The results are now in for the 2010 local elections. Unfortunately, I wasn’t elected as your local councillor for Fallowfield this time. Despite the Labour boost from the General Election, it was still the closest result in the ward for four years - and despite Labour’s scaremongering, the Tories are still nowhere to be seen in Manchester.

I’m proud of fighting an honest campaign in Fallowfield, and this is not the end for the Liberal Democrats in the area. Whatever happens over the next few days or weeks in terms of the national parliament, I will continue to be involved in Fallowfield’s communities, and continue to make the positive case for the Liberal Democrats in the city. I honestly believe that local people’s needs are best served by hardworking Lib Dem councillors, and I will continue to work hard all year round to demonstrate that.

Thanks very much to everybody who voted for me, and to the people who supported me and helped with deliveries, envelope stuffing, putting posters in their windows etc. There’s still plenty to be done in Fallowfield, so if you fancy getting involved in any way, please get in touch.

At a recent Student Union hustings, where the Liberal Democrats were represented by John Leech, Labour failed to send a representative. Obviously, this is pretty embarrassing, and suggests that Labour don’t take students and the student vote seriously

What makes it much worse, and the reason I’m posting about it, is that when Student Direct investigated, a Fallowfield Labour councillor decided to threaten news editor Girish Gupta for exposing the organisational incompetence which lead to the Labour no-show. This is clearly unacceptable - they should have just owned up to the mistake, admitted that they got it wrong by failing to engage with the Student Union, and moved on. Threatening a journalist to cover up your own mistakes is just inexcusable. It’s an attack on journalism, and an attack on students. No matter which party you stand for, this behaviour is just not acceptable for a councillor. I’m glad that Girish has the integrity to publish the story, including the Labour threats, and stand up to the bullies.

Fortunately, this particular Fallowfield Labour councillor is standing for re-election on Thursday. By voting Lib Dem in Fallowfield, you can send a message that bullying and intimidation from our elected representatives cannot be justified.