ST AUSTELL AND NEWQUAY LIBDEMS CELEBRATE LAUNCH

12.00.00pm GMT Mon 5th Feb 2007

Liberal Democrats in the new parliamentary seat of St Austell and Newquay celebrated the successful launch of their local party with a dinner at Newquay Sports Centre on Friday 2 February.

Chris Huhne MP, shadow environment secretary for the Liberal Democrats, gave the keynote speech and entertained the audience of over 90 people with his upbeat view of where the party would be going over the next few years. He emphasised how the Liberal Democrats were at the forefront of the environment movement and how the other parties are having to run to catch up with our Green Tax Switch campaign. Chris said, "It is always a pleasure to come to Cornwall. Not only is it the heartland of Liberal Democracy but it is also at the leading edge of the environment movement. The Eden Project is a world class facility and the county is involved in many sustainable energy projects. Earlier today, I visited an innovative project at Penryn where all the buildings have super thick insulation and there is renewable energy production on site. This is the sort of example that others should be following."

Also in attendance were all three Liberal Democrat MPs who currently cover this area: Matthew Taylor of Truro and St Austell, Dan Rogerson of North Cornwall and Colin Breed of South East Cornwall.

Oliver Baines, chair of the St Austell and Newquay Liberal Democrat Party, said, "This event was an ideal way to launch our new party. There will be a great deal of work to be done in the near future to build up this constituency. With the commitment shown by the members here already, I am confident that, at the next election, this constituency will become the sixth Liberal Democrat seat in Cornwall."