Former leading Lib Dem activist backs Anne Marie Morris

Former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Richard Copus, has thrown his backing behind Anne Marie Morris, the Conservative candidate for Newton Abbot.

Richard Copus, who stood for Exeter against Ben Bradshaw in 2001 and for Plymouth Devonport in 1997, said that he felt the Liberal Democrats had “lost the plot”. Richard also worked as press officer on Teignbridge Lib Dem campaigns.

He said: “I was a Founder Member of the SDP and welcomed with open arms the merger with the Liberals. But after a highly successful two decades the Lib Dems have run out of steam.

“There is hypocrisy within the party over Europe and education which hides behind their fresh faced policies they feed to the media, and the Lib Dem’s last minute about-turn on HIPs has saddled house sellers with a costly, bureaucratic pain. For the first time in history, you now have to effectively obtain government permission to put your house on the market because if you don’t provide a HIP you will be fined up to £200 a day if caught.”

“Anne Marie Morris is a positive and enthusiastic candidate with an entrepreneurial background. As an independent businesswoman she has been living in the real world and is not of the politics graduate, commons researcher come MP which too many constituencies are saddled with today. She is breath of fresh air for Teignbridge and I am sure will be the clean brush which we all desperately need.”

Richard has a particular interest in housing and is Devon spokesman for the main professional body for estate agents.

He said: “Whilst the Lib Dems are a good talking shop, the Conservative housing policy has balls. Bring planning decisions down to local level where everyone can become involved. Encourage a mix of housing in developments with an emphasis on social housing to rent and low cost housing with the right to buy. Our rural communities desperately need these homes to keep the few remaining shops, schools and pubs alive, and our towns also want them.