New PPC selected for Hitchin & Harpenden

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 9th Sep 2007

Nigel Quinton - new PPC for Hitchin & Harpenden

Hitchin & Harpenden Liberal Democrats are pleased to announce the selection of Nigel Quinton as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate at the next general election - which could be as soon as October. Nigel has very strong links locally, having worked in Harpenden since 1988, and lived in Markyate, St Albans and now Lemsford.

Nigel originally trained as a geologist, and after graduating from Cambridge worked for BP before helping to set up and run a succession of small oil companies based in Harpenden, the last of which - Sterling Energy plc - was very successful prior to Nigel's leaving at the end of 2004.

Nigel is an active District Councillor on Welwyn Hatfield District Council and is especially interested in environmental and health issues. In his spare time, Nigel captains Bamville Cricket Club's Sunday team on Harpenden's East Common, and is a member of Happy Herts Orienteering Club.

Says Nigel: "I am delighted to have been chosen by the local party to fight this seat and look forward to meeting residents to discuss Liberal Democrat policies and how they will be of benefit to them.

"I will also work to ensure voters are aware that we offer a distinctive voice in the country. When both the other parties are seemingly joined at the hip on so many issues, be it foreign policy, education, excessive centralisation of power, or the self-serving maintenance of the current outdated voting system, it is the Liberal Democrats that offer an alternative vision of a modern and far greener Liberal Britain.

"Thanks to the efforts of my predecessor Hannah Hedges, the Liberal Democrats are the main challengers to the Tories and Peter Lilley in Hitchin & Harpenden, and we now have twice as many local Councillors as Labour who slipped into 3rd place in the last General Election."