Dear Party Faithful,

Firstly let me thank everyone involved in the recent council election campaign. It was a bumpy ride but well worth the effort.

Special thanks to Derek Scott, Stevie McNamara (again), Peter Sidor and Abe Maymay for absolutely sterling work. Many thanks to all who stood and congratulations to Chris Collings and Daniel Fraser for a great result. The latter breaking the party record with 99 votes. Red balloons in the post.

I believe overall it was a successful campaign for us and merely the beginning of something greater. Together we are truly making history and I’m privileged to be associated with you all.

It’s with a slightly heavy heart however that I have to announce we will NOT be standing any candidates in the upcoming General Election. It wasn’t an easy decision, but between Derek, Stevie and myself we came to the conclusion that the expected result would not justify the outlay.

There’s nothing we would have liked better than to be the first Scottish Libertarian candidates in a UK general election, but it’s not about US. The question I asked myself in true libertarian fashion was “would I spend £500 of my own money on this?” The answer was a reluctant  but emphatic “no” and therefore i could not justify spending the party’s money.

I believe the funds can be put to better use. We have four years to prepare for the next Scottish parliamentary elections which should be our focus. Those and any by- elections that may afford us better publicity than we would achieve being swallowed up in the noise of a national general election.

Some of you may feel disappointed, especially if you donated for the specific purpose of seeing, and possibly even being able to vote for a candidate in this election. The money will not go to waste. I hope that you can appreciate the prudence and long term strategy behind the leadership’s decision.

In the meantime there is nothing to stop us campaigning as a party and trying to put our message out there.

Once again on behalf of myself and the leadership team, many thanks to all of you our members and supporters.

Yours for Life and Liberty

Tom Laird

Party Leader.