So Bright for Lib Dems it Could Still be Summer
December 1, 2006 3:15 PM
Liberal Democrats enjoyed a productive summer and, though it may be dark and cold outside, the outlook for them continues to look brighter, especially in London.
Summer started with their sensational result in the Bromley & Chislehurst by-election, where they came from third place to within a whisker of winning. It was the Tories' worst by-election result for 15 years. Labour finished a distant fourth - a governing party's worst result for 14 years.
In August, Lib Dems gained a ward in Harrow from the Tories.
In November, they again gained a ward from the Tories, this time in Havant. And in Redbridge, Lib Dems came from fourth place to gain a council seat from Labour.
The year ended with another gain, this time in Camden, where the Lib Dems comfortably took a ward from Labour and the Tories finished fourth.
During the course of 2006, whilst support for the Tories and Labour has either stagnated or fallen back, the Lib Dems have been gaining steadily in the polls.
In local authority by-elections during the year, the Lib Dems tied with the Tories for net councillors gained.
Of the Tories who lost, more were to the Lib Dems than all other parties combined. And Labour are most likely to lose to a Liberal Democrat than any other party.
The Lib Dems are now also adept at holding on to what they have. In wards where Lib Dems were defending their ward, they were successful in 2/3 of the contests (5 years ago, Lib Dems lost half of such by-elections).
With this growing bedrock of support, 2007 promises to be even more successful for the Lib Dems in London and beyond.
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