Martin Brookes Oakham

Rutland & Melton Liberal Democrats have selected Edward Reynolds as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the 2017 General Election, and they launched their election campaign on Monday at Oakham Castle. Speaking to the assembled crowd of supporters, Edward said:

"I am delighted to stand for the people of Rutland and Melton at a time when our future hangs in the balance. The position of the Liberal Democrats is resonating with huge swathes of people across the country and we are excited to have topped over 100,000 members, with a huge 20% increase across our own constituency since the election was announced. Every government needs to be held to account and people are realising that the Liberal Democrats are rapidly emerging as the real voice of opposition. Only the Lib Dems are fighting to stop a disastrous hard Brexit.
"I believe that Labour under Jeremy Corbyn would also be a disaster for our county and God help us if the Tories get a large majority; they will privatise the NHS, cut funding to our local schools and abandon those in society who need our help and support.
"The Lib Dems can be proud of our record in government; not only did we deliver a stronger economy, but we also implemented social policies that benefitted the young, the elderly and the vulnerable with our policies on free school meals, more free childcare, increasing the income tax-threshold, equal marriage and the triple-lock pension.
"Having lived in the constituency for virtually my whole life, I know how crucial it is that we improve our rural transport links and we keep our local hospitals open, as well as upgrading mobile & broadband connectivity. I want to focus my campaign on these types of local issues.
"People are disengaged from politics and trust in politicians is at an all-time low. The public are fed up with MPs who don't seem to live in the real world. I hope I can reconnect voters to the political process & start rebuilding trust in politicians. If elected I would always listen to my constituents, their views would always come first. After 150 years of Tory MPs in our constituency and 25 years of Alan Duncan, It's time for a change!"

Ed is 40, and he is a truly a local candidate who was born here, and now lives and works here. His family were tenant farmers in Cold Overton for 50 years. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate in the constituency in the 2015 election.

After attending the University of the West of England he returned to Oakham where he lives with his wife Robyn and 18-month-old daughter Tilly. He has worked in renewable energy for the last 10 years, and currently works for a biomass company near Melton. In rare moments of spare time he grabs the chance to pull on his boots and play for Oakham RFC.