PEOPLE in the Chesham and Amersham constituency, which includes Penn, have felt neglected and overlooked by the Government, the Liberal Democrats said after sensationally winning yesterday’s by-election, overturning a 16,000 Conservative majority.
Sarah Green, the new MP who achieved an astonishing 25 per cent swing from the Tories, said voters in the constituency felt they were being taken for granted.
Lib Dem activists said that on the doorsteps voters felt their views on controversial issues like proposed planning laws and HS2 were simply being ignored.
There is evidence in the vote that non-Conservatives voted tactically to support Ms Green. The Labour vote completely collapsed with Slough councillor Natasa Pantelic gaining 622 votes, 850 votes behind the Greens, who finished third.
There’s also evidence many traditional Tories stayed at home… the turnout for the election was a relatively low (for a parliamentary election) 52 per cent.
The Conservatives had suspected things were going against them in the campaign and there were visits in the campaign by Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Theresa May… unheard of for campaigning in a so called safe seat.
The result is a true political shock. The Tories had never taken less than 50 per cent of the vote since the constituency was formed in 1974 and the result will shake neighbouring MPs in “safe” Conservative seats like Wycombe and Beaconsfield.
The full result:
Sarah Green, Lib Dem 21,517
Peter Fleet, Con 13,489
Carolyn Culver, Green 1,480
Natasa Pantelit, Lab 622
Alex Wilson, Reform 414
Carla Gregory, Breakthrough 197
Adrian Oliver Freedom Alliance 134
Brendan Donnelly, Rejoin EU 101
Lib Dem majority 8,028