The Guardian reports from Mid Bedfordshire:
Labour activists campaigning before a byelection in a safe Conservative seat have been told to leave if they feel unable to be respectful to Tory voters, as the party attempts to tackle the assumption that it cannot compete in true blue heartlands.
That's what happens when attitudes nurtured on social media collide with the real world.
On Twitter at least, your political opponents are all stupid and wicked, and the left has a particular fondness for lecturing them about that wickedness. I can't see that going down really well on the doorstep.
I'd like to think we Liberal Democrats are better, but I'm not convinced we are. Because, if you want to get really monstered on Twitter, tell us you voted Leave but have since changed your mind.
The Guardian report also suggests that Labour is going to fight a serious campaign in the Mid Bedfordshire by-election (if it ever comes) in the hope of demonstrating it can win seats in the South of England.
Labour has won vanishingly few seats like this one in recent decades, and Lib Dems will grumble about a strong Labour campaign being the Tories' best chance of holding on or ask how Labour are different from the Tories now. But Labour are allowed to fight Southern by-elections if they are want to.
Besides, it's not unknown for by-elections in Tory held seats to turn into two-horse races between Labour and the Liberals.
This is what happened in Brecon and Radnor in 1985 and Littleborough and Saddleworth in 1995. And we won both.
So a Labour intervention in Mid Bedfordshire does not mean the Tories are safe.
Hmmmm…… I must say, I don’t remember Brecon & Radnor being a two horse race with Labour - more like a three horse race in a Conservative seat where they then came very close to regaining at the following General Election. Still one of my all-time favourite by elections, though!
ReplyDeleteLabour finished second, only 559 votes behind us.
ReplyDeleteI remember Andy Ellis (Chief Agent? Or CEO?) of the Liberal Party sitting at the bar of the big hotel in Brecon after the polls had closed saying that there were 600 votes in it. Quite a prediction. But the Liberal majority over the Tories was only 56 at the next General Election.
ReplyDeleteBut if politics is about getting good people elected, then we did the right thing sending Richard Livesey to Parliament.
I went back to Leicestershire that night with the party's young East Midlands regional agent Chris Rennard. I wonder what happened to him?
ReplyDeleteA by-election and the contest in that seat at the next general election are two different animals. It's easy to imagine the Tories losing Mid Bedfordshire at a by-election and winning it back at the general election, even among poor results elsewhere.
In the last three general elections Labour came second in Mid Beds. Why wouldn't Labour fight it hard?
ReplyDeleteLabour were 2nd in North Shropshire and Tiverton & Honiton too...
DeleteI was a Lib Dem voter when I first got my vote in 2006. You lost that over ousting Charlie then totally alienated me (who went blue) over throwing a strop over losing the AV ref then indeed, the way you act around Leave. Good bit of self-consciousness in the post. I'd vote Labour before I'd touch the Lub Dems these days (and I'll prob never vote Labour either). Your best bet is to get people like me to sit on my hands (I'm in a Con/LD marginal).
ReplyDeleteCharles Kennedy was ousted on 7 January 2006, so we didn't have your vote for long.
ReplyDeleteThat's the first fake comment I've seen for a long time. I'm pleased the Conservatives think blogs are still worth bothering with.
ReplyDelete