Thanks For Your Support (Chingford and Woodford Green Liberal Democrats)

Chingford and Woodford Green Liberal Democrats <info@cwglibdems.org.uk>

Thanks For Your Support

May 8, 2010 12:05 PM

Our thanks to LibDem members and non-members alike for the physical and moral support you have given us in the past few weeks. Whether leafletting, canvassing, telling on polling day or simply writing letters of support, knowing that others were behind us was encouragement in our campaign to get the Liberal Democrat voice heard in the national and local elections.

We are disappointed, as I am sure you are, that we were not able to deliver the outcome we were hoping for. In the parliamentary election I received about the same number of votes as in 2005, some 7,200 which represented about 17% of the votes cast. In Monkhams ward the three of us received an average of 1,700 votes each which represented about 33% of the votes cast. In Church End, where we retained the three seats, our share of the vote was 55% and in Hale and End and Highams Park, where our three sitting candidates were just squeezed out, the share was just under 35%.

Given the limited resources available to us locally, we think we did all we could in this wards and constituency - no doubt you will tell us otherwise if that is what you think. However, it was clear to us that people were making their decision in the last few days and that many who had promised to vote for us either or both locally and nationally changed their minds, as of course they are perfectly entitled to do. They had been swayed by the Labour and Tory parties' scaremongering about the "dangers of a hung parliament". Perhaps we should have been more ready to rebut that ridiculous nostrum since we

believe that a balanced parliament would be a rather good thing - but I don't think we can blame Nick Clegg or any others for not addressing this - after all it was only the fact that he was doing so well in connecting with the electorate that our opponents used this weapon.

The irony is of course that the country now has a hung parliament but with a smaller number of LibDem MPs. Although it will stick in the craw to work with them, let us hope an accommodation will be reached with one or other of the two main parties on electoral reform. It is unlikely to be the Tories as their backers will not even countenance a referendum on the matter for

fear of losing it ...and so weaken the party that will promote and protect their interests - but we know no more than you.

In the meantime we will continue to fight the good fight.