Author Archives: Chris Maines

Chris Maines

It was sixty years ago today… Orpington falls to the Liberals

By Chris Maines | Mon 14th March 2022 - 9:22 am

By-elections can have a dramatic impact on the political scene. The Orpington by-election, the 60th Anniversary of which is today, was the first and therefore biggest to rock a Government. The 26% swing to the Liberals saw them leap frog Labour and replace the Conservatives who had represented the area since universal suffrage was introduced.

The ingredients to build the winning campaign was not dissimilar to the factors at play in Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire in 2021. The Liberals had a fledgling local government base, there was an unpopular Conservative Government, matched with an arrogant and complacent attitude to the campaign by the Tories. The Liberals found the issues and had an army of dedicated activists to win over support.

The Orpington story started in the mid 1950’s when a small dedicated team of activists decided to start fighting local council elections seriously. Their first breakthrough came with a by-election win in 1959 in Biggin Hill ward. Each year they grew the Council group, winning over many young families new to the area by highlighting a lack of infrastructure and new housing to meet the needs of the growing population. By 1961, there were twelve Liberals on the Council and, in September of that year, a County Council by-election saw the first Liberal elected to Kent County Council. Within 12 days of this victory, it was announced Donald Sumner, the Tory MP, was being appointed a County Court Judge and there would be a parliamentary by-election.

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Posted in Liberal History | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Chris Maines

Richmond Park – a few days to win

By Chris Maines | Sun 27th November 2016 - 9:06 am

Since the end of October our energy in London has been focused on the Richmond Park by-election. We have spent hours campaigning and gathering data about which voters will support our superb candidate, Sarah Olney next Thursday. We now have a few days to get those people who have said they will vote Liberal Democrat to do so on Thursday. Everything is now concentrated on getting out the vote (GOTV).

The next few days will be even more intense, with thousands of letters and leaflets to be delivered and, we hope, hundreds of Liberal Democrat activists moving in for the win.

Rarely has there been such an important by-election for the party and for the country. We stand to elect a Liberal Democrat woman who will add her experience to our team of MPs and demonstrate the party is back in game of taking on big money and winning. Many pundits have doubted the Liberal Democrats could bounce back within 18 months of the last General Election and achieve a sensational win. Our army of enthusiastic and energetic activists is determined to prove them wrong.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 8 Comments
Chris Maines

London Region elections: Chris Maines’ pitch for Chair

By Chris Maines | Wed 11th November 2015 - 4:04 pm

The party has entered a new phase in our history, recovering from the electoral fallout of coalition, a new Leader, new members and a renewed determination to build a more tolerate and Liberal society.  Our first test in London will be the high profile Mayoral and Assembly elections. We have probably our best ever team, led by the experienced and highly regarded Caroline Pidgeon. For the first time Caroline, as our Mayoral candidate tops a well-balanced regional list to ensure a campaign focused on improving our representation at City Hall.  A London-wide election is always a challenge to the region; it needs to find the resources, fight for media coverage and ensure consistent messages across the capital. It is also a great opportunity to ensure we campaign in areas not used to Liberal Democrat activity and to motivate our thousands of new members.

I am confident that the Liberal Democrats will do surprising well in London next May. We will demonstrate to the media and the public we are back.

The role of regional Chair and regional party is look beyond the next 6 months. It needs to build the foundations for local parties to win back support, councillors, MEPs and MPs over the next 5 years. I have three priorities

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
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