|
A huge 'thank you'
to everyone who voted for Dan Norris in the 6 May General Election.
Labour was unsuccessful here this time, and the fact that North East Somerset
saw just about the lowest Labour-to-Tory swing in any of the south west
region's 'key marginals' is no consolation at all for losing an outstanding
MP of Dan's quality and commitment.
Scores of supportive emails have been pouring in from ordinary folk since
the result was announced. Thank you for these. Despite the outcome we
really enjoyed the campaign and know we were successful in all we did
locally. Sometimes the national tide is just too much!
Local boundary changes clearly had an impact too. People in the areas
to the east of Bath who had got into the habit of backing Lib Dem MP Don
Foster in the Bath constituency found it hard this time to change the
habit in order to keep the Tories out.
Gordon Brown's unpopularity was also a major local factor. Sadly, countless
people said on doorsteps they wanted to vote for Dan as an truly impressive
local MP, but just couldn't vote for Mr Brown. Many independent commentators
have observed that with a different leader Labour would have probably
won, both nationally and in North East Somerset. Indeed the Tory candidate
quickly acknowledged his victory was due to the national swing, rather
than any personal popularity on his part here in North East Somerset.
Dan also worked very hard right across North East Somerset to alert people
who were minded to vote Lib Dem (especially after Nick Clegg's post-debate
surge) that a vote for the Lib Dems in North East Somerset would simply
let the Conservative candidate in through the back door. Our warning was
proved correct. That is exactly what happened. The nation will now have
to deal with the consequences.
We think most of those who cast their vote for the Lib Dems in North East
Somerset on Thursday will be reflecting on the wisdom of their choice.
Once again the Lib Dems finished in a distant third place. They were never
able to win. Now everyone knows it. The huge majority who put their 'x'
in the Lib Dem box did not do so because of the local candidate. They
did so because of Nick Clegg, and the media backing he received. Post-election
events suggest Dan's local 'Vote Lib Dem, get Tory' message might have
been writ large nationally too.
The people of North East Somerset deserve the very best representation
in Parliament. We therefore wish North East Somerset's new Conservative
MP well in his new job and success in meeting the very high expectations
local people have come to expect since 1997.
With best wishes
Dan's Campaign Team
All content on this
site is copyright Dan Norris 1999 - 2011. Whilst every reasonable effort
is made to ensure the accuracy of information on this website, it is simply
not humanly possible to provide a 100 percent guarantee that all information,
at all times, is completely current and correct. We do our best to research
facts and to be accurate, but of course we are human and occasionally
we do make mistakes! Please let us know if you think there are any errors
of fact, as opposed to opinion, and we will happily look at them and correct
as needed. Thank you for your understanding.
|
