‘Party is over Mr Johnson’

Thousands of lifelong Conservative voters, dismayed by Boris Johnson’s lack of decency and fed up with being taken for granted & thousands of lifelong Labour voters, choosing to lend their votes to our candidate who could defeat the Conservatives … writes Kishan Devani BEM FRSA

Millions of people across Britain are fed up with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his failure to provide leadership throughout the pandemic and last night the voters of North Shropshire spoke for all of them.

A swing of 34.1% puts the North Shropshire result among the best every by-election victory in British politics. We’ve now beaten the Conservatives in two of their safest seats this year in two very different parts of the country.

I think the Liberal Democrats have now proven the Conservatives can be beaten, and beaten anywhere. This is One of the most sensational by-election victories in British political history.

Liberal Democrats won a 34.1% swing in North Shropshire, even a swing half that size would see us win 57 seats from the Conservatives at a General Election. The Boris Bubble has well and truly burst…

What’s extraordinary about this remarkable Lib Dem win is that North Shropshire voted leave in the referendum. Five years on from six in ten voters in North Shropshire voting for Brexit, the party that campaigned so hard to remain – the Liberal Democrats will now represent it in the Commons.

Mr Boris Johnson, the party is over’. Your government, run on lies and bluster, will be held accountable. It will be scrutinised, it will be challenged and it can and will be defeated.

Thousands of lifelong Conservative voters, dismayed by Boris Johnson’s lack of decency and fed up with being taken for granted & thousands of lifelong Labour voters, choosing to lend their votes to our candidate who could defeat the Conservatives.

Mr Manish Tiwari, a political pundit and expert in South Asian trends opined that “the switch of Indian voters from Labour to Conservative was a way of showing that it had access to power. This was its way of asserting itself as no more a mere migrant community driven by sympathy politics. However, there are fault lines as Conservative values are very often seen as a watered down by ‘imperialist’ vision and their big heroes such as Churchill have a colonial past which can never be truly accepted by Indians. However, there are even deeper conflicts with the Corbyn era Labour values which has failed to reflect the high aspirations of the well to do South Asian communities. Liberal Democrats suddenly have become a ‘new choice’ for the progressive, internationalist Indians and Asians as they want a party which is truly forward looking and not doctored by right or left wing conflicts.”

Sir Ed Davey MP Leader of the Liberal Democrats said: “North Shropshire may turn out to be a turning point. Remember how the Conservatives crowed after taking traditional Labour seats in the north of England? They said a generational shift had taken place – the default of voting the same way election after election, had been reset. They had breached the red wall. Well, earlier this year, in Buckinghamshire Liberal Democrats breached the Tories’ blue wall, with our victory in the Chesham and Amersham by-election. And now with North Shropshire yesterday, that progressive reset has occurred again. In village after village, through market towns and in farms across this beautiful stretch of countryside – once-lifelong Conservative voters have decided enough is enough.”

Liberal Democrats Party Treasurer Tilly McAuliffe also added “with this stunning victory, we have sent a powerful message to the Conservatives, that Liberal Democrats are a home for thousands of their former supporters who are decent people dismayed by Boris Johnson’s leadership.  People are fed up with being ignored and taken for granted by Johnson and the Conservatives. They’re appalled by this Government’s endless incompetence, scandals and sleaze.”

 Our new Lib Dem MP – Helen Morgan said in a victory speech: “Mr Johnson, you are no leader. Many of your predecessors took office because they believed in a sense of national service. That they were duty bound to do what they believed is right for our country. To represent all of us, even if we disagreed with them. Mr Johnson, this is not how you operate. Too often it is all about you and never about us.”

The Conservatives days in Number 10 are numbered and with the Lib Dems being able to beat the Conservatives in their strongholds the sky is the limit for Liberal Democrats across the country.