Have you managed to get to Lewisham East yet?
If you are one of the party’s many thousands of members in London and you haven’t been yet, head down in the next few days to help Lucy Salek get the best result we can on Thursday.
There has been a pretty vigorous Lib Dem campaign. In just a month, Lucy has managed to get name recognition and has been out and about in the community. There have been a LOT of leaflets highlighting how the Liberal Democrats are committed to giving people the final say on the deal while Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is giving the government a free pass to the most chaotic Brexit possible.
Amazing to walk around #Catford with @FloellaBenjamin today – great to hear from so many people and have so many residents wish us good luck for next Thursday. #LewishamEast pic.twitter.com/TxsZLwf0gi
— Lucy V. Salek (@lucyvsalek) June 7, 2018
She had a former by-election winner with her this week:
Fantastic to have spent the morning with @Willie_Rennie and Brighter Horizons. Great to meet the team and see the important work they are doing to support the community in #Lewisham pic.twitter.com/i6Bwxjl14v
— Lucy V. Salek (@lucyvsalek) June 4, 2018
Polling will take place in the wake of Tuesday night’s votes on the EU Withdrawal Bill so there will be nowhere for Labour to hide.
The New European soaks up the campaign atmosphere:
There is a definite buzz in the Lib Dem campaign headquarters and there is even talk of Salek – an impressive local figure with experience of conflict resolution for humanitarian organisations in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and a published author – as the “Seabiscuit candidate”. The analogy is interesting: it’s a nod to the Thoroughbred racehorse that beat the favourites in a series of key fixtures in the States and became a symbol of hope during the Great Depression.
Yesterday the place was teeming with young, fresh-faced party activists – this is for most of them their first campaign – and there was even a spot of showbiz glamour in the shape of Frances Barber, who was putting in a few hours writing and sealing envelopes for the party ahead of going on stage in the West End in An Ideal Husband (alongside the well-known Brextremist Edward Fox). The actress was a life-long Labour Party supporter before announcing on Twitter, just before the local elections, that she was transferring her allegiances to the Lib Dems out of sheer despair at her old party’s position on Brexit.
You can find out all you need to know about how to help out here.
We are getting the sort of turnout that we need to get a good result on Thursday but it is crucial that we keep that going all the way till 10pm on Thursday. So if you can get there, or pick up the phone, do so.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
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2 Comments
You can sign up for campaign events in this vital final week here http://www.libdems.org.uk/lewisham-events – we need help with knocking on doors, delivering leaflets, phoning and clerical jobs right through to the end.
With signs turnout could be low it means a good polling day operation will help us have a real impact you can sign up to help us here http://www.libdems.org.uk/lewisham-polling-day
If you can’t make it in person find out how you can make calls at http://www.libdems.org.uk/make-calls
Lewisham East is turning into a really incredible byelection campaign, with all the signs that the Lib Dems are heading for a stupendous result. These last few days before polling day, and polling day itself, are absolutely crucial in determining the extent of our success. I’ve been to many byelections over the last 46 years, and this one bears all the hallmarks of one of the legendary Liberal and Lib Dem Parliamentary byelections of yore.
I’m afraid Lindsay’s article underplays the real potential of this byelection – and how far we have come in this campaign to achieving a real upset, in a so-called “safe” Labour seat, where Labour got 68% share of the vote in the 2017 General Election. It really is do-able.
As members and activists, we have been inundated with emails from Lib Dem High Command , on an almost daily basis. The Campaigns Team and the Party leadership don’t lightly invest their political capital in promoting a Parliamentary byelection to the extent that they are doing.
Vince Cable has now visited the constituency 7 times, while London MPs Ed Davey and Tom Brake have been almost as many times as Vince. Something is most definitely afoot !
So do get on down to Lewisham NOW, wherever in the country you may live ! Book emergency annual leave, leave the kids with the grandparents, come today and stay till Friday. You won’t regret it !
I am thinking we will definitely achieve a result at least as good as Witney. But the potential of Lewisham East is immense. The big question is, whether we can turn Lewisham East into the new Bermondsey byelection. So, let’s all of us make sure it’s the latter. #WeCanDoThis !