Just click on the link below to hear Elisabeth talking about Lib Dem proposals for positive change in Halifax.

Ashley Evans and Elisabeth Wilson

On Saturday all four of the Warley team went to the clean-up in Warley village:  Elisabeth Wilson, Parliamentary candidate, Cllr Jennifer Pearson, Cllr Robert Pearson and Ashley Evans, candidate for Warley ward.  About 40 people turned up despite the persistent rain.  The aim of the cleanup was to help prepare for the “in Bloom” judges who will come round in early April.  We worked on a back lane, clearing weeds and tidying up.

Pauline Nash, Stephen Gow and Elisabeth Wilson at the Godfrey Road busstop.

The Skircoat ward Lib Dem team (Cllr Stephen Gow, Skircoat ward candidate Pauline Nash, and parliamentary candidate Elisabeth Wilson) have been out and about in Skircoat Green with a survey about changes in bus services.

On January the 25^th the number of peak time buses through Skircoat Green reduced from 6 to 1.

• The 531 service now runs hourly
• The 36 became the 31 service and only runs off peak

In order to make representations to Metro to get a better deal for local residents, the Skircoat team have been calling door to door with a survey on bus usage.  So far they have had a very good response and hope to collate replies soon.

If you would like to complete the survey, please download and send as soon as possible to: councillor.sgow@calderdale.gov.uk OR

Pauline Nash, The Old Sheldon Dairy, Heath Road Halifax HX1

There are 4 pages:

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Many thanks

Elisabeth Wilson with Susan Kramer MP and other Lib Dem activists at "The Wave"

Elisabeth was a founder member and is a continuing supporter of Treesponsibility, which plants trees in the Calderdale area and campaigns against climate change. She has personally planted 100s of trees.  Children from Mount Pellon and Beech primary schools in Halifax have been involved in planting trees and forest activities with Treesponsibility.

Elisabeth was delighted when Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems introduced a  debate on 21^st October 2009 in parliament, demanding government support for the 10:10 campaign. This asks individuals and organizations to commit to reducing their carbon footprint by 10% in 2010.

Elisabeth has signed up to 10:10.

On 5 December 2009 she was one of many 1000s of activists who went to demonstrate in “The Wave” outside Parliament, just before the talks on climate change started in Copenhagen.

So what has Elisabeth done since?

Things that have saved me money or cost nothing

• I have turned down my thermostat
• I shut the door to one room, and turned off the heating altogether
• I use the train or bus as much as possible
• I’m eating vegan food three days a week
• I take my own bags shopping
• Had an “eco” driving lesson to learn how to drive economically

Things that have cost me money – but will save it in the long run

• I’ve had my bedroom ceilings lowered and insulated
• There’s an extra door on the stairs from my basement kitchen so that the heat doesn’t escape upstairs
• I’ve changed my car to one with much lower emissions
• I bought thermal curtain linings
• I bought a bike

Things that I think are the right thing to do:

• My electricity supply from Good Energy is 100% from renewable sources
• I use the Phone Coop, which is ethical and green
• I put food waste in a wormery [it’s not collected where I live]
• I went on holiday to Switzerland by train
• I’m on the waiting list for an allotment
• I am a member of Friends of the Earth, the Ramblers, and the National Trust

Elisabeth has also been a member of a rail action group for 5 years.

Major surgery need on banks – Nick Clegg tells Elisabeth Wilson

Lib Dem candidate for Halifax, Elisabeth Wilson, took the opportunity to ask Nick Clegg, Lib Dem leader, about the future of banking at a “town hall meeting” in Bradford.  Pointing out that “the Halifax” had gone from a building society to a bank, to a bigger bank, and now part of the huge LloydsTSB group, she expressed her concern for the effects on local employment as well as financial stability.

Nick Clegg said banks needed major surgery.  There should be a tightly regulated sector for high street banks where the public could trust their savings – and if things went wrong they would be bailed out.

This sector should be completely separate from the risk taking activities that had caused the banking crisis, which he said was the fault of greedy banker. This had led to the current recession. In his view there should be a 10% levy on the profits of banks until the loan from the taxpayers was paid off.

Nick Clegg compared Lib Dem proposals to the weak efforts of the current Labour government, merely having a one-off tax on bonuses, which many banks were planning to get round.

Later in the evening Elisabeth Wilson was able to have more discussions about the concerns local people have for employment in the Halifax area with Nick Clegg.

Nick Clegg was visiting Bradford for a town hall meeting at the Karmand community centre, where members of the public could put any questions to him.

The picture shows Elisabeth Wilson, Lib Dem candidate for Halifax with Nick Clegg MP, Lib Dem leader

I attended a charity bazaar with Cllr Mohammed Ilyas,in aid of the Haiti appeal set up by Islamic Relief.  This was held at the Calderdale Multicultural Activity Centre, Akeds Road.

Admiring glass painting with Cllr Mohammed Ilyas

I was also aware of a lot of other fundraising activities going on in Halifax, for instance Rotary outside Tescos.

Experienced campaigner Dr Elisabeth Wilson has been chosen by Halifax Liberal Democrats to fight the 2010 general election.  She is well known in the area, as a former County Councillor, member of the Calderdale health authority, town councillor and mayor of Todmorden, and school governor.  Elisabeth has experience of fighting two previous general elections.  In 2005 she held the vote at 25% in Colne Valley constituency in a tough three-way fight.

Elisabeth Wilson holds MBA and PhD degrees and is currently self-employed as a lecturer and consultant.  She has worked for both Manchester University and Bradford University School of Management, and from January to March 2009 she was a visiting professor at the University of Ahfad, Omdurman, Sudan, a women’s university. She has undertaken short assignments overseas for the Department for International Development and UNESCO.

Elisabeth Wilson is a Quaker (member of the Society of Friends).  She lives in Slaithwaite, very near Halifax.  She has two adult children and one granddaughter. Her hobbies include theatre, yoga, walking, and decorating celebration cakes – you can find out more about her on Facebook.

Halifax Liberal Democrats will soon be meeting in order to set out a timetable for the selection process of a new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Halifax constituency.

Until a General Election is called, no party can have a candidate for election, but parties normally chose to select a potential candidate in advance who will then act as the party’s parliamentary spokesman and campaign on parliamentary issues within the constituency.

Halifax Lib Dems regret the decision of previous PPC Diane Park to resign from the role and withdraw from party politics, and hope that the new PPC will be able to build on the work she carried out.

LIB DEMS DOUBLE WIN IN HALIFAX This years local election results proved to be historic for Halifax Liberal Democrats, there are now more Lib Dem councillors in Halifax than ever before on Calderdale Council. Results Highlights Lib Dems win as residents demand action in Park ward Labour lose Park ward election as Lib Dems Secure 200+ majority. The residents of Park ward in Halifax ousted veteran Labour Cllr following a close and hard fought election campaign. Many residents moved to back Mohammed Ilyas the Lib Dem candidate as they felt taken for granted by labour representatives Shortly after the result was declared the Winning Lib Dem Candidate Ilyas said “I am honoured to have been trusted by the residents to fight for them over next 4 years. My priorities are to get a modern community centre for all residents and clean up the ward so that people can feel proud of where they live” Massive Majority for hard working Lib Dems in Warley ward Another Massive win in Warley ward for Lib Dems following on from last years big win for Lib Dems in Warley Ward residents back the team that work tirelessly for them. Robert Pearson has been elected by over 50% of voters who gave their second endorsement of the Lib Dems in 12 months. The hard work and tireless effort of the Lib Dem Team saw Robert win a majority of almost 1000 over his rivals. He takes his seat in the council along side fellow ward councillor Jennifer Pearson, on hearing the result Robert was overjoyed “It’s fantastic to know that all our work for residents has been rewarded today. I will not take there support for granted, working with Jennifer [Pearson] we will continue to fight to get the best for every resident” Commenting on the results Halifax Liberal Democrats Chairperson Pam Burton Said “We are delighted with these results they show that the Lib Dems are able to win anywhere in Calderdale”

Cllr Jennifer Pearson is dismayed at the decision of the Conservative Cabinet to close Pellon library. She reports that, “Liberal Democrats tried to get the Cabinet to reconsider this decision. We got the support of Labour Councillors but the Conservatives would not listen, even though they were outvoted in full Council.”. “When Pellon Library closes, Warley will be the only ward in Calderdale without its own library. I was disappointed that I was the only one of the three Warley Councillors to argue for a better library service for Pellon. Unfortunately, we are likely to end up with nothing more than a couple of extra stops from the mobile library and that’s just not good enough, said Jennifer.”