Letter: The By-election Result is Part of a National Trend

Published on: 20 Jun, 2021
Updated on: 20 Jun, 2021

Lib Dems celebrating their Chesham & Amersham by-election victory. Image BBC

From: James Steel

Lib Dem borough councillor for Westborough

Christian Holliday’s letter shows how self-entitled Conservatives, both locally and nationally, can be.

The result in Chesham & Amersham is indicative of the way the whole of the traditional “blue wall” seats have been voting in recent years. There has been a swing away from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats, Greens and local parties. We only need to look at Guildford, Woking, Waverley, Mole Valley and Surrey Heath to see this.

The reasons for this are complex but generally relate to the same issues Labour are facing in the traditional “red wall” seats in the North of England, where residents feel the party they used to support has moved away from them politically and that they have been taken for granted.

I’ve noted this on the thousands of doors I’ve knocked in Guildford over the past few years and this is now been proved by the Liberal Democrat’s electoral success in Buckinghamshire.

If the regional Conservatives have the mindset of Mr Holliday then this trend will continue further, much to the happiness of many.

Responses to Letter: The By-election Result is Part of a National Trend

Chris O'Keeffe Reply

June 21, 2021 at 12:59 pm

The Liberal Democrats should be pleased at such a victory but as other by-elections have shown there is often a protest vote due to specific local issues.

The British public returned a Conservative majority to Parliament in the last general election and the polls have the government well ahead in public opinion which leaves me thinking the letter is Liberal Democrat spin.

After all, their last leader was not able to hold her own seat in Parliament. The Liberal Democrats are the party that promises everything to everyone. Let’s remember the student fee deceit of recent years.

On a local level, I would like to draw people’s attention to the proposed borrowing of the local council over the next few years which will put the area in significant debt.
Victoria Parr Reply

June 21, 2021 at 1:00 pm

Too many government-appointed ministers are “not fit for purpose”, that is, they are appointed with absolutely no knowledge of the department they are assigned to or unfit to run said department.

This system must change. Our civil servants are trained to advise and specialise in their area. These people are public servants too who should advise impartially. Most do.

Conservative Ministers, time and again, have refused to accept advice from Senior Civil servants to the point where they are forced to resign. This bullying is unacceptable. It should not be allowed in any institution which works for, and is paid by, all UK citizens.

Trying now to centralise all local councils who are best placed to know their areas. I have seen too many decisions being made by remote government ministries deciding on what happens in local areas. One of those decisions was to close village pharmacies, a decision reversed a year later. What a waste of public money. Thank goodness we got them back.

Far too many MPs just tow the party line when elected, regardless of whether or not they were voted in on a different mandate.

For instance, the damage being done to our fishing industry and taking back control of our coastal waters. Where is the sovereignty in that? Then there is allowing banned cancer-causing pesticides to be re-introduced and killing off our bees and buying banned meat from Australia where antibiotics are regularly used and applying animal husbandry forbidden in the UK. This is not a level playing field for UK farmers. Shocking repercussions will follow.
David Wragg Reply

June 21, 2021 at 1:16 pm

Sounds like the traditional self-delusion of the Liberal Democrats to me.
Matthew Smith Reply

June 22, 2021 at 12:02 pm

It sounds like the Liberal Democrats will be fabricating another bar chart to support the idea that this is a trend.

More honest would be a line graph showing how their number of MPs has plummeted since 2005, especially after voters saw their contribution to the coalition government.

Yes, this Conservative government is appalling and it’s understandable why voters would switch their vote but the same was true in 2019. The Lib Dems didn’t come close then and that suggests they never will here.

The upcoming boundary reforms do offer voters the chance for a fresh start by voting for a party with a genuinely different approach, not just a Tory in orange clothing.