Veteran Southport journalist Martin Hovden (pictured) writes: Just a few weeks ago I speculated Southport would be a simple TWO-horse race in a future general election.
Not any more. After Tuesday’s decision to hold the election on Thursday, 12 December, our town is now on course for a THREE-horse battle – thanks to the recent dramatic rise in the national polls of the Liberal Democrats.
The seat is currently held by Conservative MP Damien Moore, who won a 2,914 majority over Labour’s Liz Savage in the 2017 general election. That was the year the Lib Dems were pushed into an embarrassing third place after their MP John Pugh retired from the House of Commons.
I said recently the Lib Dems were a spent-force in the town. Campaigning was sparse and half-hearted and even I – a political geek – had to google the name of their Southport candidate (John Wright).
But newly elected national leader Jo Swinson has injected much-needed life into her party. Indeed, on Tuesday BBC election pundit Professor John Curtice predicted they would gain extra seats. And as a Southport voter, I’ve been impressed with the number of Lib Dem leaflets pushed through my letter-box in the past few months.
So, in Southport it’s a battle between the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems, which makes it all the more exciting for journalists like me.
It’s clear that no matter how important health, education and social care issues are, it’s going to be a Brexit general election as far as voters are concerned. They are simply relieved the political deadlock has finally been broken.
In a nutshell, the parties’ positions on Europe (if they win a majority) are:
TORIES: We’ll LEAVE the EU as soon as possible
LABOUR: We’ll NEGOTIATE a better deal and then hold a SECOND REFERENDUM
LIB DEMS: We’ll SCRAP BREXIT and REMAIN in Europe
In Southport (and nationally), watch out for the Green Party. Climate change is fast becoming a very important issue with the public. Will that concern turn into votes?
Keep an eye on Brexit Party candidate Darcy Iveson-Berkeley. At the age of just 19, he will be the youngest candidate in the town. I first met Darcy a few years ago when he was campaigning in Lord Street with Tory Damien Moore
And the result in Southport on 12 December? Until recently I would have said Labour had a very good chance of victory. But I sense support is draining away and replaced with disillusionment and anger because of the party’s total confusion on Europe. Leader Jeremy Corbyn is also a Marmite leader – some admire his compassion and conviction politics while others dismiss him and his policies as a real danger to the future of the country.
Let battle commence…and remember, whatever your view don’t waste your vote.