It seems that voters are protesting again. These tweets are about two council by-election results last night:
The latest wins come just a week after the Lib Dems claimed a seat in the traditional Labour heartland of Rotherham.
They saw their vote share increase by 50% to gain the Brinsworth and Catcliffe seat on Rotherham Borough Council with a majority of nearly 1,500.
I don't think the LibDems need prepare for government again as yet. But the trend is notable and continuing of late. Electors are rejecting larger parties and the the referendum result, it would seem. But the LibDems have to make clear they have forgotten the Orange Book before they can be credible again.
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I think what we’re seeing is the Remain vote is both angry and motivated. Let’s hope it stays that way through the next two years of chaos.
Forget the Orange Book? You bet! I have long been of the opinion that the greatest disaster to befall politics of the last decade or so, was that Charles Kennedy was a drunk.
If Kennedy had still been Lib-Dem Leader in 2010, instead of that airhead matinée idol, Clegg, the Tories would never have got away with selling the Lib-Dems such a pig in a poke.
Instead, the Tories would either have been offered what David Steel offered the Callaghan Government – a minority administration, with Lib-Dem support for supply, but otherwise only if Lib-Dems could in conscience agree with Government proposals.
Or the Lib-Dems would have agreed to a Coalition but ONLY on the basis of a referendum on REAL PR, based on STV, with tgr “nuclear” option of bringing down rge Government if they refused.
And a Kennedy-led Lib-Dem Parry would NEVER have agreed to the iniquitous Fixed Term Parliament Act, probably not the poisonous Health and Social Care Act, nor the gerrymandering of boundaries, constituencies and the Electoral Registration process – on all if which Clegg not only rolled over and wagged his tail, he actually enthusiastically endorsed.
Well well, very interesting. I say this as someone who’s always voted Lib Dem until the last GE when I voted Labour, like, I suspect, a lot of disillusioned Lib Dems voters who couldn’t stomach them voting through The Health and Social Care Act in 2012, and backing the disastrous austerity agenda.
Given the absolute mess the two main parties are making of the issue of the EU, I’m not surprised they’re losing support to the Lib Dems. I personally regret voting for Corbyn now; your assessment of him as a charming man with no leadership qualities is spot on Richard. Still, why should I be surprised; every vote I’ve ever cast in my life I’ve been on the losing side, mainly due to the rotten FPTP voting system.
If New Labour had had the guts/gumption bring in a proper system of PR in their 13 years in power……….but no, political expediency won out; as FPTP was (temporarily) working in their favour, they kept it. Idiots.
John, I’m certainly angry, but motivated? I’d vote for the SNP if they could field candidates, the way I’m feeling now! They are the only major party in Westminster I have any time for now. Pathetic, isn’t it?
I suspect the SNP could do quite well in England
They have a London branch
I gave spoken at it. Nice bunch of people
Where can I sign up please?
You need to form it…..
Im wondering what has happened to all those voters, many of them young, who joined Corbyns Labour in large numbers and who may now be extremely disillusioned. They will stand to lose the most from his complicity in Hard Brexit and other hard Right policies
I wonder that too
Looking at some of their web sites (NEON) it seems the enthusiasm has faded but alternatives are not apparent