Liberal Democrat candidate for Oundle by-election announced

Marc Folgate, 51, says he will make making policing and road conditions top of his priorities if he wins the seat which has been left vacant following the resignation of former council leader Heather Smith.

A well known local campaigner, Marc will be standing for election for the first time and says he has been spurred on to get involved because of current local and national problems.

He said: “The country is in a mess and county is in a mess and the two things coincide. That has given me the momentum to think we have got to change things for the better.

“There is the issue of Oundle being shortchanged at a county council level and there is the perception locally that we are cut adrift.

“I want to increase the share of the spoils that the area gets.”

Marc, who is a lawyer and father of two, has grown up in the town, and lived in it for most of his life, so he says he knows the issues well. He is a former Laxton School and Prince William School pupil.

Things he will be campaigning to improve if elected include better cycle routes and road repairs, more police presence in the town and better ambulance provision.

He said: “I do care about where I live and I care about the county that I live in. I can see things going drastically wrong and Oundle needs someone who has a voice and who is prepared to use that voice.”

He will be doing door to door campaigning in the coming weeks and has recently been out canvassing for the national Liberal Democrats People’s Vote Brexit campaign.

The by-election will take place on February 21 with further details to follow from the county authority.