Liberal Democrats celebrate stunning council wins in both North and South - Polidicks

[QUOTE][IMG]https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/09/17/20/tim-farron-1.jpg[/IMG] The Liberal Democrats are celebrating stunning local council victories in both the north and south, raising the party’s hopes that a comeback is underway. [B]The party triumphed in Sandhill, in the Labour heartland of Sunderland, with a 41.5 point leap in its vote share. Labour support fell by nearly 30 points. And in Gade Valley, on Three Rivers Council in Hertfordshire, the Libs won by more than 400 votes from the Conservatives following a 24-point jump in support.[/B] The victories follow the party’s shock win in the Richmond Park parliamentary by-election last month, when Sarah Olney beat former Conservative Zac Goldsmith.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former right-hand man, tweeted his reaction to the Labour loss in Sunderland with the single word [B]“What?”[/B]. Embarrassingly for Jeremy Corbyn, just days ago he defended his leadership on the basis that Labour was enjoying success in local council polls. Strikingly, both last night’s town hall victories came in areas that voted Leave in the EU referendum – while Richmond Park was firmly Remain. Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, said: “We finished 2016 winning by-elections and tonight we have shown that the Lib Dem fightback is going from strength to strength. “Since May 2015 we have now gained over 20 council seats and won a parliamentary by-election in Richmond Park. “Tonight we gained seats from both the Conservatives and from Labour. People up and down the country want to see an open, tolerant and united UK. [B]“It is the Liberal Democrats who are standing up and representing them, we are the real opposition to this Conservative Brexit government.”[/B][/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liberal-democrats-celebrate-stunning-council-by-election-wins-in-both-north-and-south-a7525306.html"]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liberal-democrats-celebrate-stunning-council-by-election-wins-in-both-north-and-south-a7525306.html[/URL]

unfortunate that corbyn has been utterly ruined by the media. another decade of tories sounds fun.

It looks like the Lib Dems are trying to regain their Pre-2010 niche of appealing to a centre-left populism, the only problem is that Tim Farron is almost as bad at self-publicity as Jeremy Corbyn. [QUOTE=Crumpet;51676028]unfortunate that corbyn has been utterly ruined by the media. another decade of tories sounds fun.[/QUOTE] It seems that Corbyn and it's followers complain when the media ignores them, and when the media accurately reports what he says. The media has nothing to do with Corbyn's unpopularity because the sort of people who read the Right-Wing Tabloids most critical of Corbyn were never going to like him to begin with.

[QUOTE=The mouse;51676075]It looks like the Lib Dems are trying to regain their Pre-2010 niche of appealing to a centre-left populism, the only problem is that Tim Farron is almost as bad at self-publicity as Jeremy Corbyn. It seems that Corbyn and it's followers complain when the media ignores them, and when the media accurately reports what he says. The media has nothing to do with Corbyn's unpopularity because the sort of people who read the Right-Wing Tabloids most critical of Corbyn were never going to like him to begin with.[/QUOTE] while that last part has some truth to it due to the entrenched nature of English politics, you can't possibly say the media has played no part. if it wasn't working they wouldn't continue.

[QUOTE=Crumpet;51676092]while that last part has some truth to it due to the entrenched nature of English politics, you can't possibly say the media has played no part. if it wasn't working they wouldn't continue.[/QUOTE] They continue because it appeals to their readerbase. They're not trying to change the mind of their readers, they're just pandering to them because their readers already have a strong inclination against the Left and Corbyn.

[QUOTE=The mouse;51676108]They continue because it appeals to their readerbase. They're not trying to change the mind of their readers, they're just pandering to them because their readers already have a strong inclination against the Left and Corbyn.[/QUOTE] Nontheless it's clear they have a significant influence over British politics and a negative one at that. The withering scrote that is Rupert Murdoch is one clear example of the cancerous reign of the tabloids.

-snip wrong thread-

[QUOTE=The mouse;51676075]It looks like the Lib Dems are trying to regain their Pre-2010 niche of appealing to a centre-left populism, the only problem is that [B]Tim Farron is almost as bad at self-publicity as Jeremy Corbyn.[/B][/QUOTE] I've met both, and Farron was arguably the better to talk to, both in terms of content and actual likability.