Baroness Shirley Williams and Annette Brooke Visit Hillyard Court Residents in Wareham

6.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 28th Apr 2005

Hillyard Court Residents Meet Shirley Williams

On Wednesday evening, former Cabinet Minister and founder of the Liberal Democrat Party Baroness Shirley Williams of Crosby joined Annette Brooke on a visit to Wareham to meet residents of Hillyard Court, sheltered housing on Mill Road.

Hearing about Shirley Williams' visit to the constituency to support Annette Brooke's re-election campaign, residents of Hillyard Court were keen to meet the former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords for themselves, familiar with her long and successful political career. At 74, Shirley Williams is herself no longer a spring chicken, although continues to take a leading and active role in this years' General Election campaign.

Annette Brooke is a frequent visitor at Hillyard Court, where she is welcomed as a familiar face, regularly attending fundraising events and the annual Christmas carol singing celebrations.

Shirley Williams spoke individually to each of the residents who were very familiar with her political activities since she was first elected as an MP in 1964. Addressing the group, Shirley Williams said:

"Thank you for inviting us especially here to your wonderful residence, if I lived near here I would definitely try to secure a place here! I know that you are very happy and comfortable here, and that you all know Annette Brooke very well. You have a wonderful MP in her."

Annette Brooke said:

"Most of you know me already, and are delighted now to have had a personal visit from our stateswoman Shirley Williams. As Liberal Democrats, we are particularly proud of our policies for older people who we respect highly and place a lot of value on. We strongly believe that pensioners should receive a better pension and should not be subjected to means testing."