A Strong Showing for Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate at General Election Hustings in Berkhamsted

The Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, Dr Christopher Townsend, made a strong showing at a General Election Hustings last night.

The Hustings held in the Great Hall of Berkhamsted Town Hall. They were organised by the Berkhamsted Citizens Association and were chaired by Mrs Lindy Foster-Weinreb.

In a well received presentation, and in answer to nearly 2 hours of questions from the public, Dr Townsend laid out a clear vision for a brighter future for Britain with the Liberal Democrats.

In his speech, Christopher said:

"I refuse to accept the general consensus that the Conservatives are going to win, there is everything to fight for, and if we want to stop the threat to our jobs from a hard Brexit then we can do that by voting for a Liberal Democrat MP."

Christopher quoted local election results which showed that the Lib Dems were only a few percentage points behind across the constituency.

Conservative candidate David Gauke was put on the back foot on whether high local property prices were potentially driven by corrupt money flowing into the London property market. He spoke about the introduction of a register of interests, but Christopher pointed out that more recently the government has chosen not to follow recommendations in this area. The Green candidate, who has expertise in this area, confirmed Christopher's points.

Christopher added:

"David Gauke, despite having been for several years in the key position of the minister responsible for UK tax, has not visibly improved tax transparency and this is a factor in high local property prices."

The discussion covered a range of topics, including questions on Donald Trump and the candidates' policy on air quality.

A local Liberal Democrat county councillor who was present commented afterwards, "Several of the candidates supported air quality improvement and the need for a shift to electric motoring - but only the Liberal Democrats are practicing what they preach. In the new intake of Hertfordshire county councillors this month there are three Liberal Democrat county councillors with all-electric cars."