The Liberal Democrats won a stunning success on the 1st December by taking the Richmond Park & North Kingston Parliamentary Seat from the Conservatives. One effect of this was to reduce the Conservative majority in the House of Commons to 9 – and also to bring the number of Liberal Democrats up to 9. Interesting!.
Now the Liberal Democrats can look back on 2016 as a year of solid achievement in local council by elections.
With 29 gains and only one loss, in Principal Local Authorities by elections, the Lib Dem tally of 28 net gains contrasts dramatically with the woeful performance of 33 net losses for the Conservatives. Nor could Labour hold its own in the face of real voters armed with real votes. Labour’s net loss of 4 council seats must be deeply disappointing to them. It completely undermines any pretension that they might have had to be an effective opposition.
But this first class Liberal Democrat performance sends a wider message to the Conservative government. The Liberal Democrats make no secret of their view that a “hard Brexit” would be a disaster for our country – and that the people should be given a final say on any negotiated deal. This has only increased support for the Liberal Democrats and consistently and drastically reduced support for the Conservatives – up and down the country and across a wide variety of council seats.
The May government needs to take on board that its current approach to our European partners and future co-operation is not what the people want – referendum or no. In addition the government’s arrogant and aggressive attitude to EU citizens resident in the UK is deeply disapproved of by the public.
In December, the people of Richmond Park and North Kingston sent a shockwave through this Conservative Brexit government. Their message was clear – “We do not want a hard Brexit. We do not want to be pulled out of the single market, and we will not let intolerance, division and fear win.” But this was not an isolated response. The same view is shared right across the UK.