Mental health therapist to stand as Lib Dem parliamentary candidate in Portsmouth

Antonia Harrison has been nominated to run for Portsmouth North amid fears an early election battle will be called.

She will be running against former Tory defence secretary Penny Mordaunt and French teacher and mobile beauty therapist, Angela Hancock, from the Brexit Party. Other political groups have yet to announce their candidates.

While Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Lib Dem leader of Portsmouth City Council, will be her opposite number once again running for election in Portsmouth South.

Mrs Harrison, who is the mother of a transgender daughter, said she was ‘appalled’ at the lengthy waiting times for consultation and treatment.

She said: ‘I’m standing to become the next Liberal Democrat MP for Portsmouth North because enough is enough.

‘If we’re going to stop Brexit, tackle the climate emergency, build a sustainable economy, reverse the woeful decline in public service and tackle creeping inequality, then we need different politicians in parliament.

‘Brexit will be disastrous for Portsmouth and the country, and I intend to do my utmost to stop it. I’m really concerned about the impact leaving the EU – especially without a deal – will have on jobs in our city and on our port.

‘I believe the only way the matter can be settled is by a People's Vote.’

She said she was ‘passionate’ the NHS should be ‘properly funded’ to meet ‘modern needs’.

‘We will never achieve equality for mental health with an under-funded NHS,’ she added ‘The Liberal Democrats demand better for patients and healthcare professionals to ensure that when you need help, help is there.

‘We would put a penny in the pound on income tax to give our health services the funding it really needs, including increasing investment in mental health. We urgently need a change.’

Prime minister Boris Johnson currently has a majority of one in the House of Commons.

Labour and the Lib Dems have both threatened to call a no-confidence vote in the Tory government which could spark an early General Election – potentially before the Brexit deadline of October 31.