Lib Dem members will know from our discussion forum here that HQ number crunching wonks have been asking for the numbers of candidates standing for election in local authority battles across the country.
With the numbers now in, our own analysis backs up what Iain Dale states but doesn’t emphasise.
The Liberal Democrats have more candidates across the country than the Labour party.
Almost anyone who has spent time on doorsteps over the last few weeks, either collecting nomination papers or canvassing will know that support for Labour is crumbling.
Clearly the battle for Lib Dems over the coming fortnight before election night is to make sure that those disillusioned voters turn out for the Lib Dems rather than staying home or giving David Cameron a good media day.
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Iain published stats the other day about the number of Councils which have no councillors of one of the main parties.
His contention was that the Tories are a national party afterall because it is rarer to have a Council with no Tories than either no Lib Dem.
The point he has missed is that many of the Councils with no Tories cover urban areas with large portions of the poluation. The Tories are concentrated in rural areas. In the sense of the amount of the population in any given area the Tories remain not proper a national proper.
And the Conservatives have far more candidates than the LibDems, showing that they are the national party of local government
The Conservatives had far more candidates than the Lib Dems in 1996. I’m not sure whether that was a great demonstratation of them being a national party of government though.
Matt- they have more but they are concentrated in certain places, the same as Tory MPs.
Everyone knows the Tories are not a national party but mainly a party of the English south.