Lib Dems stand down in favour of the Greens in Skipton and Ripon

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A pact too far?

In return for the Green Party not fielding a candidate in Harrogate and Knaresborough, the Liberal Democrats have agreed not to fight Skipton and Ripon.

As the Craven Herald says:

What makes this deal more remarkable is that the Lib/Dems have been second to the Tories in every general election from 1992 to 2010. And for two general elections prior to 1992 the Liberals were runners up.

Going back a little further, the Liberal Party won the old Ripon constituency in a 1973 by-election and came within a few hundred votes of winning Skipton at the October 1974 general election.

Are we, in an overoptimistic attempt to regain Harrogate, ceding traditional Liberal territory to the Greens? What will the long-term consequences of these local pacts be?