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| Labour’s fears over elections |
‘We could lose if there’s
a Tory-Lib Dem pact’
LABOUR party members have admitted for the first time they could
lose next year’s council elections if the Liberal Democrats
and Conservative rivals gang-up on their candidates.
Election material being circulated in key battlegrounds by Labour
reveals the party’s fear that they could lose out to a coalition.
It is the first time any potential pact has been suggested and never
before has Labour even hinted that they are worried about losing
seats.
Deputy leader Councillor Theo Blackwell said: “People can’t
take a Labour council for granted. We have a good track record and
people need to know the consequences of voting for the Lib Dems.
They nearly always vote with the Conservatives in the council chamber.”
In the latest edition of party mailout, the Labour Rose, election
strategists have posted a mocked-up picture of Lib Dem leader Keith
Moffitt in a bed with Conservative leader Piers Wauchope.
A Labour statement said: “Camden Lib Dems look set to do a
deal with their Tory counterparts on the council if Labour fails
to win enough seats to retain control in next May’s elections.”
Labour is pointing to the examples of Southwark and Lambeth where
Lib Dems and the Conservatives have teamed up to unseat their councillors.
Mike Katz, who is standing for Labour in the Haverstock ward, likely
to be one of the key contests with the Liberal Democrats, added:
“A vote for the Lib Dems is as good as a vote for the Tories.”
Both the Lib Dems and Conservatives have been angered by the suggestion
that they could team up.
Cllr Wauchope (pictured) said: “There have been absolutely
no talks with the Liberal Democrats. We are concentrating on winning
the council elections outright.”
He added: “It would be up to the councillors elected at the
elections to decide afterwards whether they wanted to enter into
talks but there have been no talks whatsoever so far.”
Lib Dem councillor Jill Fraser, who represents Haverstock, said:
“This shows that Labour is worried that they will not win the
same number of seats that they have at the moment. We have not talked
to the Conservatives and I don’t think we would. Labour has
admitted here that they could fail to win enough seats to retain
control.” |
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