Ben Abbotts is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He represents Clock House ward on the London Borough of Bromley Council, speaking for his party on the environment.

Abbotts grew up in the North West before moving to live in Canterbury, Kent, where he served as a successful election campaign manager and assistant to the leader of the council. Following University in Bristol, he worked as a political researcher to the late Vincent Hanna on Channel 4's 'A Week in Politics' before becoming a Political Consultant, first at Weber Shandwick/GJW, then at Edelman Worldwide and, presently, as a Partner at LLM Communications.

Ben lives in the borough of Bromley with his wife Zara, a secondary school teacher, and their two daughters aged five and one. In December 2006 he was voted the fourth sexiest Lib Dem male. [1109]

Bromley and Chislehurst By-election

At the 2005 general election he stood against Michael Fallon in the Sevenoaks parliamentary constituency, coming second and increasing the Liberal Democrats share of the vote.

However, Abbotts went on to make a huge impact on the national UK political scene, when he stood in the Bromley and Chislehurst by-election held on the death of Eric Forth in 2006. Bromley and Chislehurst was the Conservative's 17th safest seat in 2005, yet Abbott mounted a strong challenge and the Conservative candidate [[Bob Neill] held the seat with just over 600 votes.

The by-election was an astonishing rebuff to both the governing and main opposition parties. By some measures, this was the worst performance in a by-election by the Conservative opposition since at least 1930. Labour fared no better. It was only the second time since World War II that the party had come fourth place in an English by-election. The BBC called it "a stunning result", "a very bad night for David Cameron" and a "very, very good night for the Liberal Democrats".

External Links

Councillor Ben Abbotts Personal profile at Bromley Council

Ben Abbotts PPC Personal profile at the Liberal Democrats

Political Sensation Liberal Democrats announce Bromley and Chislehurst by-election result

Bromley Liberal Democrats