The local elections in May next year might seem a long way off, but the Liberal Democrats are already gearing up to offer a better alternative for Plymouth.

I'm your candidate for Plymstock Dunstone, where Liberal Democrats in your area will be working hard to make sure I can represent you on Plymouth City Council.

Author of "Finding Relly", Rosemary Schonfeld, joined Plymouth Liberal Democrats on Friday 28th August to talk about her book and the parallels between the politics of the thirties and today. Members had the opportunity to speak with Rosemary and discuss her experience of exploring her family history and of meeting Relly. Rosemary also discussed her work with schools and ensuring personal stories of the Holocaust are not lost with time.

Plymouth Liberal Democrats joined other local parties in the region on Monday morning (29th of June), to take part in a question and answer session with acting leader Ed Davey MP.

The session was Chaired by Caroline Voaden from the South Hams local party, and was attended by many across the region. Ed outlined his ambitions for the party and his leadership campaign, along with details of a Green Recovery Plan. Questions were asked by members on a range of topics from coronavirus response, green economy for the South West, NHS wastage in contracts, membership and diversity, as well as looking at Ed's experience over the last years as an MP.

On Thursday 25th June, Plymouth Liberal Democrats welcomed leadership hopeful Layla Moran MP. The event took place online and Sima Davarian chaired the event, with many people from local parties in the region attending the evening.

Layla addressed her focuses in the leadership campaign, as well as outlining some of the recent work she has been involved with. Questions were asked from members in regards to diversity, winning seats/elections against the grain, visions for a future society, party response to the covid-19 crisis, education, and the economy. Members were invited to ask further questions to Layla via email and encouraged to give continuous feedback through the leadership campaign.

Devon and Cornwall Liberal Democrats have launched a petition urging the UK Government not to give in to pressure from Donald Trump to drop our high animal welfare and food production standards in exchange for a trade deal.

We believe we should be cutting food miles and supporting our local farmers, not threatening their livelihoods.

As a local political party, we have been paying very close attention to the unfolding developments concerning the new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19. The World Health Organisation has declared a global pandemic, calling for "urgent and aggressive action". Here in Plymouth, at the time of writing, we are fortunate that our city is still free of any confirmed cases. However, the City Council's Director of Public Health, Ruth Harrell, stated in her update yesterday that it is unlikely that we will remain so, and expects that we will see cases in Plymouth at some point.

Plymouth Liberal Democrats have been delighted to get back out on the campaign trail for the 2020 Local Elections. The team have been out meeting residents in Compton ward, with local candidate Sima Davarian. We have had lots of positive conversations on the doorstep and look forward to many more conversations over the coming weeks. You can find out more about Sima's campaign on her Facebook page. We look forward to updating you with further developments over the course of our campaigning.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us, joined our campaign team and donated towards our efforts. We could not have done it without you.

It has been a disappointing General Election outcome nationally. However, it was a privilege supporting Sarah Wollaston's campaign in Totnes. It is a huge shame that such a brilliant and principled MP was not re-elected as a Liberal Democrat. It was also a disappointing result for Danny Chambers in North Cornwall.

It's the final day of the General Election campaign. We have a great team spreading the Liberal Democrat message and fighting for a Brighter Future. Together we can Stop Brexit, fund the NHS, tackle the Climate Emergency and invest in our services. Make sure you get out and vote tomorrow.

There are only two more days of campaigning to go before election day! Plymouth Lib Dems have made a huge effort over the course of the campaign. Locally, we have campaigned in South West Devon and Plymouth Moor View, although we have candidates standing in all three Plymouth constituencies. We have also supported Liberal Democrat candidates across Devon and Cornwall, with a particular focus on Sarah Wollaston's campaign in Totnes.

You may be aware of a story in the media suggesting that the Liberal Democrats have stood down for Labour in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport. Naturally, this has attracted questions, so we are making this statement to clarify our position.

At the start of the General Election campaign, the Plymouth Liberal Democrats Executive decided that the best use of our resources was to campaign in seats where we either have a chance of returning a Liberal Democrat MP, or where we can challenge a sitting MP who supports Brexit. Consequently, we have not run a campaign on the ground in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport. Instead we have focused on South West Devon, Plymouth Moor View, and neighbouring seats; particularly Totnes. The Liberal Democrat candidate, Graham Reed, is standing in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, so that voters are provided with the opportunity to vote for the Liberal Democrats.

In addition to our local campaigning activity, Lib Dems from Plymouth and South West Devon have been sending out teams to help the campaigns in seats across the South West. In particular, we have been helping the excellent Sarah Wollaston, so that she is re-elected as the Lib Dem MP for Totnes, but we have also had members visiting seats such as St Ives and North Cornwall. Here are a few recent photos from the campaign trail.

The Lib Dem campaign in South West Devon has made fantastic progress. Sima and her team have been out campaigning with local party members and supporters. Lots of leaflets have been delivered, lots of great conversations with local residents have taken place, and lots of battling the elements has been necessary during this winter election! With two weeks to go, our team is still hard at work.

Sarah Martin is standing against the Conservatives, in Plymouth Moor View, as the voice of remain. Under the Conservatives, our economy will be hit by a damaging Tory Brexit. Furthermore, our public services are underfunded, and not enough is being done to tackle the climate emergency. The Liberal Democrats have a deliverable plan to solve these issues build a brighter future. Read Sarah's leaflet below to find out more.

Lib Dems have been out across South West Devon supporting your local Parliamentary candidate Sima Davarian. Not only will Sima make an excellent MP, but a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote to stop Brexit, solve the climate emergency, and rescue the NHS. It's been fantastic to see so many members and supporters joining the campaign, and we look forward to sharing more news via our website and social media channels.

This is about Dennis. Dennis is not a candidate and not famous (until now). Dennis is the man who delivers the stakeboards and window posters in the South West Devon constituency. Most of the people are in densely populated suburbs around the eastern side of Plymouth, and a couple of smaller towns, but most of the constituency is very rural, running from Dartmoor down through the South Hams to the sea. We joked about Dennis delivering by boat, on a day when heavy rain and flooded roads prevented some people from getting home, and the trains didn't run on time, or even at all in some cases. But what he mainly had to contend with was mud. The South Hams "area of outstanding natural beauty" is in November an area of outstanding mud. We don't know exactly why we have to have an election in December, but we do know for sure why it's not usually chosen.
Anyway stakeboards are up in strategic locations, for the first people who volunteered to have them, and more to come. And a heap of posters to go out for windows.
On the map, the northern part where there are no place names, we don't deliver there, no-one lives on the hills there but sheep and ponies. And you can see the neighbouring constituency of Totnes, for all that Totnes is a pretty little town, it's a very rural area, with no real conurbation, and also runs from the moors to the sea coast. Around the country there must be many people like Dennis in wilder locations, and with winter coming on, not an easy job. Which leads us to wonder ... does anyone actually deliver by boat ?

Sima Davarian for South West Devon

Find out more about Sima here

Sarah Martin for Plymouth Moor View

Find out more about Sarah here

Graham Reed for Plymouth Sutton & Devonport

Find out more about Graham here

GRAHAM REED - LIBERAL DEMOCRAT - PLYMOUTH SUTTON AND DEVONPORT

Graham stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Constituency in 2015 and for Moor View in 2017. He is delighted to have another chance to represent Plymouth.

Graham worked for many years manufacturing scientific apparatus for industry and science. He gained a degree in politics and was a City Councillor for five years. That work, representing local people in the community, gave him valuable experience and understanding to be able to tackle the major issues facing Plymouth and the West Country. He is currently Parish Councillor for Bere Ferrers. He is a lifelong supporter of liberal values and has always fought for these basic core principals and goals: a fairer voting system to ensure everyone has true, democratic representation; a strong and competent economy, a sustainable Environment, good housing, proper education and health care for all. He strongly supports co-operative owned businesses and Societies and is a director for Tamar Energy Community, an energy-saving co-op that is fighting Climate Change.

Sima is a secondary school English teacher and is standing as parliamentary candidate in South West Devon. She grew up in South West Devon experiencing the rural nature of the constituency on a daily basis, where her maternal grandfather had strong links with the local farming community. Wherever she has studied or travelled, the rolling green hills of the constituency are always a sure sign that she is nearly home.