Lib Dems elect Scott president

Published on Saturday 8 November 2008 19:16

THE Liberal Democrats yesterday elected Baroness Ros Scott of Needham Market as their new president.

Scott, the party's communities and local government spokeswoman in the House of Lords, defeated prominent MP Lembit Opik by a margin of more than three to one in a ballot of Lib Dem members.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg congratulated her, adding her election gave him "a powerful team" to work towards the next general election.

Scott, a former leader of Suffolk County Council, promised to work to ensure that the Lib Dems remained a "genuine grassroots movement" in which "our members and activists remain at the heart of everything we do".

Some 28,782 Liberal Democrats – 48% of the party's membership – took part in the postal ballot to select a successor to Simon Hughes.

Scott scooped 20,736 votes, against 6,247 for Opik and 1,799 for entrepreneur Chandila Fernando.

In a message to party members last week, Opik acknowledged that many of them viewed him as "a joker" following his warnings over asteroid strikes and his ill-fated romances with weather-girl Sian Lloyd and Cheeky Girl Gabriela Irimia.

Clegg said: "I would like to congratulate Ros Scott on her election.

"The role of president in the Liberal Democrats is a vital one for the organisation."