Brian Paddick Joins Liberal Democrat Team in Walthamstow

2.57.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 28th Jan 2008

Your local Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Farid Ahmed, said he was "delighted" to welcome Lib Dem Mayoral candidate to Walthamstow, promising to "fight hard to make sure the voices of Walthamstow residents are heard loud and clear"

Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick came to Walthamstow on Saturday to speak to residents and give his backing to Farid Ahmed and the Walthamstow Liberal Democrat team.

Mr Paddick, who was previously the Deputy Assistant Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, was in Waltham Forest to see first hand some of the problems affecting the area under the Labour Government and the Labour London Mayor, Ken Livingstone. As part of his visit, he outlined his vision for the future of Walthamstow, speaking to local residents about his plans to cut crime in London by 5% during each year of his first term as Mayor. He also discussed the need to increase the stock of affordable social housing whilst protecting London's limited 'green spaces'.

Brian Paddick and your Walthamstow Lib Dem team. (L to R): Cllr James O'Rourke, Cllr Sean Meiszner, Farid Ahmed, Brian Paddick, Cllr Bob Belam and Cllr John Macklin.

Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Farid Ahmed, then accompanied Mr Paddick on his tour of Waltham Forest, where he visited neighbouring Leyton to give his support to Winnie Smith, the party's candidate in the ward's upcoming council by-election.

The election has been caused by the expulsion of the former Labour councillor Miranda Grell, who was convicted last year of smearing her Lib Dem opponent and lying to Leyton residents by telling them that he was a paedophile.

As part of Mr Paddick's visit, the London Mayoral candidate took a tour of a local mosque and lent his support to the local Liberal Democrat campaign against Labour's local Post Office closure programme.

Your local Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Farid Ahmed, said:

"I was delighted to welcome Brian Paddick to Walthamstow.

"I was very interested to hear Brian's ideas for London, and welcomed the opportunity to speak to him about the issues affecting my own area, Walthamstow, such as the Government's mismanagement of arts and culture provision.

"As the Liberal Democrat candidate to be the next local Member of Parliament, I will continue to fight hard to make sure the voices of Walthamstow residents are heard loud and clear, and that the real issues affecting our area are not swept under the carpet."