Thank you St. John’s!
I'd like to thank all of the voters who turned out to vote for me yesterday, or who sent in postal vote for me - I'm sorry I couldn't push Labour and the Conservatives a bit harder, but I will continue to fight for a more liberal Ipswich.
Congratulations to Sarah Adams (Labour), the new County Councillor for St. John's, and thanks to Sarah and James (Conservative) for the decent spirit in which the by-election was contested. Residents certainly appreciated having different parties out and about in the Division.
Thanks to all the Council staff who ran the count last night - it all went very smoothly and we got home on the stroke of midnight.
Finally, thanks to everyone who helped my campaign: especially Trevor Powell, my election agent; Cathy French and Oliver Holmes, who organised canvassing; Inga and Tim Lockington; Maureen Haaker, and all the Lib Dems in Ipswich and further afield who helped in one way or another.
I think we can be pleased with the following:
- We doubled the Lib Dem share of the vote in St. John's compared to May's County Council election.
- While the Tory and Green vote collapsed in this by-election, and Labour received 136 fewer votes than in May, the Lib Dems were the only party to increase our number of votes, picking up eighty more, despite a lower turnout overall.
- We slashed the distance between ourselves and the Conservatives in St. John's - we are now only 14% behind the Tories, compared to 27% in May.
I am especially pleased with (and proud of) the positive nature of our campaign, and I will take a lot away from the meaningful conversations that I had on the doorstep. Thank you, St. John's!
Ed
