Liberals to hold meeting in city

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are holding their spring conference in Aberdeen next year, it was announced yesterday.

Politicians, grassroots supporters and party officials will be gathering at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre fromMarch 28 to 30.

Heavyweight figures like Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Highland MP Danny Alexander, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie are expected to attend.

It is likely that UK party leader Nick Clegg will make an appearance in the city.

The Lib Dems were a sizeable political force in Aberdeen at Scottish Parliament and city council level between 1999 and 2012 but their support has ebbed away for a variety of reasons,

“I am pleased that we will be returning to Aberdeen”

not least the party’s decision to enter into a coalition with the Conservatives at Westminster in 2010.

The party lost 11 seats in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election and nowonly have five MSPs including Alison McInnes, a former Aberdeenshire councillor who was re-elected on the regional north-east list for a second term.

Mr Rennie said: “We have a strong record of delivery in the northeast and I am pleased that we will be returning to Aberdeen for our spring conference in 2014.

“It is a city going from strength to strength, but whether we are talking about building a stronger economy or giving young people the support they need to get on in life, many of the challenges facing the north-east reflect circumstances in the rest of Scotland.”