro candidate list for Wales. We have a genuine opportunity to win a seat in Wales for the first time next year, and it would be nice to see a stalwart like Alan reap the benefits of his hard work over many years.

Everybody seemed to have a good time as the sun beat down on a gorgeous summer's day and a very decent sum was raised for local funds. As Tom Rippeth, the PPC noted, it'll pay for a lot of leaflets...

It was incredibly kind of Martin and Joan to find time to organise and host the event, and a constant thread in our campaign has been the generosity of members around the country in arranging events and inviting members to attend them.

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