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.
For the country and more importantly the Tory Government, a strongly pro EU and remain campaign will surely make them re-assess their strategy (if they have one!). For an affluent South West London constituency to endorse everything Tim Farron has been so passionately articulating since June will have impact. It will show there is an opposition to this Government and it will show to many Tory and Labour supporters the Liberal Democrats are a beacon of hope and a credible alternative worth joining.
Sarah Olney will only win if we, the activists awoken by the outcome of the referendum, give even more time over the coming few days. If you live within travelling distance of Richmond and Kingston, please spare a few hours (particularly on Thursday) to go and help encourage those people who have said they will support Sarah go and vote. If you are further afield, pick up a phone and make a few calls. If you have never been involved in a winning election campaign, this is your chance to make a huge difference to our party and country.
You can sign up to volunteer for Sarah’s campaign here.
* Chris Maines is a former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Orpington.
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8 Comments
See we issued figures Goldsmith 46, ourselves 43 and Labour 9 taken from data, canvassing records and findings. Can it be right. How many are not saying and are the not sayings builded in. We would look pretty foolish if Goldsmith is much much further ahead. I suppose you pays your money and makes a choice. Me I hope those figures are more or less right. Only hope though. Would need to get the Labour figure back to its 2005/2010 level.
@theakes “We would look pretty foolish if Goldsmith is much much further ahead.”
I get the impression that these private polling figures have been deliberately leaked (“Party documents obtained by the Observer”) to put a squeeze on soft Labour voters while still allowing the party to distance itself from the figures if the results are significantly different.
These are official Lib Dem figures. They can’t be denied after the event.
It’s hard to think of a more favourable set of circumstances for the Lib Dems. If they lose Richmond Park they might as well shut up shop (as might moreunited.co.uk).
@ John, thank goodness most people don’t share your ‘if at first you don’t succeed, give up and go home’ attitude.
The figures should of course be taken with a pinch of salt. Even the best polling is subject to problems, not least members of the public not wanting to admit to what they really think!
It would be horribly disappointing if Sarah didn’t win, and incredibly frustrating if the difference in votes was less than the votes for the Labour candidate. But instead of deciding to abandon all hope, it should serve as a lesson to those who place personal pride, or party political dogma, ahead of doing the right thing. As I said elsewhere, this campaign has been short, and disrupted by world news, so the party, and supporting groups such as the Greens, WEP and MoreUnited, have been hampered in their ability to get their shared messages across.
Regardless of the result, lessons will be learnt which can be taken forward to the next round of elections, which will NOT be ‘don’t bother trying’. MoreUnited is still in the midst of being launched, so while it’s great to have them on side, they are hardly at full power. I know a lot of LibDems are nervous of them and their purpose, as are many in other parties, but all the more reason to get involved. Remember, the people most eager for them to fail are those who actively disagree with their principles, and know that they’ll never ever support a candidate they like. The group won’t always support the LibDem candidate, but the LibDem candidate will always be in the running, and if someone else gets support, it will be someone we don’t hate.
If any campaigners want some light relief have a look at this.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trudeaueulogies?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Just watched Newton-Dunn of the Sun on TV. “If the Lib Dems do not win it will be a disaster for them”. That is obviously going to be the Tory line. Yet 3 weeks ago they were on the same programme laughing about the Lib Dems prospects and their candidate.
Do not think the public will fall for that, even Newton Dunn said it was close, he was not saying that 4 weeks ago. So perhaps it actually is.
The odds on a Lib Dem victory are shortening just a little – best price at Ladbrokes is now 2/1.
Zac Goldsmith is saying he is keeping a promise (to resign and trigger a by-election) but when he was standing for election as Mayor of London he was asked on broadcast TV whether he would resign as Mayor if elected and if the government’s decision on Heathrow went against him. The answer was NO. He appears to regret the decision he made in 2010.
He was not elected as Mayor. His campaign for Mayor was a disgrace. Saying that he was badly advised is not good enough because he was the candidate.
He also had the then Prime Minister echoing his campaign on TV at PMQ. David Cameron has resigned for multiple reasons, but he also needs to apologise publicly for Zac Goldsmith’s Mayoral campaign.