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Liberal Democratic Party insiders predict that people will vote tactically to oust the Conservative government in the 2024 general election on a scale not seen since 1997.
Sir Ed Davey’s party is set to press ahead with a strategy of winning 80 seats with a “blue wall”, despite Labor also claiming Tory strongholds in the south of England.
Following the results of last week’s local and mayoral elections, Labor’s campaign chief vowed the party would also spend money on Blue Wall constituencies, in a tacit Live Lab agreement to focus on its own target list of seats. was effectively abolished.
Pat McFadden said Labor now had “twice as much parliamentary control in the south east as the Conservatives” and “the story of parts of the blue wall turning red is not getting much attention”.
Labor Party insiders revealed that I The old slogan ‘for the few’, coined under Tony Blair and revived by Jeremy Corbyn, has changed the party to ‘for all’ as it expands its ambitions beyond the Red Wall and Scotland. ” may be reworked to declare that it is. .
But Lib Dem strategists rejected campaign manager Keir Starmer’s comments, saying they would not be “distracted” from the Blue Wall campaign and “other parties can do whatever they want”.
One person said: “We have a very clear strategy to achieve the Lib Dem and Conservative goals. There are 80 seats across the country where we are second and in those seats our activists They work incredibly hard.”
The Liberal Democrat strategist added that Labor’s vote was “low” in some of the Blue Wall areas where local elections were held last week.
“People want to vote for us. Certainly someone other than the Conservative Party is doing something to some extent and everyone understands that.
“We are in the best position to beat the Conservatives with 80 seats. Other parties can do what they want – that’s democracy and that’s fine.
“The election will be about who is best suited to oust the Conservatives from power. We have a big role to play in answering the question: How can we oust the Conservatives? .”
Labor and Liberal Democrat insiders deny there is even a tacit agreement between the two parties to refrain from allowing other parties to sit in the second-largest seat.
A Liberal Democrat source said the public “understands” how tactical voting works, adding: “The math is very clear.” In seats where we are second to the Conservatives, Labor is far behind.
“What’s encouraging to us as a party is that we’re seeing tactical voting that we haven’t seen since 1997.”
The Liberal Democrats hope to win in areas such as Winchester and Cheltenham, where the Conservatives hold a majority of less than 1,000 people. But they also have their sights set on Wokingham, where Sir John Redwood has a majority of more than 7,000, and Tunbridge Wells, where the Tories have a majority of more than 14,000.
Mr McFadden told the Guardian Labor had made local council gains in areas such as Rushmoor, Crawley, Swindon, Thurrock, Basildon and Southend.
Labor is second in all these corresponding constituencies, with the Liberal Democrats far behind.
However, in some of those seats the Conservatives have a majority of well over 10,000. For example, the party holds a majority of more than 19,000 in south Basildon and east Thurrock, meaning Sir Keir would need a landslide victory to win the seat.