Mark Oaten, the former Liberal Democrat MP, is standing for the council in South Gloucestershire next week. He is in one of our two candidates in the Conservative-hold Severn Vale ward.
In 1997 he won the Winchester constituency for the Lib Dems. The contest held on general election day, which he won with a majority of 2, was declared void by the Election Court. Oaten won the resultant by-election with a majority of 21,556, gaining 68 per cent of the vote.
He was involved with the think-tank Liberal Future and the Orange Book, which led to his being seen as one of the people determined to shift the party to the right - see the archive of the writings of the late great Simon Titley on the Liberator website.
Oaten was briefly a candidate for the leadership of the Lib Dems in 2006, following Charles Kennedy's resignation, and then resigned from the front bench amid sexual scandal. He did not defend Winchester in 2010.
Enough history. I wish Mark - and all Lib Dem candidates - the best of fortune on Thursday.
3 comments:
Delighted to hear this. Clearly, he had a number of problems a few years ago and I am pleased that he is willing to enter the fray once again. But perhaps we might have just a bit more history? I can't remember the details, but didn't he leave the Lib Dems and advise people to vote for some other party instead?
A lot of the history is on this blog if you explore the Mark Oaten label.
Thanks, that's what I was thinking of, but couldn't remember the details. I must remember to use those links more often. 2008 and 2009 seem so long ago now. Anyway, "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons". Let's hope the South Gloucestershire team give him the support and leadership he needs.
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