Holmes Backs Huhne for Lib Dem Leader

Paul Holmes, one of the leading left of centre voices in the Liberal Democrats, today backed Chris Huhne to be party leader.

Mr Holmes, the MP for Chesterfield, is Shadow Housing Minister and a former Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party (Nov 2005 - Oct 2007). He is a founder member, in 2001, of the Beveridge Group committed to a high standard of public services and to a more equal society.

Mr Holmes said:

"As Chair of the Parliamentary Party I met weekly with Ming and saw him at work throughout the week at Shadow Cabinet and Party meetings of all kinds. He was an excellent leader who oversaw the modernisation of the Party's internal workings, appointed a talented Shadow Cabinet incorporating a wide range of views and spoke with knowledge and passion not only on foreign affairs and civil liberties but on the social justice agenda that brought me into politics a quarter of a century ago. Last weeks crocodile tears from the same press that hounded him on grounds of his age were a disgrace."

"I am backing Chris Huhne as our next Leader for a range of reasons:

He had a very successful career before entering politics and adds to that his depth of political experience having fought two earlier General Elections before later serving for 6 years as a Euro MP and then being elected to Westminster. Chris understands the real world outside of politics but he understands too, from personal experience, what it is like for our candidates fighting seats all over the country.

As our Environment Spokesman he has developed policies that put us streets ahead of the other major parties and has eclipsed both his Conservative opposite number and the Minister.

In the last Leadership contest Chris came from nowhere to set the policy agenda and take 42% of the vote. In the media and face to face at Hustings meetings Chris enthused our members while three quarters of his policy initiatives during that contest have since become Party Policy.

Above all for me is the importance Chris automatically places on social justice issues. It was evident when he chaired the Huhne Commission in 2002. It was evident again when he argued in Reinventing The State (published this September), that the answer to reforming our Education and Health systems was not Tory/New Labour style cut throat market forces but local accountability to local communities. It was evident in his declaration of his candidacy as Leader last week when he said 'it is disgusting that we live in a country where a child born into poverty has a life sentence.'

The choice agenda has seen Child Poverty increase from 15% in 1979 to 30% in 2007. The collapse of social house building since 1995 has created a housing crisis unprecedented since 'Cathy Come Home' in the late 1960's. We have one of the worst State Pensions in Western Europe. We need a Leader who automatically understands this and knows that the party of Lloyd George, Beveridge and Keynes cannot tolerate this. Chris Huhne impresses me as being that person."

Chris Huhne said: "I'm delighted that Paul is joining the campaign, and is going to take an active role leading it in the campaign team. I care passionately about the Social Liberal tradition that Paul exemplifies in our parliamentary group."