The Lib Dems deserve to win: The Guardian
An editorial in The Guardian about this week’s Parliamentary by-elections praises the Liberal Democrats, saying:
The Tories don’t deserve to win this week in any of the seats. The five pledges by which Mr Sunak invited the public to judge his government when casting their ballot are not on track to be met. People are struggling to get by, public services are falling apart and the state’s safety net has holes so large whole families are falling through.
But do the opposition parties deserve to win the contests? For the Liberal Democrats, the party with the best chance in Somerton and Frome, the answer is yes. The party has won three astonishing byelection victories against the Conservatives. It has tapped into a rich vein of discontent over collapsing NHS services, while burnishing its national standing as the champion of constitutional reform. Winning a rural seat with a 19,000 Tory majority will not be easy, but it is essential if the party is to recapture its England’s south-west strongholds and deprive the Tories of enough seats to give Labour a chance of forming the next government.
Sign up to get the latest news and analysis
"*" indicates required fields
Although the best result in a GE would be if Labour gets the most seats, it would then have to work with LD’s to form a Govt (confidence and supply basis). Labour cannot always be trusted though as they have often sought to sideline Liberals and the old Alliance over the last century. Remember that Ramsay MacDonald preferred to lose the 1924 October election and destroy Asquith’s Liberals and also the Lib/Lab pact left Libs shortchanged. I have heard it from Labourites that they would rather Conservatives win an election than work with LD’s. Also heard it from Tories.!. Labour will not introduce STV if they get a large majority under FPTP and remember Blair broke his promise to Paddy Ashdown and Roy Jenkins. Labour would be better than the Tories but not by a mile. Beware of them and the unreconstructed Left who will want uncontrolled union power.