If you want people to spread some news, the best way to get them to do it is to send them an email marked “Confidential” and tell them not to pass information on because it’s “secret”.

To add a dash of drama, you send it out at 6:03 am, saying that you’ve just come out of the “daily briefing with the by-election team in North Shropshire.”

I don’t doubt for a second that Lib Dem Chief Exec Mike Dixon is an early riser and his cannily timed email to catch party members when they had their breakfast or were on their morning commute was a great way to get the message out that we are doing well.

The news that he was imparting, that our internal polling shows that we are only 10 points behind the Tories in the postal vote, had already appeared on Twitter last night.

Lib Dem internal polling in North Shropshire (Postal Votes Only):

🌳CON: 47.7% (-15.0)
🔶LDM: 37.8% (+27.8)
🌹LAB: 10.5% (-11.6)
🌍 GRN: 1.9% (-1.3)
🤷‍♂️ Other: 2.1% (+0.1)

H/T @Hawlucha137.

— Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) November 30, 2021

This compares well with the Chesham and Amersham situation at the same time.

Certainly this chimes with the accounts of every single person I know (and that’s a lot of people, including some hardened cynics) who has been knocking doors in North Shropshire, and with my own efforts on the phone.

There is a lot of excitement about this by-election and there is a real feeling that we should not limit our ambitions.

Our candidate, Helen Morgan, is absolutely brilliant and is already acting as an MP should:

Over the weekend I spoke to people from all over the constituency who were left without power due to Storm Arwen.

Today I signed a letter alongside @timfarron & @DoddsJane calling for Government intervention to support our communities.https://t.co/ZgkYxeVhcb

— Helen Morgan MP 🔶 (@HelenMorganMP) November 30, 2021

So the signs are good, but there’s a lot to do over the next two weeks. If you can go, please do. If you can’t go, please phone or donate. I’ve been doing a lot of phoning, and hosting phoning sessions. The other night, virtually everyone I spoke to was willing to put up a stakeboard.

All the details of how you can help are here.

You also have a chance, if you are very lucky, to meet the wonderful Nina, Powys Councillor Pete Roberts’ dog. She is a veteran of many by-elections and lay there nonchalantly as Ed Davey smashed down the blue wall the day after Chesham and Amersham and got on News at Ten.

It’s half a decade today since Sarah Olney won Richmond Park. Remember how thrilled we all were when that happened! How great would it be to wake up to Helen Morgan MP on 17th December. Please do whatever you can to make that happen.

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