HEREFORD CONSERVATIVE 
ASSOCIATION
PARLIAMENTARY SPOKESMAN: VIRGINIA TAYLOR
          
15 Kyrle Street, Hereford HR1 2ET
Tel: 01432 272020 Fax: 01432 272145

PRESS RELEASE				        
17 September 2001	
													
HEREFORD CONSERVATIVES
WELCOME NEW LEADER

Hereford Conservatives have welcomed their new Leader, Iain Duncan Smith. The 
result was announced quietly on Thursday out of respect for the appalling terrorist 
atrocities in the US last Tuesday.

Parliamentary Spokesman, Virginia Taylor, commented: "The following day, during the 
emergency recall of Parliament, Mr. Duncan Smith rightly rose above party politics and 
spoke with dignity and gravitas in his unequivocal support for the Prime Minister: 

"On behalf of the official Opposition I thank the Prime Minister for making his statement this morning. The 
Right Honourable Gentleman is to be congratulated on responding to this crisis quickly and resolutely, and 
in giving a lead to other nations who value freedom and democracy.  
 
"We are party politicians in a stable democracy and as such we are used to the cut and thrust of political 
debate across this Chamber and outside. Yet we are also the guardians of a set of values that are 
underpinned by that democracy and the rule of law. It was those values that were attacked with such 
callous and brutal ferocity and contempt for human life in New York and Washington on Tuesday. 

"The people of the United Kingdom who have themselves stood firmly against terrorism over so many 
years will at this time expect nothing less of us than to rise above party politics. So at the outset I have 
absolutely no hesitation in giving the Prime Minister my Party's full support for his immediate pledge to 
stand shoulder to shoulder with our strongest friends and allies in the United States. Together we must 
ensure that the perpetrators are hunted down and brought to justice." 
 
"We are all pleased the Leadership process is now over", continued Mrs. Taylor. "79% 
of eligible members of the Conservative Party voted in this major democratic process of 
one member one vote". Iain Duncan Smith received 61% of the vote and Kenneth 
Clarke 39%. "We are now anxious to rebuild our support in Hereford and in the country, 
and we fully support Mr. Duncan Smith's promise to campaign on the issues that really 
matter to people, such as the state of public services, health, transport, education, 
welfare, law and order and the environment."

email: vtaylor@globalnet.co.uk

Printed & Published  by John Trout, 15 Kyrle Street, Hereford, HR1 2ET