If you were disappointed by the results of the elections you had every right to be. In the North West of England the Liberal Democrats won 21.6% of votes but just 8% of seats. Compare that to Labour’s performance: they won 39% of the votes but nearly 63% of the seats. (The Tories came out evens).

And they call this a democracy!

THE GENERAL ELECTION

I had thought that we would increase our representation in the North West but instead our number of MPs stayed the same at six. We gained Gordon Birtwistle in Burnley (so much for that town being a ‘BNP stronghold’!) but we lost Paul Rowen in Rochdale, despite his years of dedication to the town, principally through a rise in the Conservative vote and boundary changes that led to the result being offically described as a Labour ‘hold’.

We had high hopes of making a breakthrough in Warrington South, Liverpool Wavertree and even Manchester Gorton, but the efforts of Jo Crotty, Colin Eldridge, Qassim Afzal and their teams were not sufficient to beat the tide of people who in the last few days opted for one of the parties most likely to form a government. Elwyn Watkins in Oldham East and Saddleworth missed out by just 103 votes.

On the bright side we did benefit from the incumbency factor and the hard work and good reputation of our MPs. Mark Hunter (Cheadle), John Leech (Manchester Withington) and John Pugh (Southport) all triumphantly confounded the pessimists. Tim Farron (Westmorland & Lonsdale) turned a marginal seat into one with a majority of more than 12,000, the largest of any Liberal Democrat in the region. Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove) lost that particular title but by way of compensation has become our first-ever government minister.

THE LOCAL ELECTIONS

We have past experiencing of suffering in council elections when they take place on the same day as a general election and little heed is paid to local issues. This pattern was repeated on May 6. One third of all our councillors standing for re-election in the North West lost their seats, and we experienced particular problems on Merseyside where we lost control of Liverpool and St Helens Councils. We lost 9 seats in Liverpool and 5 each on the Wirral and in Knowsley, including that of campaigns officer and former regional chair Dave Smithson. It was particularly hard for Dave because he was also mayor of the borough.

None of those who lost their seats should take it personally. When local elections take place on the same day as national ones it can be like trying to stand up against a tsunami.

The exceptions tended to be in the held seats and target seats, where intensive campaigning often led to the local vote exceeding the national one. Maybe we failed to establish our credibility as rivals for government but won compensation marks for effort from the voters.

In Warrington South, for example, to which I had been asked to devote my time, we won 15,084 in the general election but our local votes added up to 19,441 (our best ever result). If every local vote had been converted to a national one we would have elected another MP. Mind you, it can be argued that we are generally at fault for not talking about key issues of Liberal Democrat policy and principle in our leaflets. We are going to have to change our approach if we are going to sell the positive benefits of having Liberal Democrats in government. If we fail to do so the same local problems will be experienced again in 5 years’ time, and maybe in every election from now on.

THE COALITION AGREEMENT AND SPECIAL CONFERENCE

If you have not read the detailed ‘Programme for Government’ (published 20 May) then please do so; there is a great deal in it to be welcomed. It will be difficult working with the Conservatives, and many unpopular decisions will have to be taken, but if this agreement is implemented in full then Liberal Democrats will be able to point to a host of positive achievements when we face the electorate in 2015.

I have taken to buying the Daily Telegraph. I love reading the complaints about all the Conservative policies that have been discarded!

Some 2,000 party members attended the special conference held at the Birmingham NEC on Sunday 16 May. During the course of a 4 hour debate they will have heard many concerns and fears expressed about the coalition arrangement, all of them shared by our MPs now in government, yet the agreement was approved with hardly a vote of dissent.

We are in uncharted waters. Interesting – and difficult – times lie ahead. Let’s hope the journey will prove worthwhile.

THE AGREEMENT IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

I am pleased to be able to report that the Liberal Democrat MEPs occupy a coalition-free zone.
No agreement exists between the two parties in the European Parliament. We are members of a separate institution to that at Westminster, respect the EU separation of powers between the Council of Ministers and the Parliament, and belong to different parliamentary groups (ALDE and ECR) between which there is no special relationship.

As a gesture of goodwill it has been agreed that the leaders of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative delegations will get together once a month to look at the parliament’s agenda and consider the minefields ahead. But this will not be to try and reconcile our differences, just so that colleagues at Westminster can be warned if an explosion is likely.

The MEPs’ position is no different to that of colleagues in the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, or on any local council. I welcome it. I do not wish the Liberal Democrats to lose one scrap of their separate identity, and do not believe that we will do so.

CONSULTATION FOR COUNCILLORS

The Coalition Agreement includes the following statement: “We will allow councils to return to the committee system, should they wish to.” (It also promises to scrap the Standards Board).
Personally I have always detested New Labour’s abolition of the committee structure and its replacement by scrutiny panels. The cabinet structure suits those in power very well but leaves other councillors out in the cold – or so I believe. Strong leaders were perfectly capable of providing strong leadership under the old system.

As a former member of two local authorities myself I’m interested in pursuing this issue, but first I’d like the opinion of our councillors (and former councillors). Do let me know your views. Do you want the committee structure restored – YES or NO?

Chris Davies MEP

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