I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to the 16,629 people who voted for me to become Woking’s MP in last week’s General Election.

Although I did not get over the line in Woking this time, the Lib Dems achieved our best result in a decade. We increased our vote share by 13%, slashed the Conservative majority to less than 10,000 votes, and secured 31% of the vote.

The Lib Dems stood up for a United Kingdom that is internationalist, open and inclusive – but populism and nationalism sadly won the day.  The stitch-up between the Brexit Party and the Tories made Thursday night and Friday morning a difficult one for the Lib Dems – especially with voters offered the appalling choice of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader.

So although I will be taking some time to rest and reflect upon the lessons we can learn from this election, I will not be giving up – the Lib Dems cannot afford to give up.

Our town, and country, needs us the Lib Dems now more than ever.  I have spent more than a decade of my life standing up for the people of Woking, and I do not plan on stopping any time soon. 

The Conservatives made a lot of promises during the election, and I will hold them to account on those.  I will call out if we see no extra police, or no extra nurses, if local government receives no extra funding, or if climate change is ignored.  I will speak out to uphold our rights and those of European nationals, who have made Britain their home.

Many thanks again to the thousands of Woking residents who placed their trust in me last week.