Everyone knows that the Easter Bank Holiday for political activists is not about lying around and scoffing chocolate.
With the local elections three and a half weeks away, activists up and down the country have been delivering leaflets and knocking on doors.
And there’s a lot to play for.
Yesterday’s Observer had a great article on our campaign, showing how our number of candidates has gone up, while the Tories are not putting up a full slate in areas where they have done before:
While the number of Tory candidates registered to stand – 7,512 – is still comfortably the highest, Ed Davey’s party says there are clear signs that it is now in a better position to exploit Tory difficulties at national level than for many years.
Lib Dem officials say that in many councils across the country where the Tories should be strong, from Stockport in the north-west to Lewes in East Sussex, the Tory party is not fielding full slates of candidates.
The Conservative peer and local government expert Robert Hayward said the Tories would be disappointed not to be able to field more candidates, and that it was clear the Lib Dems were making progress. But he said this was partly to do with council reorganisations, which meant that some areas where the Tories were traditionally strong were not being contested this time.
Ed is quoted:
“In councils across the country, the Liberal Democrats are the party to take on the Conservatives, who have failed people for far too long.
“Whether it is the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis, their failure to manage our NHS or the fact they let water companies pump filthy sewage into our rivers, people are ready for change, and the Liberal Democrats are ready to deliver.”
And yesterday’s I has an article on our hopes and aspirations in the Blue Wall:
Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Berkshire are among the areas where Sir Ed Davey‘s team is confident of making gains. Insiders say demographic change has helped their cause: the “Surrey shuffle”, which has seen young professionals move out of London due to rising house prices, is putting pressure on long-serving MPs such as Dominic Raab and Sir John Redwood, both top targets for the Lib Dems at the next general election. Strategists also suggest the passage of time has helped erase lingering bitterness about the legacy of the coalition government, which had long put off many left-leaning voters.
Around the country, campaigners have been out in the sunshine:
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