The Liberal Democrats claim to be in pole position to hurt the Tories in many of next month’s local elections as figures show they are fielding the highest proportion of candidates since 2007 while Tory numbers have fallen markedly.
Official data shows that the Lib Dems have increased their proportion of candidates to the equivalent of 60% of seats being fought in England and Wales on 4 May, up seven percentage points on 2019, when the same set of elections were last held.
By contrast the Tories, who have always prided themselves on running full slates of candidates wherever possible, are down 3% to 93%, their lowest level since 2007. Labour’s proportion of candidates per seat has remained the same, at 77%.
While the number of Tory candidates registered to stand – 7,512 – is still comfortably the highest, Ed Davey’s party says there are clear signs that it is now in a better position to exploit Tory difficulties at national level than for many years.
Lib Dem officials say that in many councils across the country where the Tories should be strong, from Stockport in the north-west to Lewes in East Sussex, the Tory party is not fielding full slates of candidates.
The Conservative peer and local government expert Robert Hayward said the Tories would be disappointed not to be able to field more candidates, and that it was clear the Lib Dems were making progress. But he said this was partly to do with council reorganisations, which meant that some areas where the Tories were traditionally strong were not being contested this time.
More than 8,000 seats will be contested in 230 councils. The elections will be the first in England in which voters will have to show photographic identification at polling stations. The council contests could be the last before a general election and give Labour and the Lib Dems an opportunity to exploit Conservative weakness after the chaotic premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, and with the economy on the brink of recession.
Commenting on the Lib Dem challenge Davey said: “In councils across the country, the Liberal Democrats are the party to take on the Conservatives, who have failed people for far too long.
“Whether it is the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis, their failure to manage our NHS or the fact they let water companies pump filthy sewage into our rivers, people are ready for change, and the Liberal Democrats are ready to deliver.”
