In it he was able to announce the closure of the family unit of Yarl’s Wood immigration centre as part of the coalition government’s pledge to end child detention. Something Liberal Democrats across the country have been campaigning on for many years – another coalition success.

“I am proud that my party will work to end the gross unfairness of child detention,” said Witney Liberal Democrat spokesperson, Dawn Barnes. “The detention of families and children was raised at the Witney hustings before the election by an independent candidate, Aaron Barschak, and I am pleased to see that progress is being made in treating people with the compassion they deserve.

“People come to this country fleeing circumstances that the majority of us, fortunately, can only imagine. Splitting up families and keeping women and children in the equivalent of prisons is unacceptable. Mr Barschak worked to raise awareness of Campsfield House and I hope that the announcement of the closure of the family unit at Yarl’s Wood shows the commitment of the Liberal Democrats to address the shocking treatment of those who arrive in the UK to seek sanctuary.”

Commenting on Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg’s statement that the child detention facility at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre, where children are detained awaiting deportation, will be closed, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Justice, Tom Brake said: “The ending of child detention at Yarl’s Wood is a victory for British decency. Locking up innocent children for months on end can lead to serious physical and psychological harm. It is a disgrace the Labour Government allowed this to take place in 21st century Britain.

“The Liberal Democrats have had a huge influence in Government and this announcement is a sign of that. I am proud to be in a party which will end the cruelty of child detention.”

The system on offer is the alternative vote (AV), it is not the Liberal Democrats’ preferred voting system which is proportional representation (PR) single transferable vote (STV), however, that’s not up for the referendum yet and this is a step in the right direction.

The key difference between AV and the current system, first past the post or FPTP, is that FPTP returns the candidate with the most votes whereas AV returns the most popular candidate overall.

Dawn Barnes, Witney Liberal Democrat candidate for 2010 said: “It’s crucial that we get behind this push for a change in our voting system and vote yes. It’s a fairer and more representative system than we have now and will result in a fairer parliament.

“A lot of MPs seem to be ready to use it as a political argument but this is beyond politics, it’s about people in the UK, like you and me, having the chance to cast a vote that actually counts. Once we win this referendum then I’ll be pushing for the next step. Whatever you hear in the news, this is not complicated and to suggest it is merely patronises people, and it is worth doing as the result is a fairer Britain.” 

Dawn had a letter published in The Guardian on Saturday in response to comments from a Labour leadership candidate against supporting the alternative vote referendum.

To support the campaign or find out more visit Take Back Parliament or join the Lib Dem campaign for fairer votes.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives with hopes and dreams altered; negotiation and discussions held; followed by a new, coalition government testing new waters in British politics. Both parties have made compromises, and the Lib Dem conference gave us a chance to debate the decision to enter into a coalition government.

The final vote was a resounding ‘yes’ in favour, with about a dozen of the 2,000 attendees voting against the coalition. Seeing some Liberal Democrat policy being implemented, instead of promising but never being able to deliver, is a postivie step and Mark Pack sums up well in his Guardian article.

Hundreds of people wanted to speak at the conference with key issues being raised time and again, and amendments agreed include the long-term commitment to scrapping tuition fees; working toward the fairer electoral system of proportional representation and to oppose any moves to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998.

It became even clearer today just how important it is that the Liberal Democrats work hard with the Conservatives to make sure that the coalition is a success and delivers for us, when the state of our economy was laid bare in a ‘joke’ note left for Lib Dem MP, David Laws, chief secretary to the treasury, from Labour predecessor, Liam Byrne. Dated 6 April, the day the election was called, it said:

“Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards and good luck! Liam.”

Dawn Barnes, Lib Dem candidate for Witney said: “There is a lot of hard work to do to sort the economy out and the last government appears not to have been entirely honest with Britain about the state of our finances.

“In the run up to the election the Lib Dems proposed an independent committee to oversee the economy, the Tories weren’t in favour of that, but now one will be set up to ensure that people are aware of problems and they are not swept under the carpet. Likewise, we have had to concede on public spending cuts based on the harsh realities of the economic situation and advice from the Bank of England and the Treasury.”

It’s clear that Britain needs a strong and stable government that can govern in the national interest. We need to address the economy, the voting system and restore trust in British politics and politicians. Dawn Barnes, our candidate who stood against David Cameron, is confident that the parties can work together to deliver a stable government and improved economy:

“I didn’t think for a moment that the Liberal Democrats would enter into a coalition agreement with the Conservatives when I put myself forward to stand against David Cameron in West Oxfordshire. It certainly wasn’t the desired outcome when I was selected in September to contest the seat for the Liberal Democrats.

“I completely understand that people who voted Lib Dem are disappointed that they ended up with what may be seen as a ‘Conservative’ government, but it’s not, there’s a Lib Dem core to it. Throughout the campaign I admitted to the media that Mr Cameron was a good constituency MP and tried not be drawn into personal attacks, I don’t agree with all of his ideas and values but he seemed to be a decent man when I met him.

“And that disagreement with the ideas and values of the Conservatives is exactly why there has been such negotiation and a period of political void over the last few days as the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have battled over where they will and will not concede and compromise.

“We wanted a new politics and that’s what the UK voted for so we have to work with that. The Lib Dems did approach Labour but there was little on offer in the form of negotiation and the Conservatives made an offer of a referendum on the alternative vote (AV), not what we want, we’d prefer proportional representation (PR), but a concession no less.

“It’s not going to be perfect. Britain hasn’t had a coalition government for decades, other countries do it all the time. We’re all going to have to learn together: the media will have to relearn how to be fair to the parties; we have to learn how to work together; Britain needs to learn about a new style of politics.

“There will be interesting quirks: local council, where we wil continue to argue with the Conservatives on some things but work together on others – we’ve already done this in Eynsham on the flood defences so we know it’s possible. How will we go back to the polls as separate parties seeking your vote in our own right once more?

“But we will work hard to deliver good government and deal with the economic situation. There have been concessions on both sides; there are unhappy party members on both sides, but the majority support this. We have managed to negotiate a manifesto that is ultimately fair for the UK and supports a fairer tax system, fairer start for every child, a fairer politics and a fairer future with investment in a green economy to meet the challenges of climate change – the issues I promised the Lib Dems would deliver during the election campaign.

“For West Oxfordshire and Sheffield Hallam, Nick Clegg’s constituency, perhaps it could mean that a workload slightly shared could see more of the party leaders in their constituencies. It may mean that we see a new politics where these family men can spend a little more time with their young families and wives. It might mean so much if we give it a fair chance.

“I am excited about what has happened and hope that we can make it work. I’m sorry that I wasn’t chosen to be your new MP, but if I had then I doubt any of this would have happened!

“Do get in touch if you have queries, I will try to answer them. Do stop me if you bump into me in the local shop for a chat. I will do my best to answer your questions from my point of view and look forward to this new government and seeing it work for us.”

The agreement is available for you to view and more detail will be added over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth Maher, was unable to retain the seat of Standlake, Aston and Stanton Harcourt following Brenda Smith’s retirement.

The Liberal Democrats had a good showing across the District Council elections and won good second places in Witney East, Witney South and Freeland and Hanborough.

Dawn Barnes, prospective parliamentary candidate said: “I was pleased with the number of votes cast for the Lib Dems in this election, it was especially tough as this time the incumbent is the leader of his party and it was great that we maintained and built on our lead over Labour against such a high profile candidate as Mr Cameron.

“A big thank you to all who helped on the campaign and who turned out to vote for me. I really enjoyed the campaign and meeting people in the streets and on the doorsteps. We are going to build on that and establish stronger Lib Dem activist teams across the area to win more District Council seats and continue to challenge the Conservatives in Witney and West Oxfordshire.”

Full Witney General Election results and Local Election results can be found by following the links.

Visit soon to read more about Julian Cooper and Larry Poole and their plans as councillors.

Candidate, Dawn Barnes, and campaigner, Will Hazell were on Meridian Tonight today (Tuesday 4 May). You can watch the piece, if you missed it, for a week.

Dawn was also interviewed on BBC Radio Oxford at 6.10pm today (Tuesday 4 May) on tactical voting and standing in Witney. The interview is around 2 hours 10 minutes into the programme.

And finally, the Guardian was in Witney today and Dawn, along with other candidates can be heard on the newspaper’s Election Daily podcast.

“I wanted to set the record straight on this as people have asked,” said Dawn. “Should I be successful then I would move here straight away. Initially, I would stay with friends or family or rent, until I found a suitable place to make my permanent home and, as I already have a flat in London, then that would remain my base from which I would fulfil my parliamentary duties.

“Win or lose, I will be in West Oxfordshire regularly after the election as I have a number of social and work commitments in the constituency in the year ahead, so don’t expect to see the back of me!”

Two proposed hustings were cancelled – Burford and Eynsham – due to candidates not being available while neither Charlbury nor Chipping Norton had a hustings event, although they usually do.

Dawn Barnes commented: “It seems unfair that the public have been denied the opportunity to have local hustings and meet the various parties. A Chipping Norton resident told me she was disappointed that she was unable to attend a hustings but Witney was too far for her to travel.

“While the Conservative and Labour candidates may have been busy, their representatives in Woodstock were perfectly able to put policies across and let people hear what their parties would do. Meanwhile, the public has suffered by not being able to meet the other parties and candidates easily. While I, and my competitors have been out and about as much as possible it has been difficult for people to meet us via independently organised events.”

In addition, there is a Power 2010 ‘Blow Up Politics’ outside the Post Office in Witney between 12pm and 2pm. This involves available candidates – including Dawn Barnes - sitting on inflatable sofas and taking questions and having a chat with local people on the day. See you there?