A Unite/Mori student survey carried out in January 2004 on voting intentions gives the Lib Dems a leading share of 34%, with Labour on 28% and the Tories third on 19%. Students will have a major impact in 2005, as the elections are expected during the university year, on May 5, unlike in 2001 when the elections fell during the holiday period.
Commenting on the launch of an online map to tell homeowners about flooding risks in England and Wales, Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, said:
Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy today launched the Liberal Democrat Pre-manifesto - the first important stage in the manifesto process, which will take the Party into the General Election.
Under new Liberal Democrat proposals police chiefs would sign contracts with local communities setting out how many officers they would deploy. The "minimum policing guarantees" would set funding levels for local police for a rolling three-year period. The guarantees are part of the party's new plans to tackle crime. The plans include using money earmarked for the government's ID card plan to hire an extra 10,000 front line police and 20,000 community support officers.
Liberal Democrat County Councillor Hazel Watson, who provided evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Parliamentary Select Committee on the rollout of Superfast Broadband in the villages and rural areas of Surrey, has welcomed the Select Committee's Report on the roll-out of Superfast Broadband.
Liberal Democrats are calling on Conservative run Surrey County Council to adopt proposals in a recently published report about carbon and energy policy which sets out ways in which the County Council could save money on its sky high energy bills and reduce its carbon emissions, benefiting the environment.
The recently published Surrey County Council Budget for 2015/16 has revealed a reduction of £400,000 in funding for Highways and Transport compared with this year. The Budget is set to be decided by the County Council on 10 February.
Surrey County Council 's Budget for 2015/16 was recently published by the Conservative administration at County Hall before being agreed at full Council on 10 February. The Budget reveals a large cut of nearly £2 million in services for young people and a £16 million increase in services for vulnerable adults.
In the run up to the County Council agreeing its Budget for 2015/16 on 10 February, Cllr Hazel Watson Leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition on the County Council said: "My message to the Conservative administration at County Hall is to stop wasting money and start protecting vital services for Surrey residents.
Conservatives will cut the education budget by £253 million in Surrey by 2020 if they were in Government on their own, official research shows.
