Lib Dem Hopefuls Bid for Cornish Support

12.00.00am GMT Mon 26th Nov 2007

Liberal Democrat leadership hopefuls Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne visited Cornwall this weekend to bid for local party members' support.

The visit came as North Cornwall's MP, Dan Rogerson, signalled his support for Nick Clegg. Mr Clegg enjoys support from some of the party's newest and brightest MPs like Julia Goldsworthy and Willie Rennie and senior figures like Paul Tyler and Paddy Ashdown.

Both candidates made brief speeches and took questions at a lunch of around eighty Cornish Liberal Democrats in the Westbury Hotel, before making their way West to the Blue Bar in Porthtowan.

Commenting, Dan Rogerson said:

"This has been an immensely successful event and it's a mark of how important Cornwall is that both of the two very strong candidates we have on offer have come to engage with local members.

"Either would make an excellent leader for our party. But each of our 63,000 members has to make a decision about who will be best placed to sustain media and public interest in the important message we have for Britain.

"I will be proud to use my vote to support Nick Clegg. Nick represents a constituency well away from London and the South East and recognises the distinct identities that places like Cornwall have.

"In particular, Nick's plans for additional education funding for the most deprived children and areas of the country would see a radical change to the approach of successive governments, which have neglected Cornish schools for decades.

"After a difficult period for the party, this leadership election presents us with an opportunity to convince the millions of people who share our liberal convictions - who want to see a genuinely different Britain - to support us as the gathering point for change. Nick's leadership is that opportunity. I urge members across Cornwall to seize it with both hands."