South Lincolnshire Liberal Democrats

Congratulations to Jane Dodds and the Welsh Lib Dems for the brilliant result in Brecon and Radnorshire! Thank you to everyone of you who helped, both by appearing in the constituency to knock on doors and deliver leaflets, and for those who phoned, helped with admin tasks from a distance too. Jane is already showing that she will be an exceptional MP, joining Jo Swinson's parliamentary party.

There are plenty of similarities between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery - maybe it's Johnson's way of sucking up for that trade deal. Which probably makes him the only person in the country looking forward to chlorinated chicken.

In fact, in a speech a while, Trump said "they call [Johnson] Britain Trump and people are saying that's a good thing. They like me over there."*

People are fed up of seeing politicians arguing for things that put their party's interest above the country. We have to come together to prevent Boris Johnson crashing us out the EU without a deal. I'm proud of the work that the Liberal Democrats have done with MPs from all parties and none to make stopping Brexit a real possibility.

Coming straight off the back of the Brecon and Radnorshire campaign, we launched our election campaign for Sheffield Hallam at the weekend, with more than 100 people who joined us to knock on doors, deliver leaflets, and help with clerical work in the office.

It seems like promising Lib Dem by-elections are like buses - you wait for a long time and then two come along at once!

In just eleven weeks, however, our country faces an immediate crisis: crashing out of the EU without any deal. The most cavalier and catastrophic of Brexits: putting at risk hundreds of thousands of jobs , public services including our NHS , and even our national security.

So in this moment of national emergency, I stand ready to work with anyone to stop Boris Johnson and his hard-line Brexit government.

Our party is going from strength to strength.

We now have more than 116,000 members, as well as almost 15,000 registered supporters.

Our team in the House of Commons is growing too. A little over a week ago, we welcomed Jane Dodds as our newest MP.

Today, we welcome another addition to our team. Dr Sarah Wollaston.

After very careful thought, I have come to the conclusion that I can best serve the interests of my constituents by joining the Liberal Democrats.

Brexit has not only sucked all the political oxygen from government over the past three years, but it has also consumed the funding and energy that should have been invested in local communities, tackling climate change and supporting the workforce and infrastructure of our NHS, schools and transport.

I can think of about 350 million reasons why a promise from Boris Johnson isn't worth the paper (or bus) it's written on.

The Government promised that the rights of EU citizens wouldn't change after Brexit. So did Vote Leave - many of whose senior figures are now Government officials.

But now we're hearing that if Brexit happens, the Government plans to make EU citizens pay to use the NHS.

As well as fighting the impending County Council election on purely local issues (and building on the party's reputation for community engagement), Rutland and Melton Liberal Democrats are also gearing up for the possibility of a General Election that many now expect will be held in the autumn. Nationally the Liberal Democrats are firm in their opposition to a "no deal" exit from the EU, and indeed have consistently supported remaining within the Union. A hard Brexit would have serious implications for our rural community.

The election for a new county councillor for Ryhall and Casterton has been announced for Thursday 12th September. The Liberal Democrats, who tripled their councillors in the recent local elections and have seen a 35% increase in membership so far this year in the Rutland and Melton constituency, will be fielding a strong local candidate who lives in the ward. Beverley Wrigley-Pheasant, who has previous experience of serving as a Lib Dem councillor for the ward of Witham, Thurby and Norththorpe on the South Kesteven District Council some years ago, says: