Graham, Tom and Ian

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Conservatives take Cheadle constituency in General Election

by Lib Dem team on 8 May, 2015

Congratulations to Mary Robinson, the new Conservative MP for Cheadle constituency. I wish her well as our MP.

I would like to thank everyone who supported Mark Hunter and the Liberal Democrats through this campaign – we did everything we could to stop Cheadle going to the Conservatives, but like so many former Lib Dem seats across the country, it proved not to be enough.

When surveying the scene this morning the word that springs to mind is “bloodbath”. Up and down the country, the Lib Dems were targeted by the other parties and, on the night, our MPs were given a right royal kicking by the electorate. If you are someone who hates the Lib Dems, now is your time to gloat!

The country now faces just the situation the Lib Dems went into Coalition in 2010 to avoid and warned about this time: run by the Conservatives but with no clear majority to bring stability and avoid more extreme elements being able to call the shots. The people have spoken and I can only hope it turns out better for the whole of our society – those at the bottom as well as at the top – than I fear it will.

What next for the Lib Dems? We will fight with every fibre of our being for a liberal, tolerant and compassionate society and against excessive Tory cuts, and that fight starts now. If you would like to join us, please get in touch.

The result in full

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   20 Comments

20 Responses

  1. Michelle says:

    I don’t hate the Lib Dems – only the last election I decided that the Lib Dems were the way to vote after being a lifetime Labour voter. I personally felt that my vote was used against me when the coalition was formed with the Tories as I felt their policies were so far detached from the reasons Id voted Lib Dems.

    My opinion seems to have been echoed in voters across the UK. It is a sad time for voters – Lib Dems were going to be the party to make a difference, to balance the country fairly – the coalition broke this trust and belief that they had built. I personally feel that Nick Clegg would have been a strong and fair PM last election, unfortunately the coalition left him looking weak and whipped.

    Iain Roberts you are a politician of the future, in touch with local people, recognisable, u afraid to get involved – I believe if you ran for MP you would get the votes for Cheadle. I do not believe in Lib Dems to run the country at the moment or Mark Hunter- but I do believe in you.

  2. John Hartley says:

    I’m so disappointed to hear about Mark. I was in contact with him a few times over the years and he was always helpful. Whilst I know he had a smallish majority, I’m genuinely shocked and upset at the scale of the defeat.

    I’ve supported the party for 50 years, since I was a teenager, and was a candidate for it in 1979. It’s been very heard to watch it drift to the right under Clegg’s leadership, losing seats last time and an almost wipeout this election. Really soory to say it but it may be time for this progressive to look for a new home that’s more in tune with my beliefs.

  3. Lee Harrison says:

    Nick Clegg was stuck between a rock and a hard place during the coalition.

    His toning down of Tory policies was not seen as a success but as a collaboration and the tuition fee turnaround was seen by many as a total let down.

    People in this election voted against the Liberals on a national policy basis, rather than on local issues meaning many MP’s that served their communities well, became the fall guys. In a local by-election I think the result may well be different.

    You are the only politician that I have spoken to and I was very impressed with the help you gave!

    On this basis I hope that you stand for MP in the next election.

  4. DR C says:

    Sorry to lose Mark – he was of help to us on two occasions.
    That said, like some other friends, oneself voted UKIP – thought it would do him no harm – as we be all disaffected Tories / Thatcherites !

  5. Joanne T says:

    Very sad to see Mark lose his seat , he was so supportive of our legislation change and saw us through the whole process.

    I always loved that Mark actually lived in the constituency and genuinely cared about people here.

    We wish him all the luck in the future

  6. June says:

    I’m sorry Mark Wasn’t re-elected but, as I feared, this is the price the Lib Dems have paid for keeping the Conservatives in power during the last 5 years.
    People in Cheadle apparently don’t like tactical voting.

    Let’s hope Cameron can stand up to his right wingers.

  7. Iain says:

    It’s a funny old world, June – the voters have punished the Lib Dems for allowing the Tories to be in power…by allowing the Tories to be in power.

  8. Bruce says:

    When Mary Robinson started the process of getting elected I though Abraham Lincoln had better prospects when he collected his theatre tickets from the box office.

    I for one, am not sorry Mark Hunter lost his seat because over the years I have contacted him many times, by email/letter, and he never once accepted any criticism of the party that he represented. I will not mention the details, as it is water under the proverbial bridge now. Also, his re-election campaign was extremely negative and full of quotes from ‘local’ people, most of which were Lib Dem activists.

    He also criticised Mary Robinson for being having failed to get nominated yet he never told us about his previous failures – namely Stockport in 2001 and Ashton in 1987.

    Who knows what the next five years will bring, with a new brand of politicians such as the SNP and the vote on Europe. And how good will Mary Robinson be? .

    • robert cohen says:

      I think it is always sad when a good local MP loses his/her seat. I wish Mark all the best for the future. In my opinion he has worked hard for the consitiuancy he represented – whether or not I agreed with some of his politics on wider issues – I believe he is a man of principal.

      As for the LibDem national results, I personally think it was a fear of the likely results in Scotland that have proven correct coupled with the fact that Labour really didnt have anything new to bring to to th enable and no suitable leaders for most if not all the Cabinet posts.

      I would rather have had another 5 years of the same coalition than a Labour-SNP “government”

      • Bruce says:

        If Labour had selected the other Milliband things would sure be different now – their two prominent people, namely the two Eds. were their downfall.

  9. Alan Gent says:

    I’m afraid the UK electorate is generally politically illiterate and they and unfortunately the rest of us too have now got what they deserve.
    The vast majority of people will not benefit from the swingeing ideological cuts which wil now take place. In five years time the NHS as we know it will have ceased to exist and the Tories will retire to their country piles and their ad hoc directorships oh and a spot of hunting of course, utterly untouched by what will take place.

  10. Hasan says:

    Sad to see Mark lose his seat.
    If the LibDem lost so many seats because they were blamed for forming the coalition, what I cannot understand is why this time those disgruntled LibDem voters for the Tories

  11. Frederick Kenny says:

    The sheer brutality of the election drama is quite extraordinary. Labour are saying today that their offer was not aspirational enough and addressed the lowest income groups at the expense of the vast area in the middle. This group decides elections and I think this was also the problem with LD’s offer. I do find it very odd that the UKIP vote seems to have come in some significant part from the LD vote.

    Also agree with those who mentioned the nightmare of the SNP calling the shots with a weak labour leader – that really would have destroyed our economy.

  12. Ganesh Sarin says:

    Sorry to see Mark loose. Having been liberal suppoerter all along I felt during the last term there were significant deviation from the liberal principles. Tuition fees was one of them. Countery needed a stable and decisive government to get the nation on the right tract. Other oprtion of labour with SNP would have been bad.
    We supproted conservative in the parliament for sake of a stable government and being a liberal supporter nice to see that for council has liberal majority.
    Although Mark has been an excellent MP,communicative ,resposive and dedicate for development of the community and area sad to loose him.

  13. PATRICIA KEMP says:

    Sorry to see Mark lose his seat. In my opinion he worked hard and tirelessly for the people of Cheadle and Gatley. Such a shame that this election came down to left v right and for most people they had to go for one or the other and not take a chance on a minority party risking once again a hung parliament.
    I send Mark my very best wishes and thanks for taking action on any issues I have raised with him over the years.

  14. Paul Body says:

    Very disappointed to see Mark was not re-elected. He was an excellent constituency MP and always worked hard, put himself about in the constituency, confronted local issues with vigour and always found the time to respond when contacted over concerns. Hi communications regarding liberal democrat actions and news were always informative and up to the minute. I never saw a Conservative activist or hide nor hair of Mary Robinson during the run up to the election. Like Stephen Day, who I feel never represented the constituency with the necessary vigour or genuine interest, I worry that we will be unlikely to see any local presence in the constituency from Mary Robinson.
    I should like to express my thanks to Mark Hunter for all his outstanding work over the years. He will be sorely missed.

  15. Mrs M.E.M says:

    Sorry for Mark – he has been a good, helpful MP (like Patsy Carlton and unlike their Conservative predecessors).

    The LibDem opposition in cabinet to Ian Duncan Smith’s plans for welfare reform and cuts has not been made clear enough. Cameron, a week before the election, said they had ‘only been a proposal which we did not take up’. Now, a week after the election, IDS is reappointed and told to get on with it! Cameron ought to be being torn to pieces for such deceit.
    How do we do it?

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