Following the resignation of Cllr Penny Jackman from both Lymington and Pennington Town Council and New Forest District Council, there will be a by-election on Thursday 13th September to contest both a seat on the town council and a seat on the district council.

I can confirm that I have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the District vacancy and the Conservative Party, Labour Party and an Independent candidate are also contesting the seat.

The last time an election was fought on these boundaries was the town council by-election of 2016. In this election, I was victorious after pulling my name from a Bag for Life having tied with the Conservatives on 401 votes apiece. The Independent gained just over a quarter of that, with 119, and Labour gained just over 50 votes. If one Lib Dem voter had switched to either the Independent or Labour, the Conservatives would have won.

When it comes to the District Council, the Conservatives are making all the wrong decisions. They’ve decided to borrow £30 million to invest in commercial property rather than using the money to address our area’s need for social housing and their plans for Strategic Site Six in the local plan are simply not feasible and would damage our local area.

Pennington deserves better.