A Whole New World
May 15, 2010
First off, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone in Ashford, Tenterden and the villages who voted for me at the 2010 General Election. Whilst I did not win I was delighted to move up from third place in 2005 to second behind the Conservatives. Thanks to your 12,581 votes the Liberal Democrats actually achieved a swing from the Conservatives of 2.3%
Post election, we appear to have entered a ‘brave new world’ in British politics. The formation of the first peacetime coalition government since the days of Lloyd George is something that will delight, divide, annoy and frustrate many across the political spectrum.
In Ashford, I encouraged tactical voting as the best way to challenge Conservative dominance of the seat. Many people who may have voted Labour, Green or UKIP will feel annoyed that their tactical vote did not produce the result they wanted.
Like the general public I could never have predicted the election result or the result of negotiations. Neither a ‘coalition of the defeated’ nor a Conservative minority administration would have given the country a stable or strong government.
I remember Thatcherism and extortionate interest rates. More recently I also remember the steady erosion of civil liberties and target driven politics of New Labour. The prospect of a coalition with either party was galling. Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats have made a decision that may lose the party millions of votes. The decision though is grounded in the practicalities of the situation faced.
One of the most encouraging pronouncements by the new coalition government is the promise of a referendum on the AV electoral system and the promise of equalising constituencies. AV is not a proportional system but it does do away with the need for anyone to vote tactically.
Ashford has nearly 83,000 electors – despite losing 4,000 electors due to boundary changes. Some Northern seats, in contrast, have little over 50,000 electors. It was virtually impossible, for any party, to deliver leaflets across a constituency that can take more than 45 minutes to drive from one end to the next (although we did manage more than 100,000).
Before any of the above happens we will have local elections in May 2011 and European elections the following year. The constituency will remain enormous. We will be challenging the Conservatives in every seat that they hold. There may be a coalition nationally but competition remains fierce locally.
