There are stirrings in Dominic Raab’s constituency of Esher & Walton.
You might imagine this to be solid blue wall territory, but trouble started for him in the 2019 General Election when he scraped in with just 49% of the vote, closely followed by Liberal Democrat Monica Harding on 45%.
Raab’s constituency lies entirely within the Borough of Elmbridge, which is currently run by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Residents and Independents. Indeed all but three of the wards in Elmbridge lie in the Esher & Walton constituency, so any changes in Elmbridge on 5th May could be quite significant for him. Note that elections here are by thirds.
Looking at the 39 Borough ward seats that actually make up the constituency of Esher & Walton, only 14 are currently held by Conservatives. There were 16 Conservatives, but in February Councillors Christine Richardson and Alan Kopitko resigned from the party and now stand as Independents.
Two Conservative Councillors on @ElmbridgeBC have resigned this evening.
Thank you Christine, for your brave and honest comments this evening, and the contribution you have made to our community.
— Elmbridge Lib Dems 🔶 (@ElmbridgeLibDem) February 23, 2022
And this is the letter Alan Kopitko has written this week to voters in his ward of Walton North:
My letter to residents in Walton pic.twitter.com/RaFRniWJFx
— Alan Kopitko (@cllralankopitko) April 26, 2022
Elmbridge Council is one to watch on 5th May.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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