For 30 years the Libdems have claimed to be the alternative to the Tories here in Somerset. Labour has been marginalised in large swathes of the county, 4 of the Counties 5 MPs are Libdem and the control of the county council has swung between Tory and Lib Dem control throughout this period. The Lib Dems have achieved this by saying ‘it’s a two horse race –it’s a choice between the Tories or the Lib Dems’.
In 2010 the Lib Dems put the Tories in Government so they could get their mischievious hands on the coat-tails of power and everything changed. They broke their promises on pledges they’d made to get into power, their vote has collapsed to the point where they were even beaten by the ‘Bus Stop Elvis’ Party in one by-election and they look set to lose most of their parliamentary seats next year.
In their South Somerset heartland – where the whole ‘Ashdown Factor’ con first started it now really is a 2 horse race.
Vote Labour on Thursday 18th September
On Thursday 18th September while the Scots vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, in Yeovil Central the voters have the same choice – a by-election, caused by the death of the sitting Lib Dem councillor, presents the voters with the choice of voting Lib Dem again, and saying ‘yes’ to the coalition of austerity and broken promises or saying ‘No’ and voting Labour and making not only a stand against the years of accepting second best but for real change that can start to bring down the phony lib dem ‘alternative’ in Somerset.
It’s a 2 horse race because this time there are only 2 candidates –Lib Dem or Labour.
Lib Dem fortunes in Yeovil have been crumbling to such an extent that 2 recent by elections-one after a Lib Dem candidate (Peter Brock) was convicted of stealing from the poppy appeal charity and suspended by the party and the second after a Lib Dem councillor failed to attend meetings, are stretching Lib Dem loyalties to the max.
Labour candidate Terry Lavin has been running a hard hitting campaign and will be taking the fightback directly into the Lib Dems Yeovil Central heartland to win this key seat for Labour on the Lib Dem controlled Town Council. Terry said “This will be the third by-election in Yeovil in 2 months and with voter fatigue the other parties have seen their votes fall by 100’s. Meanwhile Labour’s percentage of the vote cast has increased. The choice is straightforward – either more of the same with Lib Dems who run the council or increasing the opposition by voting Labour.”
Polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm and will be situated at Milford Community Hall, the Awareness centre at 122 Goldcroft, The Moose Hall on St Michael’s Avenue and at the Octagon Theatre.
And the result was Lib Dem 745 Labour 275 . A pretty comprehensive statement as to how the people of Yeovil view the 2 respective parties .