Chamber joined prospective parliamentary candidate for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, Victoria Collins, on the campaign trail for the upcoming General Election
As Monday marked the launch of the Liberal Democrat Manifesto, view here, this article details why the party remains optimistic about its future prospects despite the challenges it faces.
Whilst the Lib Dems know that it is highly unlikely that they will be be in the running to become the next Prime Minister, recent polling suggests they are closely following the Conservatives in third place.
The Liberal Democrats: New Strategy, New Ambition
The Liberal Democrat Federal Board (the body responsible for overseeing the Liberal Democrats) commissioned the 2019 Thornhill Review to review the electoral strategy of the Party. Whilst Baroness Thornhill (the author of the review) listed benefits – including social media, the quality of the manifesto, and strong performance in the gender diversity of candidates (and later, MPs) – a poor management system (with unclear leadership and difficulty in directing local teams), prevailed as the key takeaway.
In 2024, contrasting to the six-month leadership of Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey MP has now consistently been in post for nearly five years, as evidenced by strong local campaigning abilities with triumphant local election results (even moving the Conservatives into third place, by number of councillors returned, in the May 2024 local elections). With all candidates still only cautiously optimistic, Chamber UK spoke with Victoria Collins, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Harpenden and Berkhamsted.
Liberal Democrats, Local Champions
Lib Dems have historically had correlation between success in local elections and success in parliamentary elections. They reached their peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, by number of councillors, and faced a surge in MPs (to their peak of 62 MPs in 2005). It therefore makes sense that Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates, fresh off strong performances in local elections, are painting themselves as local champions, echoed by Victoria.
“I get to talk to people about the issues that are bothering them, I get to be a voice for them”
Parliamentary Candidate for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, Victoria Collins
She further went on to highlight her and her team’s successes, with 80 per cent of local councillors at district and borough level. “Very positive but not taking anything for granted,” was the key message shared by Victoria. After all, whilst strong local election results and an active local team might sound optimistic, an April 2024 YouGov MRP poll still places the Liberal Democrats second in the seat, 10 per cent behind the Conservatives.
A Loud Liberal Democrat Voice in Parliament
Hearing about her discussions with people on the doorstep, the NHS and the cost-of-living, as expected, came up regularly. Local news also came out in discussion, with sewage dumping and the quality of water more generally having been picked up. Whilst the view of the River Bulbourne in Berkhamsted may have given the impression of a clean river and effective enforcement of environmental regulation, Victoria’s campaign on the dumping of sewage from Markyate Sewage Works was alluded to.
Let’s not forget that the Liberal Democrats had focussed intensely on water quality as a campaign for recent local elections, with Ed Davey’s feature on the Chamber UK’s Sustainability Special, June 2023 Journal, featuring Ed wading into a river to test water quality.
But whilst local advocacy has value, the real prize is a strong voice in Parliament. With rumours of the Lib Dems regaining third Party status off the Scottish National Party, Victoria discussed the opportunity for her and her Liberal Democrat colleagues (her constituency borders that of Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Daisy Cooper), to be a voice for people in the constituency. Victoria highlighted that there is a real difference between campaigning and being in Parliament, and that the shift to becoming a parliamentarian would be made easier with more Liberal Democrats.
Final Thought
To see all parliamentary candidates running in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, please click here.
This is just one of the articles that features in the pre-election edition of Chamber’s journal. To gain free, online access to other articles in our ‘On the Campaign Trail’ series, please subscribe here.
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