Liberal Democrats Achieve Stunning Council By Election Victory in Richmond-on-Thames as Tories Crash

West Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats were cheered this morning by news of their colleague's stunning by election victory in Richmond-on-Thames on Thursday 2nd July 2013.

The council by election had been caused by the resignation of the Tory, Tania Matthias, who had been elected MP in place of Vince Cable. Geraldine Locke, who only joined the party since the General Election, achieved a dramatic result with a 25% increase in the Liberal Democrat share of the vote.

Both the Tories and the Greens slumped by 10% each, Labour by 8% and UKIP were reduced to a miniscule irrelevance.

This is what the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors had to say.

"Geraldine became engaged in Liberal Democrat politics recently; although the vision and values of the Lib Dems has always been close to her heart, it was the loss of Vince Cable at the recent election that galvanised her into joining the party.

Geraldine Locke was the Liberal Democrat Candidate for the Hampton Wick by-election in the London Borough of Richmond.

Geraldine cares about the local area. It has been her home and workplace, and her family's home for over twenty years. She has been married for 35 years, and has two grown-up children who attended Collis and Teddington schools.

Geraldine is currently working for a local training consultancy as Academic Director, working with Middlesex University to deliver specialised Masters programmes. She is a graduate from Strathclyde University, and after several roles in management in the Hotel and Catering Industry, moved into training and development. Her son is currently a carpentry apprentice, and she is passionate about work-based learning and retaining skills in the workplace.

As a long-term school governor, and chair of governors Geraldine has a deep understanding of the educational needs of the area. Geraldine has also been appointed as a National Leader for Governance, and is a governor at a second primary school in Kingston.

Image thanks to Britain Elects