Lib Dems : Local and National

7.53.37pm GMT Wed 10th Feb 2010

In the past 18 months there have been 4 by-elections in the new Filton & Bradley Stoke constituency with Liberal Democrats winning 2 of them. Bradley Stoke returned Liberal Democrat councillors on South Gloucestershire Council for 12 years before the local elections in 2007 and the Conservatives are now trying to convince you that it's a 2 horse race between them and Labour, but if you look at the facts and "Real Votes in Real Ballot Boxes" it shows that Labour are struggling to make any impact on the ground and are trailing a poor third.

why voting Lib Dem matters---locally

During a by-election held in the Meadowbank Ward of Bradley Stoke in November last year, Lib Dems started distributing street surveys which will eventually be delivered to every home in the town. The survey asks a range of questions from "Do you agree that speed humps should be removed from roads in Bradley Stoke?" to "Do you support compulsory ID cards?". Interestingly both these questions had an almost 50/50 split response. Another question in the survey asks "Should Bradley Stoke Town councillors live in Bradley Stoke?" Amazingly 92% of residents responses so far said YES. Despite this overwhelming number of people agreeing, another Conservative councillor who doesn't live in the town was elected onto the town council at the by-election.

Why voting Lib Dem matters...nationally

We propose to raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax from current levels to £10,000, cutting the average working age person's income tax bill by £700 and cutting pensioner's income tax bills by £100. These plans will mean that almost 4 million people on low incomes will no longer have to pay any income tax at all. We want to radically rebalance the tax system, cutting taxes for people on low and middle incomes which we will pay for by cutting reliefs and closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest.