‘We’re the ones who have been here for 40 years!’ Lib Dem's opening shot in Holborn and St Pancras by-election
Councillor is branded 'Hot Patrick' by MP
Wednesday, 16th September — By Tom Foot
Patrick Stillman with Lib Dem activists in Primrose Hill
HERE comes “Hot Patrick”.
That’s how the Liberal Democrat candidate for Holborn and St Pancras was introduced as the party launched its by-election campaign on Tuesday evening.
Members gathered in Primrose Hill to salute Patrick Stillman as their new challenger and to tease him about his dashing good looks. Lib Dem MP Luke Taylor told campaigners: “Most of you guys here already know Patrick. He’s known in the London Lib Dem community as ‘Hot Patrick’.”
Mr Taylor added: “Patrick is already a councillor who lives in Camden. For me there is a difference between that and someone who is sailing a narrow boat up the Regent Canal in a bid to make himself relevant. We’ve got a Green candidate who, in the words of [Green] councillor Hamza Chowdhury, will disappear once the votes are counted. That sounds like someone else who led a political party, and how Farage treats Clacton.”
He was referring to comments made by Cllr Chowdhury during the Green selection contest. “You’ve got a choice between someone who will clear off after the election or be a back bench Labour MP,” said Mr Taylor. “
We’ve got 71 MPs around the country. We are the only credible opposition party. London is a liberal city. People of Holborn and St Pancras deserve local representation and local champions. We should be so proud that we have Patrick ready to take that step up and challenge Bobby Dean as the hottest MP in the country.”
Mr Stillman said: “We are the ones working hard for Camden. That has been the case for the past 40 years. Not the Greens who have been doing it for four months. Nationally we don’t take a blunt stick approach to problems young people face in the borough. I’m looking ahead to the future. I want to see good growth, strong relations with Europe, and credibility on defence.”
On his “hot” moniker, he added: “It’s like one of those funny in-jokes that has escaped the sandbox, like an AI agent. You think you have unplugged it and suddenly you have an MP quoting it back at you.”
