Over at the Politics.co.uk website, LibDemVoice Co-Editor Stephen Tall looks at the party’s prospects in Thursday’s elections. Here’s an excerpt:
With the Lib Dems’ national poll ratings flat-lining at around 10-12%, the party faces the uncomfortable prospect of a classic pincer-movement: losing to Labour our hard-won gains in the urban north, and losing to the Tories the no-less-hard-won gains in the suburban south. How the party fares against Labour in Sheffield, Manchester and Cambridge – where there are sitting Lib Dem MPs, including Nick Clegg – and against the Tories in Eastleigh, Three Rivers and Cheltenham will be a crucial test for whether the party will be able to dig in for the 2015 general election. Though Lib Dem representation on local councils is important in its own right, a critical mass of active councillors is crucial for any Lib Dem MP hoping to retain their seat in 2015.
As it is, the total number of Lib Dem councillors across the UK looks set to fall to below 3,000, its lowest level in two decades. That figure is half Labour’s total, and one-third of the Tories’. For a party that prides itself on community politics, of embodying the very best of local government in action, this is a major setback. …
In many voters’ eyes, the Lib Dems are now tainted by their association with a Conservative party that appears to have reverted to type by cosying-up to the rich and powerful Murdochs of this world, and to be governing in their interests by cutting the 50% top-rate of tax.
If there’s one thing that might cheer Lib Dem supporters on Friday morning it’s that the Tories (Boris aside) are also likely to suffer a bad night. There will appear to be some justice in the fact that both coalition parties are sharing in this government’s mid-term blues, not just the junior partner.
You can read Stephen’s post in full here.
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