The Liberal Democrats have pulled off a stunning by-election victory, overturning a 16,000 majority in a seat that has always voted Conservative.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said the Chesham and Amersham result "sends shockwaves through British politics".
The party's candidate Sarah Green won by 8,028 votes from the Tories, with the Green Party in third place.
Labour had one of the worst by-election results in its history, with 622 votes.
Farmer Yellow knocks out Farmer Blue and Farmer Green does rather better than Farmer Red. The good folk of Chesham and Amersham have presumably had their say about the coronavirus debacle and other issues. Yet by voting Lib Dem they may end up with even less influence on the establishment than they had before.
Maybe they decided that they can't have less than no influence so what the heck. Fair enough but still pretty sheepish to my mind.
5 comments:
The Lib Dems cashed in on the NIMBY-anti HS2 vote, easy win.
Boris's Brexit bounty wouldn't have meant much in Chesham and Amersham, where a majority voted to remain. Add to that HS2, which merely trashes the county but has no stations in the constituency; the threat of building on beautiful countryside; continued inability to stem immigration; covid lockdowns; and the wondering about the cost of a Lexus and a central heating boiler that hasn't been invented yet.
The small-c conservatives of Chesham and Amersham must have wondered what the point of Boris's party actually is. They must have felt really desperate to vote for a bunch of deceitful clowns, and if Boris had any sense he would ponder that fact. I doubt if he will, though.
Mark - without knowing the area, that's the impression I have. Seems like an hopelessly optimistic vote though.
Sam - "They must have felt really desperate to vote for a bunch of deceitful clowns"
Yes that's the aspect which makes the vote so pitifully forlorn. Nothing for parties outside the mainstream, but nothing is all the Lib Dems have to offer.
It's all very odd given that Ed Davey was the Minister of Climate Clownery who set all that greenery-yallery claptrap in motion and who is a fervent supporter of HS2. I suspect it is just a "none of the above", low turnout vote. They voted for the most futile and confused party
Graeme - yes it is odd. Voters were not thinking out of the political box, yet that appears to have been their best bet. Too late now though.
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