Lib Dem membership surge in the city and across the country

Commenting on the surge in Lib Dem party membership in recent days, local party chair Hugh Janes said, "An impromptu coffee morning was held on Saturday 2nd July to welcome new members to the Plymouth Liberal Democrats. In just one week since the EU referendum result there has been a rise over a quarter in the number of people in the party locally. People have joined from different parts of the city, are of various ages and backgrounds and, significantly, several have left the Labour and Conservative parties to join us.

"The Liberal Democrats are the only party that was wholly in favour of remaining in the EU. All our MPs voted that way, as did the vast majority of members up and down the country. Among many reasons given for joining, new members said they felt 'unrepresented', 'have voted Lib Dem but never joined any party', 'knew I had to do something', or 'felt let down by my old party'."

Nationally, as of today [Tuesday 5th July], 15,000 people had joined the LIberal Democrats since polls closed on Thursday 23rd June. Party membership currently stands at over 74,000 - the highest for more than 10 years. Across the country many people have responded favourably to party leader Tim Farron MP, who said recently that, "We should be proud of our positive, principled and patriotic campaign for the UK to remain at the heart of Europe.

"Our fight for an open, optimistic, liberal, diverse and tolerant Britain is needed now more than ever.

"Together we can still make the case for Britain's future with Europe, as millions of people voted for it. Together we cannot afford to let that vision die."