The Crewe and Nantwich bye-election result was a stunning blow to Labour - the Tories won almost half the votes and now have a bigger majority than the previous Labour one that they overturned.

This was the Tories 165th "most winable" seat - showing that any seat in their top 300 is now "winnable". With a swing to the Tories of 17% this would unseat half of the current Cabinet if repeated at a General Election.

Many will say it's just mid-term blues ... but I don't think so - there are clear issues that are coming to a head (in the week that marks Gordon's first anniversary as unelected PM).

What do posters think was the MAIN reason for the epic defeat?

Personally I think it was not a good idea to have a candidate that had a face like a feret, and who lived on her mother's past achievements !

I'm so cynical now - I hate "New Labour" but I don't like either of the alternatives.

And I well remember when I'd just reached my teen years - Eric Lubbock and Orpington.

In 1960 everyone said it was the start of the Liberal takeover?

Oh Yeah?

My parents always voted Liberal, by the time I was old enough to vote, me and my generation treated it as a "don`t know" vote.
When the SDP appeared there was further confusion.
Two "don`t know" votes to choose from!

JK2006 wrote:

In 1960 everyone said it was the start of the Liberal takeover?

The Liberal vote "held up" in Crewe, but I was surprised by the switch direct from Labour to Tory - I would have expected die-hard Labour people to go to the Libs rather than the Tories (after all, Crewe suffered heavily - railway job cuts etc - in the last Tory era).

Politics...not as if we're spoilt for choice...just depends which bunch of lairs you prefer.
The tory swing is easy to explain.Labour won popular support for running a sucessful economy...that myth has now evaporated,as it did indeed for the tories on black wednesday.

People are finally beginning to realise that the Labour economy is built on credit, more credit, and even more credit. Gordon Brown has plunged our nation into deeper debt than ever before. The cupboard is bare. There is nothing to fall back on.

We have had the image of wealth and stability, but not the substance.

I've only personally known one die hard Labour voter who switched to Tory, and that was because he supported the poll tax. He went back to Labour once the Tories failed to maintain that policy.

Up in Darlington the voters swung heavily from Labour to Tory in 1979 and 1983. Labour has it back now, but the local murmurings suggest it could swing again.

Solihull Exile wrote:
Politics...not as if we're spoilt for choice...just depends which bunch of lairs you prefer.
The tory swing is easy to explain.Labour won popular support for running a sucessful economy...that myth has now evaporated,as it did indeed for the tories on black wednesday.

Also interesting to note that one of the Independent candidates (Gemma Craven - Miss Great Britain) was standing on a "support our troops" platform - yet managed to scrape ONLY 113 votes !

That should tell the government all they need to know about their planned "Armed Forces Day" (lol)

Best way to support our troops is instant withdrawl.
Better to do it now while we're still able to call the shots...rather than wait for another embarresment like Dunkirk.

Solihull Exile wrote:
Best way to support our troops is instant withdrawl.
Better to do it now while we're still able to call the shots...rather than wait for another embarresment like Dunkirk.

"The Flying Brick" (standing for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party) got twice as many votes as the "support our troops" candidate !

Hail Flying Bricks !

I've always voted AGAINST the sitting candidate in general and local elections, silly I know! Put a cross in the Monster Raving Loony Party once!