Cardiff North selects Bridges to take on Tories

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 1st Oct 2006

Cllr. Ed Bridges: Standing up for our area

Welsh Liberal Democrats in the Cardiff North constituency have selected Ed Bridges to be their candidate to fight next year's Assembly Elections.

Mr Bridges, a County Councillor for Gabalfa ward of Cardiff, was chosen unopposed to fight the seat, in which the Lib Dems beat Labour in the 2004 local elections.

Speaking after his selection, Ed said: "It is a great honour to be selected to fight the seat, but the real work starts now. The people of Cardiff North deserve a better deal from the Assembly than the Labour government is currently offering.

"They need to be represented by a hard-working local campaigner with a track record of local action. That's what I have to offer and I'll be working tirelessly between now and next year's election to let people know that only the Lib Dems can offer a real alternative to a Tory AM."

Cllr. Bridges, 23, was one of Wales' youngest councillors when he was elected two years ago and is seen as an energetic local campaigner. Outside of politics, he is currently writing a PhD thesis on public library provision and lives in Gabalfa with his wife, Sarah.

Party member Fenella Bowden said: "Ed was the obvious choice to fight the seat. He is young and energetic and will appeal to young and old voters alike. He has a proven track record of commitment to Cardiff North and will build on the excellent work done by John Dixon, who will now be fighting the Regional Assembly List for the party."

Cardiff North Lib Dem Chair and number one Assembly list candidate, John Dixon added: "Cardiff North is a real battleground for the Welsh Lib Dems - the 2004 results clearly show this is a fight between us and the Tories. Labour crumbled from fourteen councillors to just three, and were left in third place by a resurgent Welsh Lib Dem challenge."