CLEIN RESPONDS TO NEWS THAT CROSBY MP IS STANDING DOWN

4.27.49pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 7th Oct 2009

Responding to the news that Crosby Labour MP Claire Curtis-Thomas is standing down at the next election, the prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Sefton Central Richard Clein said:

"I'm not surprised by this announcement as it is clear that Ms Curtis-Thomas was heading for defeat. She has gone from being the most expensive MP to the most inactive and like a Gormley statue has been doing nothing, saying nothing and is unable to stem the incoming tide of rejection at the ballot box.

"The reality is she knows that, with no councillors in the new constituency, Labour cannot win.

"The choice now in Sefton Central is clear - between a conservative party which has proved by its recent announcements that it hasn't changed and is only concerned with the more well off people in society or the Liberal Democrats who offer real change for everyone."