Webchat with Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, on Friday 2 June at 1pm

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, on Friday 2 June at 1pm.

Tim has been MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005 and was elected leader of the Lib Dems in July 2015. He has also held roles as party spokesman for youth, rural affairs and home affairs, as well as being national party president from 2011 to 2015.

The Lib Dem manifesto for the election on June 8 includes a second referendum on the Brexit deal, a 1p income tax increase to raise funds for the NHS and social care, opposition to the planned expansion of grammar schools, the extension of free childcare to all two-year-olds, and an additional month’s paid paternity leave for fathers.

Please do join the chat on Friday at 1pm, or if you can’t make it, leave a question here in advance. Please do share the webchat on social - the more, the merrier!

As always, please remember our webchat guidelines - one question each, follow-ups if there’s time and please keep it civil.

(As we approach the General Election we will endeavour to offer you a balanced diet of webchats with politicians from different parties; we hope to have more announcements soon.)

Thanks
MNHQ

I live in an area where the LibDems could defeat the Tories so it matters a great deal to me.

What a great man, politician and efficient responder.
Lib dems will live to fight another day I think! I'd vote for them if I wasn't in a Tory-labour marginal seat, got to get those Tories out.

A vote not used is wasted, mucky. I don't want a Labour or a Tory government, so I'm not voting tactically to get the former in as the idea they are much more palatable than the latter is false to me.
I really like the 1p on income tax suggestion. So while I hold reservations about some other policies (legalising cannabis) I am prepared to vote for what I would prefer. Doubt a vote for any other party would shift the Tories, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to use my vote.

There are a few, mucky. I'm in one. Labour have no chance here and it's very close between lib dem and Tory (even more so since UKIP have stepped aside and endorsed the Tories).

And if you believe your vote is wasted in your own constituency but feel the need to do something, there is still plenty of door knocking etc you can do in neighbouring constituencies this weekend/next week. It's not too late, and you might feel a little better on 9th June for getting out there whatever the result.

If everybody stopped tactical voting & voted for the party they actually wanted, it would go a lot further in redressing the balance and lend more weight & credibility to the idea of PR or STV.

On the other hand the fact that people are feeling the need to vote tactically demonstrates fairly clearly that there is a problem and that we need to look at PR again.

In normal times I wouldn't give much thought to tactical voting, but these are not normal times. There is way too much power being concentrated in the hands of one party.

Tim went straight from here to do a Twitter chat (with video responses) mobile.twitter.com/timfarron

I hope he managed to grab a sandwich in between!

The only wasted votes are the ones where people don't get off their backsides to get down to the polling station.

Jeremy Corbyn watch and learn. Outclassed!

Oh, I've just read that Tim Farron is projected to lose his seat to a Tory. This makes me sad.

Tory cuntscuts

Oh, I've just read that Tim Farron is projected to lose his seat to a Tory. This makes me sad.

Nick Cleggs is in a fight for his as is Robertson from SNP too.

If Farron and Robertson go has there ever been a time when 2 leaders of parties lose their seats?

I know quite a few folk in Moray who are very anti SNP - but I'm sure there are several who are very pro aswell.

It's a tricky seat because there's a large military presence which is a constantly shifting electorate but a large anti-military feeling in the area too.

Jeremy Corbyn watch and learn. Outclassed!

This is a first class web chat, thank you Tim Farron and thank you Mumsnet HQ and all posters. What a pleasure to find a politician who takes questions seriously, answers them with respect and honesty, and gives his time so willingly. I was really disgusted by the contempt Jeremy Corbyn showed to future voters in his web chat, so I am really impressed and delighted by this. I do not agree with everything said here, but I do appreciate the thoughtfulness and basic decency of this man. Good luck Tim!

Hi iv had The marina coil in for 9yyrs and iv suddenly started bleeding will it still work?and could you get pregnant on it ? What can i do x
thNks x

I'm not sure Tim can help with that one, wade, try starting your own thread!

piglet

Three times. 1945: Sinclair (Lib) & Brown (Lib Nats); 1935: Samuel (Lib) & Ramsay Mac (Nat Lab); 1918: Dillon (Irish PP) & Asquith (Lib).

Twitter helpfully informs me!

Thanks Noble

I think Tim and Nick will hold on

Just caught up with the end of this - what a great webchat and I'm touched by Tim's response to my question.

Oh, I've just read that Tim Farron is projected to lose his seat to a Tory. This makes me sad.

Where did you read that? I was in Kendal visiting family the other day and it was just a sea of orange posters. Hardly anything else in sight. Maybe the other parties are just less vocal though. He's really popular up there though. I'd be surprised (and gutted!) if that happened.

Electoral calculus has him maintaining a majority of 6%

Phew, I just checked and it was from polling data before the Tories released their manifesto and everyone woke up to what tossers they are.

Hang in there Tim!

The only Conservative billboard I saw up in Tim's neck of the woods had been comprehensively defaced with DON'T VOTE FOR THE ..... and something pithy about the dementia tax

There's another one about NHS cuts by the roundabout at the north entrance and on Windermere rd one altered to add school cuts.

The Green Party aren't standing in Westmorland to encourage the Lib Dems instead.