Liberal Democrats Adrian Waite to fight to become Barrow MP

The party has selected the current chair of Westmorland and Furness Liberal Democrats Adrian Waite as their parliamentary candidate for the next general election.

He will compete against the current Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness, Simon Fell, as well as Michelle Scrogham, the Labour parliamentary candidate.

Mr Waite said: “I am delighted to be selected as the Liberal Democrats’ Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Barrow and Furness and to be able to offer people an alternative to the Labour and Conservative parties that have represented Barrow and Furness for years without achieving much.

“We are the only party that would build enough affordable housing, the only party that would reform the broken social care system, the only party that would tackle urban deprivation and sustain rural communities, the only party that would save the National Health Service, the only party that would end poverty and the only party that would tackle the climate crisis. In short,

the only party that would not fiddle while the world burns.”

He will replace the previous parliamentary candidate Loraine Birchall, who received 2,025 votes in 2019, an equivalent of 4.4 per cent of the vote which represented a 1.7 per cent gain on the previous general election.

He has lived in Cumbria since 1993 and is an accountant with seventeen years’ experience in local government.

Mr Waite has 25 years’ experience of running a management consultancy and training business that mainly supports local authorities and housing associations. He also has three children and four grandchildren.

The selection of Mr Waite was welcomed by David Opie, the chair of Barrow and Furness Liberal Democrats.

He said: “I am very pleased that Adrian is going to be our candidate. As chair of the Westmorland and Furness Party he has always taken a close interest in the affairs of Barrow and Furness. He would make an excellent member of Parliament for this constituency.”