Members of the Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston branch of the Liberal Democrats have chosen their candidates for the next general election.
Rob Herd will stand for the City of Chester constituency, while Elizabeth Jewkes will stand for the Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
Rob Herd (City of Chester candidate)
Follow Rob using the handle @RobHerdCH3 on Twitter
Rob Herd, 38, is a languages teacher from Chester.
He is a law and French graduate from the University of Leeds, and went on to study the legal practitioners course at Nottingham College of Law.
Whilst at the University of Leeds, Rob was president of the Erasmus Society.
He later qualified as a teacher with a postgraduate certificate in education and a masters in education from Liverpool John Moores University.
He first came to Chester in 2009 to work for The Living Room on St Werburgh Street and was general manager there for two years.
He now lives in Great Boughton with his partner, Mark.
Rob’s backers say his passion for social mobility, social equality and the next generation is clear through his work in as a head of modern languages at schools in St Helens and in Chester.
Rob has served as a governor at Boughton Heath Academy in Great Boughton for four years and he is currently a trustee at Cheshire, Warrington and Halton Race & Equality Centre.
He has been a member of the Liberal Democrats since the age of 18, and says he would like to see Chester better promoted on the national stage as well as a more robust response to the increased cost of living.
He says he is passionate about education and social mobility, environmental standards, electoral and voting system reform and bringing integrity, transparency, and openness back to politics.
Rob said: “It is an honour to be selected to represent the liberal voices of Chester and to be able to stand in the next general election.
“I have been moved to stand for election because I am fed up with the level of public debate and the mismanagement of things like the cost of living crisis, sewage, track and trace and social care.
“I am committed to a Chester where we won’t have to worry about sewage in the River Dee and where the Countess of Chester Hospital isn’t straining under the weight of under-funding and stressed out employees.
“I fully intend to conduct myself with integrity in being a voice for everyone from every section of our diverse community.”
Elizabeth Jewkes (Ellesmere Port and Neston candidate)
Follow Elizabeth using the handle @elizabethjewkes on Twitter
Elizabeth Jewkes is a veteran Liberal Democrat campaigner and business owner from Ellesmere Port.
She has a degree in psychology from the Open University, and since 2017 has run a successful business in Ellesmere Port town centre.
Elizabeth has previously stood as a candidate for the general election – in both Ellesmere Port and Chester.
She has been described by the New Statesman as the woman who has done more to undermine the British state than anyone since Boney.
Last March, Elizabeth was described by Stephen Bush of the Financial Times as the most influential Liberal Democrat since 1987.
She has campaigned to raise the income tax threshold – initially getting the policy adopted by her party and then later seeing it enacted while the Lib Dems were part of the coalition government.
She said: “In 2008, under the then Labour government, everyone earning over £120 a week had to pay tax.
“I wanted working people to be able to keep more of the money they had earned and so created the policy of raising the income tax threshold.
“I campaigned to have the policy adopted by the Lib Dems.
“As part of the coalition government, the Lib Dems put my policy into practice and now the lowest paid no longer pay tax.”
Elizabeth is currently part of the Federal Policy Committee of the Liberal Democrats where she continues to influence policy decisions.
Elizabeth is passionate about the environment.
Her business, Grace Tea Room, was the first business in Ellesmere Port to sign up to Plastic Free Ellesmere Port by committing to reduce the use of single use plastics.
She is also committed to electoral reform – including proportional representation and local government.
Following the merger of local authorities into Cheshire West and Chester Council, Elizabeth has been running a campaign to get a town council for Ellesmere Port.
She said: “There are 162 town and parish councils across Cheshire West. Ellesmere Port is the only major town without its own council.
“The people of the Port should be able to decide what is best for our town.”
Elizabeth is married to Kurt, and they have three daughters and a son. They’ve also recently welcomed their seventh grandchild.
