Every so often a by-election campaign comes along that will be remembered for generations. Orpington in the 60s, Edge Hill in the 70s, Hillhead in the 80s, Littleborough and Saddleworth in the 90s, Dunfermline in the 2000s, Eastleigh in the 2010s. Many of them came at critical moments for the party, maybe at times when we were a bit down in the dumps. And at those times the party comes together and runs a spirited and joyful campaign that everyone talks about for years afterwards.

Chesham and Amersham comes on top of, to be honest, unspectacular elections in Scotland, Wales and English Councils in May.  It would be a massive ask to win it. This is true blue territory, after all. A year and a half ago, we got less than half the Tory vote, finishing in second place. In 2017, just 4 years ago, we got 13%. We need the sorts of swings we were getting in the 90s to win.

But we’ve given it our best efforts. We’ve run a good old fashioned Liberal Democrat by-election campaign at full pelt in the middle of a pandemic. I’ve seen so many comments about how the warmth of the welcome was matched by the efficiency of despatch with leaflets or canvassing pack.

I have loved every minute of this campaign.

From the doorstep conversations to the warm welcomes visiting local businesses and community groups.

Whatever happens tonight, people in Chesham and Amersham know they will no longer be taken for granted.

— Sarah Green (@SarahGreenLD) June 17, 2021

With minutes to go until polls close I’m wishing @SarahGreenLD the very best of luck!! Team @LibDemsOxon were out all day. Really positive on doors, people stopping us on the street to wish us well. Felt like a winning campaign. But will it be enough?? Only a few hours to go… pic.twitter.com/EXEBLwKegv

— Layla Moran 🔶 (@LaylaMoran) June 17, 2021

From as far apart as Edinburgh and Cornwall, activists flocked in their thousands to help Sarah Green’s campaign. It was clear that this was a campaign everybody wanted to be a part of. My tiny contribution was to help host the nightly maraphones, where people from Orkney to Cornwall made thousands of calls.

🎵 And we're going to knock on 500 doors and then we'll knock on 500 more… 🎵 #CheshamAndAmersham #SarahGreen #TeamErlend pic.twitter.com/K2xyl7GYLq

— Natasha Chapman ☀️ (@NSmudgeChapman) June 17, 2021

I was very touched that Simon Foster from Southampton dedicated 50% of his sterling contribution putting up stakeboards to me as I couldn’t get there. But the loveliest gesture was friends of Erlend Watson, our campaigning legend who has been a key and beloved presence at so many by-elections, taking his place in this campaign. Natasha Chapman and Olly Craven from Lincoln were Team Erlend. Erlend himself is recovering well from major surgery and we hope to see him back at a by-election or Conference before too long.

The positive feedback from voters was incredible. Phoning voters and asking them to put up stakeboards is far from my favourite sort of campaigning activity, yet I couldn’t believe how easy a sell it was.

The Tories have been doing all sorts of expectation management.

"They are shitting bricks" – a Tory local govt source on the mood in CCHQ over the Chesham and Amersham by-election today. Lib Dems quietly confident of scoring an upset in the safe seat.

— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) June 17, 2021

Sometimes you can do every single thing right in a campaign and not get the result you deserve. Sarah Green and her campaign team richly deserve a victory. Let’s hope that they get it. She’s been a fantastic candidate – impressing voters on the doorsteps and motivating her army of helpers. One activist, bitten by a dog the other day, was very surprised that she took time out of her day to phone them and make sure they were ok.

In an email to members tonight, Ed Davey expressed his pride in the campaign we ran:

In your thousands, you’ve chipped in to our fighting fund, shared Sarah’s messages online, made phone calls to members and voters, and come to campaign in person – THANK YOU.

Whatever the result tonight, we can all be extremely proud of our fantastic candidate, Sarah Green, and the campaign she has run.

Throughout this campaign, Sarah has defended our fundamental rights and freedoms. Our right to have our say as communities over local planning decisions. Our right to challenge government actions through the courts. Even our right to vote – all freedoms under attack from this power-grabbing Conservative government.

We can see from the local elections, where we made gains across many of our target areas and through this by-election, that the Tories’ so-called Blue Wall is under pressure from Liberal Democrats. Voters are tired of Boris Johnson and the Conservatives, and are seeing that the Liberal Democrats can win and will fight for a fairer, greener more caring country.

Whatever happens tonight, this campaign has given the party back its mojo.

If you were a part of the campaign, what do you think you will still be talking about in years to come?

I’m not sure I’ll make it up to see the result live, but I know Andy Boddington gets up at the crack of dawn. One of us will bring you the result.

Before then, I’m about to cover the by-elections for ALDC – we have a good prospect for a gain in Somerset. Watch this space.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings