Justice for Peter McBride Campaign

national | politics / elections | press release Friday September 19, 2003 14:25 by PFC

Brent east by election

Reaction of Kelly McBride to the result of the Brent East by election

Following last night’s result in the Brent East by-election, Kelly McBride, her family and supporters have hailed her election campaign as a major step towards justice for her family.

Kelly secured enough votes to come out as one of the strongest candidates outside those supported by major political parties, coming eighth out of sixteen candidates. This was achieved without the help of a “professional party machine” to knock on doors and put up posters, or any of the resources available to candidates attached to the main political parties.

She said afterwards:

“We got 189 votes, but we have said all along that this election campaign was never about votes, it was about highlighting what happened to my brother Peter and what is still happening to my family. Since the election campaign began we have handed out over 60,000 leaflets explaining our case in an area where people had never been told the true facts of the case.

“People here have been very supportive of our campaign, and many, including the other candidates, have been disgusted when told for the first time how our family has been treated. We have at last broken through the wall of silence erected around our campaign and brought our message to the doorsteps of those who have taken all the disgraceful decisions in this case.

“The other candidates have promised that they will raise this issue with their parties, and the winner, Sarah Teather, has promised to raise it in Parliament.

“We won what we set out to win in this election – we have brought the issue of my brother’s murder and the continued employment by the government of his murderers, to the heart of the British political system.

“I would like to thank all of the people who helped me to do that. Without the help of the many dedicated volunteers who helped us in London, we could not have achieved what we did over the past few weeks.

”I would also like to congratulate the successful candidate in this election, and I hope that she represents her new constituents well. I would also like to thank her for her support for my campaign.”

For background information on this case see www.serve.com/pfc