| Topic: | Re:Could the Lib - Dem’s take Sth Isleworth? | |
| Posted by: | Phil Andrews | |
| Date/Time: | 13/04/18 23:01:00 |
| Back in 1993 (a long time ago I know) there was a by-election in what was then called Isleworth South ward. The Liberal Democrat candidate was a chap called Laurence Mann who threw himself passionately into his campaign and took the Lib Dems from also-rans to a relatively close second, knocking the Tories into third place. The next year, in the council elections proper, the borough boundaries had changed and the part of it in which Mr. Mann had lived was annexed by Richmond, placing him outside of the ward. Nevertheless the Lib Dems fielded three candidates who again put in a good campaign, and once again came a strong second. From 1998 onwards it was the ICG who took up the reins of the "strong outsider", at first in Isleworth South ward and then, from 2002 onwards, in the new ward of Isleworth. The Lib Dems fell back while the ICG have come either first or second at every local election since then. This year the ICG are not standing, having disbanded two years ago. This, coupled, with the antics of certain of the councillors and of course of the leadership which has encouraged such antics, plus the absence of a serious Conservative challenge, should in theory leave the field open for a strong third party to really make an impact. However, they will need to do the work first. People do not vote for outsider parties or independents by default, they have to look like winners before voters are persuaded to treat them like potential winners. Fight a token campaign and residents tend to notice. The default position in Isleworth is an easy Labour win with the Conservative (who will have a good few hundred "impulse" voters even without putting in a campaign) a comfortable but distant second. The Lib Dems and/or Greens can change this, but not without putting in a real shift. If they don't, the Tories will be able to boast that they have come second in Isleworth ward for the first time ever (or, if one includes the old Isleworth South, for the first time since 1990). Looking at this lot that will probably prove to be the pinnacle of their achievement in this area in our lifetimes. |