MP hopeful chosen for the Cotswolds

11.53.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 11th Oct 2009

An experienced Gloucestershire Councillor has been chosen by the Lib Dems to be their prospective MP in the Cotswolds.

Mike Collins, 46 years old and born and bred in Gloucestershire was yesterday selected to fight the forthcoming General Election against sitting MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown. He is a Gloucestershire County Councillor and has also been a Tewkesbury Borough Councillor and is a former mayor of Bradley Stoke. He has three children and works for Airbus.

Speaking after the hustings meeting, at which local Lib Dem members gave him an overwhelming 80% of the vote, Cllr Collins said: "I was delighted to be selected today as the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Cotswold Constituency. A lot of unseen work goes into these campaigns and you never know how well you have done until the results are read out. I have received some fantastic pledges of support and I would like to thank everyone for their kind words and best wishes."

"The real hard work starts now because the people in the Cotswold Constituency deserve a change. We've had the same MP for seventeen years and he's become complacent, to the point that he won't even apologise when he's made a serious mistake with his expenses and let everyone down. The general election could be as little as six months away and the Liberal Democrat campaign starts here. Do we want to give this man another five years in parliament, when he has already made unforgivable errors of judgement?"

Mike Collins

"It's time for a change, so I pledge to the people of the Cotswolds that I will do my best to represent them in a fair and honest way."