In the interests of electing an anti-Conservative candidate, opposition parties must unite around the Liberal Democrats in the upcoming byelection, writes Helen Johnson
How depressing to read that “Labour has begun to campaign more in earnest” in North Shropshire (Key question on Tory MPs’ minds: is Boris Johnson still a winner?, 9 December). Opposition party activists may find it difficult to go against the grain, but most opposition voters, I would suggest, are not currently primarily Labour or Lib Dem or Green, nor that bothered by party divisions. What we are, and maybe more strongly united than ever in being so, is against this Conservative government.
The key question for voters in North Shropshire is not “Do you want Labour to win?” but “Do you want the Conservatives to lose?” If their answer to that is yes, then it’s in the country’s interest, and in democracy’s interest, to support the Lib Dems in making that happen. While Labour activists may have felt unable to advise people to vote Lib Dem, the previously low-key canvassing was speaking volumes.
