Southport scoops national party award

Suffolk Coastal, Nigel Ashton and myself accept the
Penhaligon Award from Party Presidnet Baroness Ros Scot

Conference is over and its back to work as usually.  I was delighted that so many members from Southport Lib Dems made the trip to Liverpool, 25 at last count, to attend what was an excellent conference.  The atmosphere was electric as Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Simon Hughes gave detailed accounts of the current situation and what we as Liberal Democrats want to deliver in government.

The week ended on an high note for Southport as we became joint winners of the national party award - The Penhaligon Award.  This trophy is presented annually to the local party which demonstrates an increase in party membership together with activities to develop and involve members and activist alike. This year, for the first time in the awards history, the prize was shared by two local parties ourselves and Suffolk Coastal.

Nigel Ashton, the current chair person of Southport Liberal Democrats, gave a great presentation to the judges and should be congratulated for the effort and commitment he has put into getting the local party so far.  I was absolutely delighted to accompany Nigel onto the main conference stage to receive the trophy from part president Baroness Ross Scott.

The media and labour party pundits are making claims that people are leaving  the Lib Dems "like rats from a sinking ship" but that's not what the membership figures show - in fact there has been an overall increase in membership of over 6,500 this year with many joining since the formation of the coalition.