Author Archives: Andy Boddington

Andy Boddington is a Lib Dem councillor in rural Shropshire and edits Lib Dem Voice on Thursdays

The voting is over. The results are coming in.

By Andy Boddington | Fri 6th May 2022 - 12:27 am

We’ll be bringing updates through the night and through to Saturday. In the small hours, it is looking good for the Lib Dems. But it is early yet and some counts won’t begin until the morning.

This was a state of play at 5am. Labour are making some gains now. The Conservatives are doing badly but not as badly as excepted (hoped for). And the big news so far. The Lib Dems have gained 42 new seats and have taken control of Hull Council.

This post is no longer being updated. We’ll publish more news and comment shortly.

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We’re off. It’s election day. Good luck!

By Andy Boddington | Thu 5th May 2022 - 7:00 am

The polling stations are open. The kettle is on in committee rooms. Good Morning and GoTVs are being delivered. The tellers are wrapped up well, collecting data on who’s voting, even how they are voting. Data officers are heads down. The Shuttleworths are being warmed up. The knocker uppers are getting ready to get the straggling voters out.

Votes will take place in all 32 councils in Scotland and all 22 councils in Wales. Elections are being held in 146 English councils, including all 32 boroughs in London. In Northern Ireland, voters will select 90 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont.

Across all four nations, 21,352 candidates are standing, including 3,664 Lib Dems.

Counting begins in some English councils soon after the polls close at 10pm tonight and elsewhere tomorrow. Some counting may go into Saturday.

The team here at LDV will be juggling election duties with reporting the results. We wish all those standing and campaigning the best of luck.

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Davey on tax cuts, the non-existent pact with Labour and nuclear disarmament

By Andy Boddington | Mon 2nd May 2022 - 10:25 am

Ed Davey appeared on BBC One Sunday Morning yesterday. Interviewed by Sophie Raworth, he spoke about the cost of living, the need for tax cuts, keeping our nuclear deterrent until multilateral disarmament can be agreed and the forthcoming local elections and by-elections. He firmly denied the Lib Dems have a deal with Labour to squeeze the Tories out of some seats.

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Are farmers flocking to the Lib Dems?

By Andy Boddington | Sun 1st May 2022 - 3:23 pm

There is a stereotype around and about. That farmers vote Tory. Of course, many farmers vote Tory as do many non-farmers. But a growing number of farmers are supporting the Lib Dems. We saw this in North Shropshire where orange diamonds went up in fields across the constituency. This week, Stuart Roberts the outgoing deputy president of the National Farmers Union (NFU), previously a Conservative councillor, joined the Liberal Democrats.

There is a modal shift underway in rural areas. Areas and occupations previously seen as “true blue” are getting fed up with the way they have been ignored by the Conservative government. It is not just about farming. The lack of affordable housing, the growth of second homes and the paucity of public transport concern rural voters. As does the cost of fuel for vehicles and to heat homes. The Tories are ignoring these issues. They are ignoring the reality that many small farms are likely to go out of business as funding schemes change. Far from being protectors of the countryside as they have boasted in the past, the Conservatives are increasingly seen as its enemy.

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Parish resigns decently over indecency in the Commons

By Andy Boddington | Sat 30th April 2022 - 6:37 pm

In what is possibility the most honest resignation in recent times, Neil Parish MP for Tiverton and Honiton has taken the Chiltern Hundreds.

In a government led by Boris Johnson, who has been widely accused of lying, his resignation has been honest and frank. Although Parish was initially was looking for tractors while on the Conservative benches, he found something that entertained him more. Then he went back again. He told the BBC:

“I did get into another website that had a very similar name and I watched it for a bit, which I shouldn’t have done.

“But my crime – biggest crime – is that on another occasion I went in a second time.”

He is victim of his own misfortune and he had to go voluntarily or be dismissed. He chose not to hang on. It is rare now for MPs to resign with decency, even if they are resigning for indecency.

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State of the Locals Survey 2022: opinions of councils and MPs

By Andy Boddington | Sat 23rd April 2022 - 5:35 pm

The Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) has released an Ipsos survey of 4,330 residents’ attitudes to councils and councillors, and their priorities. Earlier, Ipsos published part of the poll which also included people’s opinions of MPs and a regional breakdown of opinion. This survey gives a useful perspective for campaigners who are out drumming up support ahead of the 5 May elections, reinforcing and detailing what we know and what we are hearing on the doorsteps.

Respondents said local government councils and councillors had more impact on people’s daily lives and the quality of their neighbourhoods than the government. However, a majority of respondents lacked knowledge and awareness about how councils work and what councillors actually do. Half of people think MPs don’t tell the truth, while a third thought the same of councillors.

This survey can be read as disappointing. We would all like achieve more as councillors and people to have better knowledge of what we do. But on many matters, it is not as bad as I might have feared. And we know that Lib Dem councillors outclass most others in communicating, not just in the lead up to an election, but throughout their term in office.

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Morgan letter to Blue Wall MPs on Partygate vote

By Andy Boddington | Thu 21st April 2022 - 10:19 am

Ahead of the vote today on whether to refer the Prime Minister for investigation by the Committee of Privileges following his repeated lies on Partygate, North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has written to 50 Blue Wall Tory MPs. These MPs have slim majorities and are vulnerable to a public backlash over their support for Boris Johnson.

The vote this afternoon will be on a motion that refers Boris Johnson to the Committee of Privileges for misleading the house over partygate. The motion tabled by Labour is also signed by the leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru. Lib Dem, Green, Social Democratic and Labour parties, and the deputy leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. The motion says the committee “shall not begin substantive consideration of the matter until the inquiries currently being conducted by the Metropolitan Police have been concluded.” However, a Tory amendment tabled by Paymaster General Michael Ellis and Leader of the House Mark Spencer defers any decision on whether to refer Johnson to the Committee of Privileges until the police inquiry has concluded.

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Musk bids for Twitter but wealth doesn’t create wisdom

By Andy Boddington | Mon 18th April 2022 - 10:52 am

Elon Musk, who according to Forbes and other sources is the richest person in the world, has made a $43 billion bid for Twitter. Musk is very, very rich. He is also an ideas man and manages to get clever people around him.

Space X, more than any other company, has brought the world into an era of space where businesses rather than governments lead in space. Space X is launching satellites and humans into orbit and beyond. Tesla is building more than 300,000 electric cars a quarter in the company’s largely automated factories. The Boring Company has several projects delivered or underway.

But does that make Musk fit to own Twitter? And are his proposals to make Twitter a bastion of free speech where anything goes, truth or lies providing it does not break local laws, tenable in a social media universe where tweets are so influential?

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Our nation should hang its head in shame over Rwanda refugee plans

By Andy Boddington | Thu 14th April 2022 - 10:33 am

I cannot believe the depths to which our nation has sunk. We have a government led by a liar and by ministers and civil servants being handed out fines for breaking their own laws. We have a government that slaps tax increases on struggling people and refuses to raise benefits to the level people need to survive. Food banks, once few and far between, and now ubiquitous and essential for good health and survival of many families. And we have a government that is planning to fly migrants and asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing.

It is almost impossible to see any humanitarianism in this government’s attitude towards refugees crossing the channel to a country they dream of as a safe haven. Instead of tackling the people smugglers who have been responsible for hundreds of deaths in the same way we tackle terrorists, our government is taking aim at vulnerable people desperate for new lives.

Priti Patel is in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, today to sign the “migration and economic development partnership” this morning. This is low moment for our country that I have always believed had humanity in its national heart.

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Davey: Recall parliament after PM & Chancellor fined for partygate

By Andy Boddington | Tue 12th April 2022 - 5:29 pm

Boris Johnson was enjoying a boost among Conservatives this week, until today, after his snap visit to Ukraine. No matter that he looked out of place in a suit and tie alongside President Zelensky and the escort in fatigues. The Conservatives like a good war and a leader that shows resolve in a time of crisis. But Johnson looked like he was going to a party not walking in a war zone.

Rishi Sunak on the other hand, has had a lousy week. The row over his green card and his wife’s non dom tax status has failed to die down. As a tax hiking chancellor, he is getting the flack for a system that is to his advantage while he has given many low income families a choice between food, fuel and warmth. There are press briefings that he will step down and leave politics for California.

Partygate now seems a minor issue and that is the emerging defence by Conservatives this afternoon who are arguing the prime minister should not be deposed and must not resign because of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Sir Roger Gale MP, a long time critic of Boris Johnson, told BBC R4 PM this evening now is the time.

That is not the view of opposition parties. Ed Davey has called for parliament to be recalled to discuss the crisis that is engulfing the a government that is already engulfed by its own sleaze and disregard for those having to choose between fuel and the food bank.

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Dominic Raab: Blue Wall under serious attack from the Lib Dems

By Andy Boddington | Thu 7th April 2022 - 8:17 am

Four weeks today, there are local elections across the country, including for Elmbridge Borough Council where the Tories are already running scared.

In a letter to Conservative members in his Esher and Walton constituency, Dominic Raab warns that:

”We are under serious attack from the Lib Dems. We are now their top target seat in the country!”

In a letter co-signed by the Chairman of the Esher and Walton Conservative Association, Raab shows he is not only running scared, he’s running broke:

“Unless our local Esher and Walton Conservative Association can raise significant funding, we risk losing ground in the local elections in May, which would undermine our position locally.”

He called on Conservatives to help put bricks back into the Blue Wall by making donations of between £20 and £5,000.

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What would be your dream budget?

By Andy Boddington | Tue 22nd March 2022 - 4:13 pm

Formally, it is the Spring Statement. But to many facing soaring energy, fuel and food prices – not to mention the National Insurance hike and suspension of the triple lock – it is a budget that could make the difference between being warm or being hungry. Being able to afford a few luxuries or having to skimp on essentials. For some it will mean trips to the food bank.

Much has been written on the spiralling cost of living. Just today, I received a polite note from my home energy provider saying announcing a 42% increase from 1 April. Many people …

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Carmichael on Ukraine refugees and Russian oil tankers in Orkney

By Andy Boddington | Sun 27th February 2022 - 2:29 pm

A steady stream of media releases is emerging from the Lib Dems as the Ukraine crisis deepens. As Newshound reports two of the most recent statements, Reuters reports that Vladimir Putin has ordered his military command “to put nuclear deterrence forces on high alert after aggressive statements by NATO countries”. While we nervously wait for confirmation of that, Alistair Carmichael has written to Boris Johnson urging him to deny Russian-owned vessels access to UK ports and attacked Kevin Foster’s comments on Ukrainian refugees saying: “We should stand with all Ukrainians, not only those prepared to pick kale and cabbage.”

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Is democratic dystopia now the order of the day?

By Andy Boddington | Tue 8th February 2022 - 2:42 pm

It has been the stuff of dystopian science fiction for centuries. We have read the novels and watched the dramas. The typical thread is that the normal order of society breaks down due to alien invasion of beings, mutant plants, disease or nuclear war. Or that society descends entropically into chaos because that is the natural order of things.

I am a fan of dystopian writing. But I am not a fan of dystopia when it spills onto the streets and threatens democracy.

Yesterday’s abuse of Kier Starmer was not the usual rough and tumble of politics as some have claimed. It was clearly an organised attempt to intimidate the leader of the opposition.

We witnessed deaths on Capitol Hill last year. Ottawa, that most gentle of capitals, is in a state of emergency. Are we now living in a political dystopia we once only thought was science fiction?

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Rome and Jericho – Are Gove’s Levelling Up plans Byzantine?

By Andy Boddington | Sun 6th February 2022 - 8:00 am

On Wednesday, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up – he used to be Secretary of State for Growing Up – Michael Gove, published the long awaited Levelling Up white paper. There is every hint that this policy paper was rushed out to distract from the ongoing tribulations of the prime minister. It includes paragraphs copied and pasted from Wikipedia. It mentions Jericho three times, ancient Rome twice and modern day Shropshire (where I am a councillor) just once. It also mentions Byzantine, which might be a good description of the white paper.

Michael Gove has responded to Shropshire’s complaints saying we must have an elected mayor before he will part with any money. This is yet another example of how Westminster politicians profess to support giving more power to local areas, while dictating how they operate democratically. As Baroness Cavendish says in this weekend’s Financial Times, Whitehall “isn’t structured to accept that the right answer may be different in different places or that locals may know best”.

Levelling Up is a bad white paper from a government obsessed with the struggles of the prime minister and not the struggles of counties outside the South East.

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Is the Big Squeeze set to become the Big Freeze?

By Andy Boddington | Thu 3rd February 2022 - 3:06 pm

Ofgem today announced the price cap will rise by £693 in England, Scotland and Wales, an increase of 54 per cent. This means bills for the average customer will rise to £1,971, up from its previous limit of £1,277.

This is just one factor in the soaring cost of living. Food prices are rapidly increasing. National Insurance is due to be hiked. Borrowers, including some mortgage holders, will feel the impact of the 0.5% hike in interest rates announced by the Bank of England today. Council taxes are due to rise in many areas, though lessened by a one off reduction of £150 to ease the burden of the surge in energy prices.

Those on pre-payment meters, who are often the most insecure in their finances and housing, will typically see their annual bills rise by £708 from £1,309 to £2,017. around £14 a week.

Even for relatively wealthier households, the loss of an average £13 a week to the energy companies will suck money out of the local economy.

The big fear is that households already skimping on heating will begin to sit in the cold affecting their health and wellbeing. The Big Squeeze could become the Big Freeze.

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Helen Morgan’s inaugural: In the footsteps of the Women of Wem

By Andy Boddington | Tue 25th January 2022 - 5:36 pm

In her inaugural speech in the House of Commons today, the country’s newest MP Helen Morgan told MPs:

“I will not give up fighting for the issues that matter most to North Shropshire: better access to health and ambulance services, a fair deal for farming, and proper provision of public services.”

Helen began by setting herself in the context on North Shropshire:

“While I am the first woman to represent North Shropshire in parliament, I am continuing a fine tradition of women in North Shropshire defending our democracy.”

She follows in the footsteps of the Women of Wem and made clear the Lib Dems opposition to the Judicial Review and Courts Bill.

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Et tu Cummins? Et tu Davies? Et tu Wragg?

By Andy Boddington | Fri 21st January 2022 - 4:28 pm

He has been stabbed in the back. Stabbed in the front. Stabbed in the arras. Yet, like a Shakespearean character stretching out the last scene of a tragedy, Boris Johnson staggers on, keeping the audience enthralled with his gasping phases, bravado and sense of drama. It is a great drama but is it a way to run a country?

There is a fear, and perhaps it is a reality, that many of the government’s announcements are now all about propping up a prime minister in free fall. A clutch of backbench Tory MPs have joined opposition MPs in calling for Boris Johnson to resign. But as always Shakespeare has wisdom, as spoken by Chamberlain in Henry VIII:

“Press not a falling man too far! ’Tis virtue. His faults lie open to the laws; let them, not you, correct him. My heart weeps to see him so little of his great self.”

There will undoubtedly be more twists and turns in this drama in the next few days. But it is clear there is something rotten in the state of the Tory party.

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Lib Dems take part in Kill the Bill protests around country

By Andy Boddington | Sun 16th January 2022 - 1:30 pm

Lib Dems across the country joined protests across the country against the Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Protests too place in London, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Plymouth, as well as a lot of smaller towns. The protests come ahead of a critical vote tomorrow in the House of Lords on amendments introduced in the Lords in November which greatly increase the authority of police to control protests including an increase in stop and search powers.

On Friday, Labour Lords belatedly said they will oppose the protest clauses. With the Lib Dems, Greens and independents opposing the restriction of the rights to protest, the amendments are likely to fall. As they were introduced in the Lords, they cannot be sent on to the Commons if peers vote against them.

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Millions face food or fuel choice as energy bills set to soar

By Andy Boddington | Wed 29th December 2021 - 7:28 am

There is nothing new about the fuel poverty issue. But this year, with retail prices and energy prices surging, and pop up energy suppliers failing, keeping people warm should be soaring up in the political agenda. But fuel poverty remains in the margins of Westminster thinking. Perhaps that will change today with a report from the Resolution Foundation warning that “2022 is set to be the ‘year of the squeeze'”.

The failure of the UK’s privatised and badly regulated energy market to anticipate and react to supply shocks including the surge in wholesale gas prices is shocking. The problem has been made worse by our country’s abysmal failure to reduce energy use by insulating homes. Vulnerable people shiver under blankets while the precious and expensive energy they pay for heating seeps out through the walls, doors and windows and vents through the roof.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the Warm Homes Discount to be doubled and expanded to support vulnerable households with their energy bills throughout the winter months. Ed Davey said:

“The Conservatives have totally failed to tackle the problem. They’ve scrapped insulation programmes that would have reduced people’s bills, cut support for the most vulnerable whilst increasing the UK’s dependence on imported gas, making our country more vulnerable too.”

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A Christmas Cracker of Covid Cheer? Perchance it is a dream…

By Andy Boddington | Thu 23rd December 2021 - 3:52 pm

Covid cases have been soaring across the UK and England just a few days ago been plummeting towards another lockdown or circuit breaker. We seemed destined to have a cracking Christmas followed by a New Year’s Eve singing Auld Lang Syne at a social distanced.

Yesterday, though, there was better news. Separate analyses published by Imperial College and Edinburgh University concurred with research funded by the South African Medical Research Council and a modelling exercise by a Danish institute. All four studies suggest Omicron will lead to less severe illness than Delta and less hospitalisation.

The results, which are provisional, look like a bonus for the NHS which is usually rammed to the rafters in winter and this year faces bigger than usual staff shortages due to self-isolation.

The studies are a huge boost for Boris Johnson, who’s premiership has been on the line over Covid restrictions (along with the loss of the North Shropshire by-election). He must make a decision in the next few days whether to follow Scotland and Wales in increasing restrictions, including cancelling New Year. His instinct will be to impose minimalist intervention rather than face letters of no confidence from his backbenchers.

But unless we “Jab the World” we are at risk of more waves of infection.

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Vince Cable says we could win 30 more seats in 2024

By Andy Boddington | Wed 22nd December 2021 - 4:28 pm

Writing in the Independent today, Vince Cable predicts: ”A realistic if optimistic outlook is that the Lib Dems could take 30 more Tory seats at the next general election.” Some may think that is ambitious but if we don’t have ambition we are never going to succeed.

He begins with Orpington, a by-election, on a massive 26 per cent swing in 1962. That was fifty years ago and the political quicksand has shifted since then. But it doesn’t mean that, buoyed by our successes in Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire, we can’t deliver 30 MPs.

The experience in North Shropshire was that people no longer talked about the coalition. Only the very left talks about that now. We need to stride forward. Build on the excitement and momentum that we have gained during 2021. Ensure that we can get more MPs elected in 2024.

Over to Vince Cable.

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Trade deal with Australia will hit our farmers

By Andy Boddington | Wed 22nd December 2021 - 10:54 am

Tim Farron has warned that farmers are being “sold down the river” by the Conservatives, after it emerged the government’s own impact assessment found the Australia deal will cause a £94m hit to the farming, forestry and fishing industries. There is also an expected £225 million hit to the semi-processed food sector, such as tinned foods.

The Liberal Democrats are demanding that MPs are given a vote on the Australia deal so they can stand up for the interests of British farmers. It comes following the party’s by-election win in North Shropshire during which concerns over the impacts of government’s trade deals on local farmers were a significant issue. The deal is likely to hit small farmers, especially hill farmers hardest.

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Boris Johnson is sinking into pig manure. Has he had his day?

By Andy Boddington | Sun 19th December 2021 - 8:32 am

Is Johnson about to book the removal vans and move out of Downing Street? His stint as prime minister over? Yes please. Bring the vans in and bring the tenure of this increasingly hapless “leader” to an end.

At first thought, keeping Boris Johnson is good for us Lib Dems. His incompetence helped deliver the stunning North Shropshire result and get us our 13th MP. But his incompetence is now damaging our country. After Partygate, Peppagate, backbench rebellions and today, the resignation of Lord Frost, he increased looks as though he is up to his neck in Peppa poo.

As Oscar Wilde didn’t say: “To lose one by-election Mr Johnson, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” And there is that sense about Boris Johnson. Carelessness. The sense of not having a grip on the public mood and on the mood within his own party.

Is it time for him to walk the plank?

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Ed Davey on historic North Shropshire win and Keir Starmer pact

By Andy Boddington | Fri 17th December 2021 - 10:36 am

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey spoke to BBC reporter Justin Webb earlier this morning. He said he was proud of our party and our campaigners. We have brought hope to the whole nation by proving the Conservatives can be beaten anywhere. Brexit was not an issue in the by-election. Voters were more concerned about ambulances and GPs.

Ed is cool on a pact with Keir Starmer for the next general election but confident that we can make more inroads into the Blue Wall.

Here is the transcript.

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Helen Morgan acceptance speech: “ Johnson you are no leader”

By Andy Boddington | Fri 17th December 2021 - 6:00 am

What a victory! Nearly six thousand majority. There are huge implications for the government and Boris Johnson. We’ll cover those in later articles.

In her speech, she told the prime minister, Helen said:

Our country is crying out for leadership. Mr Johnson, you are no leader.

She told the voters in North Shropshire:

Your amazing efforts have delivered a gift of hope to our country, just in time for Christmas… I promise I will work for you and only you. I will always put local people and our communities first.

Helen said the NHS in Shropshire is teetering on the brink. The rural economy is in a precarious state.

Below, we report Helen’s acceptance speech in full. Here is the recording.

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++++Helen Morgan wins North Shropshire!!!

By Andy Boddington | Fri 17th December 2021 - 4:36 am

March the brass bands. Beat the drums. Sound the trombones. Honk the horns. Dance through the streets. Silence the soothsayers, those that thought this by-election couldn’t be won.

We won this by-election and won it well. Turning a 22,949 “unassailable” vote for the Tories into a stonking win for us. A Tory majority of votes transformed into a stunning vote for the Lib Dems. A swing to us of 34%, giving us a majority of 5,925.

Helen Morgan won this by-election. The team supporting her won it. The hundreds of Lib Dem activists from around the country won it. Our national team won it. Ed Davey won it. Our MPs won it. Now they are 13 strong.

This was not just a bloody nose for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives. It was a bloody good win for the Lib Dems.

  • Lib Dems: 17,957
  • Conservatives: 12,032
  • Labour: 3,686
  • Green: 1,738
  • Reform: 1,127

We must now ensure that Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire are just the beginning. We have taken some hard knocks as a party in recent years. But now we have picked ourselves up and dusted ourselves off. We have shown that we again can be winners. Winning here. Winning everywhere.

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Johnson’s nightmare Plan B debate – Lib Dem speeches (videos)

By Andy Boddington | Wed 15th December 2021 - 8:12 am

I used to look forward to a visit to the ice cream after school. “99”, I would cry out. Now 99 has a new meaning. It is the number of Conservative that rebelled against the prime minister on his Plan B yesterday evening. That vote has weakened his authority in his party, by which I mean the political party. A threat to his leadership now looks credible.

The North Shropshire by-election is tomorrow. It is neck and neck between Helen Morgan standing for us Lib Dems and Neil Shastri-Hurst for the Conservatives. If the Conservatives lose the seat, then surely Boris Johnson is finished.

During the debate, Layla Moran said that there is new evidence that Omicron affects children more than Delta has done. She asked: “Where is the plan for children?” She also called for more ventilation in public spaces and schools.

Daisy Cooper told MPs that the removal of restrictions on mask wearing in July was more a political move than health management. She said the UK Health Security Agency had warned that “stringent national measures” will need to be imposed by 18 December.

Wera Hobhouse supported mask wearing and warned sceptics of restrictions that our civil liberties do not include the liberty to harm others. She asked what was being done to ensure the housebound received their boosters.

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Ed Davey talks about prospects in North Shropshire

By Andy Boddington | Mon 13th December 2021 - 2:54 pm

Interviewed by Joanne Gallagher, BBC Radio Shropshire’s political reporter earlier yesterday in Wem at the heart of the North Shropshire constituency, Ed Davey said:

It’s a two horse race. I think everyone knows that now.

It’s really exciting. It’s really close. Too close to call. The Lib Dem campaign has been really positive. Helen Morgan has gone down really well. She is a local candidate and that matters to a lot of people. She is taking up issues that people are really caring about. Ambulances. Access to GPs. I think people are thinking at long last someone is going to listen to them. Someone is going to represent them. They do feel that the Conservatives have taken them for granted for so long.

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North Shropshire: Dogs, knees and a bouncy Davey – video

By Andy Boddington | Sun 12th December 2021 - 4:37 pm

It’s been a great few weeks in North Shropshire, albeit a bit on the chilly side with some bad storms. Hundreds of supporters have turned out to support Helen Morgan in her campaign to storm a “true blue” bastion. This huge effort has turned the tide and the bookies are giving the Lib Dems better odds than the Tories.

There are just three days campaigning to go, plus polling day. We’ll be publishing the result on LDV just as soon as it is announced in the early hours of Friday morning. And through the day and weekend, we will be publishing commentary on the result.

We are clear favourites with the bookies even though the Tories are trying to fight back with a belated push. If you can get to North Shropshire or pick up the phone, please pitch in to help Helen Morgan win on Thursday. Day-to-day details are on the campaign Facebook page.

Volunteer to take part. Donate to the campaign.

Below, we publish a video highlighting just a selection of the images from the campaign.

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Recent Comments

  • Jane Ann Liston
    John, I think you are quite right....
  • TonyH
    Layla does well here. And it's such a fantastic campaign issue: real community politics, with a national angle - and we can make it our own. It was good to see ...
  • Nonconformistradical
    @Brad Barrows "we get more periods of really heavy rain that could overwhelm sewerage systems in urban areas, leading to sewage backing up in peoples’ homes....
  • George Thomas
    I guess the question I would ask LD's is can the politics of Westminster ever get bad enough that, if you could, you would vote to become independent of it? ...
  • Ruth Bright
    Struggling to disagree with much of that Lorenzo....