Buoyant party throws gauntlet down to Labour after stunning election

Standing down: Flick Rea

LIBERAL Democrats claim they can turn the Town Hall yellow after enjoying huge gains in Thursday’s General Election.
They say the eleven percent swing away from Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency will provide the bedrock for their plans to pick off vulnerable Labour seats in next May’s council ballots.
The warning shots to Labour and Tory rivals came yesterday (Wednesday) as Councillor Keith Moffitt was replaced Flick Rea as Lib Dem leader.
He said the party has yet to sit down formally and discuss tactics for next year’s council elections but warned: “I don’t think you could say there are any safe Labour council seats any more.”
Although the party failed to unseat Camden MPs Glenda Jackson and Frank Dobson, the Lib Dems have turned the once safe Labour constituencies into future targets. If the swing is matched in next year’s council elections, the Lib Dems could wipe out the Labour regime in Camden in a manner similar to the party’s takeover in neighbouring Islington.
Even Camden leader Councillor Dame Jane Roberts’ seat in Haverstock – a clear battleground for the Lib Dems – could be in trouble unless Labour organisers move her candidacy.
Cllr Moffitt said: “I don’t want to put a figure on how many seats we are looking at but you could see that support was up in places like King’s Cross.” The new leader will preside over the selection of candidates. They could include Ed Fordham, who stood against Ms Jackson in Hampstead and Highgate.
Cllr Rea, who has led the party for 18 years, said she would be part of the drive – but in a new position as deputy leader.
She said: “I’m not going to stand down as a councillor and have every intention of vigorously fighting the council elections next May.”
The Lib Dem battle cry, however, has met with scorn from Camden’s Tories, who say they are planning their own Town Hall raid next year.
Conservative leader Piers Wauchope, retained as the party’s chief at a private meeting on Tuesday night, said: “I would be very surprised if Labour still held the council this time next year. I would expect King’s Cross and Somers Town to go first. The Lib Dem vote was against the war and next year that is unlikely to be as strong an issue.”
The Green Party also say their showing in Thursday’s General Election will put them in good stead for next year’s Town Hall ballot. They almost scored their first seat in Highgate during council elections in 2002 and Adrian Oliver said they had taken “enormous” encouragement from their vote gains.
Rattled Labour bosses are refusing to panic.
Deputy leader Councillor Theo Blackwell said: “The local result was affected by national figures. I don’t think the Lib Dems would have done so well if a Respect Party candidate had stood. The Liberal Democrat candidate in Holborn and St Pancras was unimpressive – you could see this from the hustings. The Lib Dem campaign in Hampstead and Highgate was punctured by the defection of Jonathan Simpson (from Lib Dems to Labour). He put their flaky policies under scrutiny. At the council elections, I think there will be strong support for what Labour has done locally, it has a good record. On the doorstep, people want things like Asbos and street wardens.”
n LONG-SERVING Liberal Democrat Councillor Flick Rea last night (Wednesday) stepped down as the party’s leader after 18 years at the helm.
Councillor Keith Moffitt, a translator who lives in West Hampstead, was confirmed as the party’s new chief. Members insist there was no internal coup.