It’s not quite the 200th anniversary of the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829, but it seems we’re almost back to the days when a Catholic couldn’t stand for Parliament. Indeed, 190 years in the grand scheme of things is probably the equivalent of the 36 hours that I was the Liberal Democrats’ candidate for Stoke South before I was abruptly deselected – that brief interlude of time before the great liberal party of democracy decided that it was neither liberal nor democratic. I look back to the heady days of being welcomed into the Lib Dems, into that family where my right to be an individual, my right not to be forced to conform, my right to worship, was supposedly protected by their constitution, perhaps even by their history. Precisely because I had been a (Labour) MP for 12 years and was known, tweets and all, by senior Lib Dem politicians, I was “fast-tracked” and was soon in Rochdale for probably one of the last assessment centre days (where prospective candidates are vetted) before the election. At the centre, I made clear my views on same-sex marriage during the interview, in the part helpfully titled “Having the courage to make and defend unpopular decisions and seeking out opportunities to publicise and defend beliefs”. I set out my opposition to aborting Down’s syndrome babies in the written paper on civil and human rights. Maybe I should have written instead about the Lib Dem opposition to state interference and closing down of free speech… Was it despite – or perhaps because of – the clear leadership and resilience I demonstrated that I had a call late on a Saturday evening and a confirmatory email the next day telling me I had been successful and would now be the candidate? After an intense Sunday of website writing, press release-drafting, Facebook page-creating, money-spending, volunteer-getting and nomination signature-collecting, I was ready to launch my campaign. Monday morning saw a splash in the media, the local newspaper, BBC radio and independent radio all giving my campaign great coverage. I was up and running like an Olympic sprinter. So what went wrong? That’s a good question, because the Lib Dems now seem to think they had no idea about my views. And anyway, they claim it’s not my views that are the problem but the fact that I voted on those views and publicised them. The Lib Dems are, of course, claiming they have no issue with my religious views and very helpfully they have told me I am free to have some of my views (my emphasis, not theirs).