Former Labour MP says Lib Dems will do well in local elections

Mike Smithson has written a post on Political Betting looking forward to next month's local elections.

In it he quotes the observations of the former Labour MP Nick Palmer:

Interesting 3 hours on the doorstep this afternoon (and no, people don’t mind being canvassed at Easter) in deepest Surrey. 

I think the Lib Dems are going to do well – I’m used to their voters showing up as don’t knows till the last minute, but there’s some definite enthusiasm out there. Labour's core vote seems solid but not especially enthusiastic – it’s mostly about fighting the Tories. 

The Tory vote is crumbling at the edges – unusual number of former Tory voters going out of their way to say they wouldn’t ever vote Labour but definitely not Tory any more either – even met some Brexiteers voting Lib Dem as an anti-big party protest. But the Tories too have a core vote which is loyal – I don’t expect a real meltdown.

Palmer sat for Broxtowe between 1997 and 2010.