Voters do Seem to Prefer Liberal Democrats These Days!

To jump up to second place in Witney the way we did was certainly a sign of a change in sentiment towards Liberal Democrats - though of course in Liz Leffman we had a well known and well liked candidate who is a local councillor and a credit to her community.

The Conservatives may have held the seat - albeit with a greatly reduced majority - but for any party to achieve 30% vote share in a parliamentary by election shows that the voters now look on the Liberal Democrats as a credible party of government.

However it is not just in Witney that the Liberal Democrats are doing well, up and down the land we are winning seats in council by-elections.

The graph shows the net losses for the other parties, but in case of the Liberal Democrats these are all wins. We have not lost any by-election this year!

And we are doing all this with younger candidates, from backgrounds that are more diverse, who are learning fast and achieving results.

The experience they are so rapidly gaining will help them to establish a whole new generation of liberal political activists.

These young people are dedicated to our British traditions of freedom, tolerance and equality of opportunity - and they have a solid appreciation of that crucial balance of national and community politics which is so important to a well-ordered society.