Gerard stands down!!!!!!!!!!!!

My last post!!!!!!!!!It is with a very heavy heart that I will be closing down my Vote Gerard site. A lot of us didnt agree with Gerard's final decision but my loyalty to him must overide everything else, including my feelings.

I fully endorse Tim Congdon and will be putting my blog on ice

Statement on the 2010 UK Independence Party leadership election from Gerard Batten MEP and Tim Congdon

Tim Congdon and Gerard Batten have decided to combine forces in a bid for the leadership of the UK Independence Party, in the forthcoming leadership election. As explained in an open letter to his supporters, Gerard Batten – the MEP for London – has decided not to seek the leadership himself, but to support the candidature of Tim Congdon. If Tim Congdon is elected as Leader of the UK Independence Party, Tim will appoint Gerard as his Deputy Leader and Head of Policy Development.

Gerard Batten’s reasons for this move are given in the accompanying open letter. Gerard came second in the 2009 Leadership Election with 26% of the vote, and is one of the most popular and respected figures in the UK Independence Party. He was one of the party’s founder members in September 1993 and is currently Party Spokesman on Justice and Home Affairs, Immigration and Islamism.

Tim Congdon is one of the UK’s leading economic commentators and served, as an economic “wise man”, on the Treasury Panel of Independent Forecasters – the forerunner of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee – between 1993 and 1997. He was appointed CBE in 1997 for services to economic debate. Tim has for almost 20 years been noted for his Eurosceptic views and, in particular, for his opposition to the introduction of the single European currency in the UK in the 1990s.

In his welcome for Gerard’s decision, Tim said,

I am absolutely thrilled that Gerard has decided to combine forces with me in my bid to become leader of UKIP. We are both horrified by the surrender of the British people’s freedoms to European Union bureaucrats in a foreign capital and the immense damage now being inflicted on the UK’s economy by its EU membership. We will work together in the challenging political task of taking the UK out of the EU.

I could not have found a better partner in my leadership bid. I look forward to working with Gerard in the next four years, in the run-up to the 2014 European elections, and perhaps also in the next general election. We both believe that the Leader of UKIP must concentrate his efforts on campaigning in the UK, and not be distracted by what is happening in the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg. I see this very much as a joint leadership bid. We will work together closely as a team.

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Tim Congdon’s contact details:
Office phone no. 01452 830840 and mobile no. 07876 684308, and e-mail address: timcongdon@btinternet.com