Owen is a stayer.

Full statement

Other parties’ candidates come and go, pursuing their own ambitions. Owen proudly keeps working for the communities of North West Durham.

After a lifetime of County Durham service, in education, in business, as a Liberal Democrat councillor and as a volunteer, Owen is committed to muscling into Westminster to battle for North West Durham at the heart of power.

He’s a fighter. Owen went head to head with the county council when they railroaded through an academy site in Consett. When no-one else was listening as Labour Durham County Council sought to slash its Teaching Assistants’ wages, Owen was the TAs resolute and articulate ally.

He’s more than a fighter, though. When Go Ahead Northern cut the Sunday bus service to Durham’s hospital, Owen put together the alliance that reinstated it. He knows how to put together a deal.

Owen’s is a respected voice in Health Services through his work as a councillor. The Liberal Democrat commitment to the NHS has never been more needed in this area. Continual reviews of Urgent Care in Bishop Auckland and Shotley Bridge hospitals threaten patients in towns and villages around Crook and Consett, and if Accident and Emergency services are axed in Darlington, the system will be overwhelmed. A penny on income tax to support the NHS would be a small price to pay.

A North East candidate in the 2014 European election, Owen knows what we will lose if Mrs May forces through a hard Brexit. He will work with the Liberal Democrat team to avoid that Brexit Cliff Edge.

North West Durham is taken for granted by Labour, ignored by Conservatives. In Owen, it will have a Liberal Democrat MP committed to the constituency alone, and to its place in a prosperous, open, tolerant and united Britain.