Nick Clegg welcomed as leader by local Liberal Democrats

5.10.31pm GMT Tue 18th Dec 2007

Alan Beddow with Nick Clegg

LIBERAL Democrats in Warwick & Leamington have welcomed the election of Nick Clegg as the new Leader of the Party. The result of the vote of Liberal Democrat members was announced on Tuesday 18th December.

Local Lib Dem Candidate Alan Beddow said, "I welcome Nick as our new leader. I have heard him speak on many occasions and I believe he has what it takes to excite people in politics again, he certainly excites me. People are switched off by politics becoming more remote, more controlled by Westminster and they feel powerless. Labour and the Conservatives have little new to offer and there is no longer any choice between them. Less and less people are voting and quite frankly I don't blame them."

"With Nick Clegg the Liberal Democrats will give people an alternative, we will make liberalism connect with people in Warwick & Leamington who share our values, but do not yet vote for us. Under Nick's leadership we will campaign to give people more say in the decisions that affect us all."

"We are talking about a fundamental shift in the way politics works in this country. Top of our agenda is a reform of our Parliament. If Gordon Brown had not bottled out of an election in November analysts say just 8,000 swing voters would have won the election. That is less that half the voters in Warwick."

"We want to move power away from Westminster and closer to local communities. We want a written constitution, an elected House of Lords and an electoral system where our vote really does count."

Nick Clegg as Shadow Home Affairs Secretary has spearheaded the Liberal Democrats' defence of civil liberties, proposing a Freedom Bill to repeal unnecessary and illiberal legislation, campaigning against Identity Cards and the retention of innocent people's DNA.