In the early hours of Friday December 17, 2021 the Lib Dems pulled off one of the most stunning electoral successes of any party at a by-election. A 34 per cent swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems was a political earthquake.

However, this example shows that change is possible, even in the most unlikely of areas. No one should ever give their vote to any party based on how they have always voted in the past. We need to shop around a bit more and see which candidates, and which parties, best suit our needs locally and nationally. The Conservative voters in North Shropshire had, in the words of one Conservative MP, been “neglected for years” by a system that always assumed that seat was “safe”.

But this win would never have been possible had it not been for voters “lending” us their vote. And I use that word very deliberately. There are Conservatives and Labour voters who lent the Lib Dems their vote for the very first time and we now need to not only thank those who voted tactically, but prove to the people who lent us their vote it was worth it. Only time will show if we deserved it.

But no party. No candidate. No constituency can ever truly be safe. The scandals that have engulfed the Boris bus – the lies, the parties, the jobs for their mates, the chaotic way things are being run - have disgusted traditional Conservatives who feel the current PM has abandoned what they considered were traditional Tory values. The fact is, you get what you vote for. But if you don’t like what you voted for, you can vote for another party. Another candidate. And right now, the Lib Dems are they party that are listening, and winning.

Scott Wilding,

Wanstead Liberal Democrats