Letter: Lib Dems Have Won Here, With the Help of Labour Voters

Published on: 16 Dec, 2019
Updated on: 16 Dec, 2019

From: Sue Doughty

former Liberal Democrat MP for Guildford

In response to: General Election Result Shows Lib Dems Will Never Win Here

So sorry to read Matthew Smith’s letter because Lib Dems have won here before and with help from Labour voters.

Of course, people should vote for the party they want but under the first-past-the-post system, it is unlikely there will be no tactical voting.

Sadly, what I heard on the doorstep was that people couldn’t vote Liberal Democrat because it would let Jeremy Corbyn in. This chimes with feedback from all the political parties and indeed the Tories who put out material stating that a vote for Lib Dems is a vote for Corbyn.

His adherence to policies of the Seventies didn’t prove attractive, nor did his lack of leadership over Brexit. There will be a new leader of the Labour Party and I hope a constructive opposition will develop to defeat this very right-wing government.

Labour has never come close to winning in Guildford and has had only a handful of councillors at borough level for the past few years, and fewer at county level. But there are some potential great leaders for the Labour Party who can change the position in many seats in the rest of the country, even if not in Guildford.