Local Liberal Democrats were joined on the campaign trail on Friday by a high-profile member of the House of Lords.

Baroness Angela Harris of Richmond, a Deputy Speaker of the Lords and former Chair of the North Yorkshire Police Authority, joined campaigners in Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ahead of next months elections. The Life Peer met with local candidates and party members, including young Lib Dems from across the city.

The Lib Dems are standing a full slate of candidates in the local elections alongside parliamentary hopefuls Nick Love in York Central and James Blanchard in York Outer. Earlier this month, the party launched its local elections manifesto promising to ‘put residents first’.

Baroness Harris commented:

“I am delighted to be helping the campaign here in York. I am particularly happy to be speaking to young members some of whom will be voting for the first time. It is wonderful to see young people engaged in politics and I would urge all first time voters to go out and have their say on May 7th.

“I know there is a really positive mood around the Lib Dem campaign locally and we have tremendous set of candidates across the city. We also have a strong set of local policies which are going down well on the doorstep with residents.”

Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, commented:

“It is great to be joined by Baroness Harris, who has been such a strong Liberal Democrat voice during her time on North Yorkshire County Council, the local Police Authority and now in the House of Lords.

“Given her expertise on policing matters, I was particularly pleased to have the opportunity to discuss our ideas to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in York.

“Our manifesto sets out plans to work hand-in-hand with local communities on these issues. This is part of a wider move to devolve funding and decision-making to residents through Ward Committees and set-up a new £500,000 annual Community Fund for residents to spend on local priorities”.