Lib Dem candidate Greg Stone steps out of the running

Jan 12 2010 by William Green, The Journal

THE Liberal Democrats’ General Election campaign was last night thrown into turmoil as a leading Parliamentary candidate quit.

Greg Stone dramatically resigned as Lib Dem candidate for Newcastle East after facing mounting calls to go in the light of offensive comments he made on a political blog.

Mr Stone initially seemed ready to fight on after being exposed as the author of blog posts written under a pseudonym on the Guido Fawkes website.

He apologised when the row broke and said he had learned a “hard lesson” last month.

But his party yesterday accepted his resignation and a senior Lib Dem councillor in Newcastle threw her name into the ring to replace him.

Wendy Taylor, who sits on the city council executive, said everyone agreed that Mr Stone’s comments were inappropriate but questioned whether he had had to step down because of them. But she added: “I have put my name forward to be an approved candidate. Obviously, it is up to the party whether they want to put me through.”

Regional Minister Nick Brown, Labour’s candidate in Newcastle East, said Mr Stone’s behaviour had been “despicable” and that he had nobody to blame but himself.

“There is no defence for it and there should be no place for it in the public life of our great city,” said Mr Brown.