The Local Elections

Written by Vincent Cable MP and published in Informer on Mon 13th May 2002

The election results on May 3 were "interesting" weren't they? As far as my own party is concerned, the two parts of my constituency were mirror images of each other.

On the Kingston side, the Conservatives were routed – although they held on in two of the four wards in Richmond Park. On the Richmond side, the Lib Dems lost out to the Conservatives after 18 years as the ruling party.

In both parts of the Constituency, Labour were wiped out – which doesn't bode well for them in the next General Election.

What are we to make of this? Kingston Conservatives contributed to their own downfall – fighting like rats in a sack. The Lib Dems fought a good campaign and I congratulate them warmly. But what of the Lib Dems in Richmond?

I think they fell foul of the "20 years – it's time for a change" tendency. Yes, there was the problem of the high council tax – and now the Conservatives will have to wrestle with that. They campaigned on a "save our services" ticket, so cutting services isn't an option.

I look forward to co-operating with them in serving the people of Richmond Park – and shall watch with fascination while they struggle with the deeply unfair financial settlement the Labour Government has given Richmond.

But spare a thought for all those councillors who served you well for many years.