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Kishan Devani BEM elected to Board of London Liberal Democrats

After 3 successful years serving on the National Board of the Liberal Democrats, Professor Kishan Devani has been elected to the Executive/Board of the London.

The London Liberal Democrats bring together borough parties from across the capital as we work to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society to take London forward. The London Liberal Democrats are the regional party of the Liberal Democrats that operates across Greater London. It encompasses all 32 Boroughs and 73 Constituencies in London.

Kishan expressed his joy at being elected to serve on the Executive/Board “I am humbled and honoured to be elected onto London Liberal Democrats Executive. I have seen the immensely good work the London Liberal Democrats do and to be part of such a great team is huge honour. I look forward to serving alongside colleagues to bring about a more fairer, greener, caring and liberal London”

One of the youngest BAME Freemen of the City of London as well as a seasoned politician, consultant and educator, his work has been pioneering in the area of community cohesion within the British-Asian community. Since leaving university ten years ago, he has engaged young Asian people to get involved in British civic life through talks at schools, colleges and universities, with the aim of inspiring them to join the fields of politics, education and social service.

He has previously served as Deputy Chairman of the London Conservative Party, becoming the youngest politician of ethnic minority background to be appointed to the role, before leaving to join the Liberal Democrats. He previously serves as a National Board Member of the Lib Dems and is currently Vice President of the Liberal Democrats Campaign for Race Equality and Hon.Vice President of the Green Liberal Democrats, aswell as serving on the Board of the Lib Dems Business Network.

Kishan was honoured by Her Majesty the Queen in Her New Years Honour’s List 2020 with the BEM (British Empire Medal) for Services to Community Cohesion. Kishan was also made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015 and was honoured with the Freedom of the City of London – making him one of the youngest BAME Freemans of London.

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‘Party is over Mr Johnson’

Thousands of lifelong Conservative voters, dismayed by Boris Johnson’s lack of decency and fed up with being taken for granted & thousands of lifelong Labour voters, choosing to lend their votes to our candidate who could defeat the Conservatives … writes Kishan Devani BEM FRSA

Millions of people across Britain are fed up with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his failure to provide leadership throughout the pandemic and last night the voters of North Shropshire spoke for all of them.

A swing of 34.1% puts the North Shropshire result among the best every by-election victory in British politics. We’ve now beaten the Conservatives in two of their safest seats this year in two very different parts of the country.

I think the Liberal Democrats have now proven the Conservatives can be beaten, and beaten anywhere. This is One of the most sensational by-election victories in British political history.

Kishan Devani BEM FRSA with Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey

Liberal Democrats won a 34.1% swing in North Shropshire, even a swing half that size would see us win 57 seats from the Conservatives at a General Election. The Boris Bubble has well and truly burst…

What’s extraordinary about this remarkable Lib Dem win is that North Shropshire voted leave in the referendum. Five years on from six in ten voters in North Shropshire voting for Brexit, the party that campaigned so hard to remain – the Liberal Democrats will now represent it in the Commons.

Mr Boris Johnson, the party is over’. Your government, run on lies and bluster, will be held accountable. It will be scrutinised, it will be challenged and it can and will be defeated.

Thousands of lifelong Conservative voters, dismayed by Boris Johnson’s lack of decency and fed up with being taken for granted & thousands of lifelong Labour voters, choosing to lend their votes to our candidate who could defeat the Conservatives.

Mr Manish Tiwari, a political pundit and expert in South Asian trends opined that “the switch of Indian voters from Labour to Conservative was a way of showing that it had access to power. This was its way of asserting itself as no more a mere migrant community driven by sympathy politics. However, there are fault lines as Conservative values are very often seen as a watered down by ‘imperialist’ vision and their big heroes such as Churchill have a colonial past which can never be truly accepted by Indians. However, there are even deeper conflicts with the Corbyn era Labour values which has failed to reflect the high aspirations of the well to do South Asian communities. Liberal Democrats suddenly have become a ‘new choice’ for the progressive, internationalist Indians and Asians as they want a party which is truly forward looking and not doctored by right or left wing conflicts.”

Sir Ed Davey MP Leader of the Liberal Democrats said: “North Shropshire may turn out to be a turning point. Remember how the Conservatives crowed after taking traditional Labour seats in the north of England? They said a generational shift had taken place – the default of voting the same way election after election, had been reset. They had breached the red wall. Well, earlier this year, in Buckinghamshire Liberal Democrats breached the Tories’ blue wall, with our victory in the Chesham and Amersham by-election. And now with North Shropshire yesterday, that progressive reset has occurred again. In village after village, through market towns and in farms across this beautiful stretch of countryside – once-lifelong Conservative voters have decided enough is enough.”

Liberal Democrats Party Treasurer Tilly McAuliffe also added “with this stunning victory, we have sent a powerful message to the Conservatives, that Liberal Democrats are a home for thousands of their former supporters who are decent people dismayed by Boris Johnson’s leadership.  People are fed up with being ignored and taken for granted by Johnson and the Conservatives. They’re appalled by this Government’s endless incompetence, scandals and sleaze.”

 Our new Lib Dem MP – Helen Morgan said in a victory speech: “Mr Johnson, you are no leader. Many of your predecessors took office because they believed in a sense of national service. That they were duty bound to do what they believed is right for our country. To represent all of us, even if we disagreed with them. Mr Johnson, this is not how you operate. Too often it is all about you and never about us.”

The Conservatives days in Number 10 are numbered and with the Lib Dems being able to beat the Conservatives in their strongholds the sky is the limit for Liberal Democrats across the country.

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‘Lib Dem Win A Warning Shot For Tories’

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Amanda Milling said voters’ concerns were “loud and clear” after the Lib Dem won the Chesham and Amersham by-election.

The Conservative government has been sent a “warning shot” by voters over planning reforms for England and the HS2 rail link, the co-chairman of the party Amanda Milling has said.

The byelection saw a historic 25% swing to Liberal Democrats, enabling their newest MP Sarah Green to overturn a 16,000-majority in a constituency that had been Conservative since it was created in 1974, the Guardian reported.

Sarah Green won with 8,028 more votes than the Conservatives, with the Green Party in third place. Labour had the worst by-election result in the party’s history, with 622 votes, the BBC reported.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, as quoted by BBC, Amanda Milling said voters’ concerns were “loud and clear” after the Lib Dems won the Chesham and Amersham by-election. She said the Conservatives would look at how they could regain their trust.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Pic Andrew Parsons No 10, Downing Street)

Milling says: “I am in no doubt that Thursday’s result is a warning shot and we are listening. And as co-chairman, I will ensure that we learn the lessons from this campaign.”

According to BBC report, local opposition to the HS2 high-speed rail line being built through the constituency and the government’s proposed changed to the planning system, which could see more homes being built in rural areas, were major factors in the poll.

Downing Street came under renewed pressure to ditch Johnson’s controversial planning reforms, which many blamed for the humiliating loss of the Buckinghamshire seat.

In her article, Milling says: “Over the coming weeks and months, we will take stock of what happened in Chesham and Amersham and look at how we can regain the trust of voters there.”

Lib Dem
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey

Addressing concerns the government’s focus on the so-called former red wall seats in the Midlands and North of England has left people in traditional “blue wall” Tory areas feeling left behind, Milling says the prime minister’s levelling up agenda “was a promise to people – North, South, East and West – to help them take the opportunities that our country and government can provide”, BBC reported.

Many Conservative MPs remain opposed to the plans and are using the by-election defeat to argue for a rethink before the government publishes draft legislation.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the result for his party as “disappointing”.

Appearing alongside Green at a victory rally in the Buckinghamshire constituency, Sir Ed Davey quoted as saying by BBC: “This is a great result, a huge swing to us. There are many Conservatives across the country who are now worried.

“People have been talking about a red wall, well after Chesham and Amersham and Sarah Green’s victory they’ll be talking about a blue wall, and how the Lib Dems are the main threat to the Conservatives.

“People here felt ignored and taken for granted, and we listened. Sarah Green is going to take these concerns to Parliament and hold this appalling Tory government to account,” he was quoted as saying.

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