The campaign so far ...

I had intended to post regularly on the election campaign so far, but have been too busy. So this a brief round-up.

In the past week or so I have visited several seat we hope to win on May 5th, and overall the mood is very positive.

The highlight for me was visiting Folkestone & Hythe last week where we are running a very strong campaign to unseat Tory Leader Michael Howard. I drove into the seat from the west - through Romney Marsh - traditionally the weaker end of the seat for us. But even here I was greeted by a large number of Peter Carroll' stakeboards. In Folkestone itself the display was very impressive. There were hardly any Howard posters. Our candidate Peter Carroll is getting a lot of help from several Gurkhas - and boy can they deliver leaflets fast!

We are also doing well in seats where we are fighting Labour. The team in Watford are really boyant. It looks like many former Tory voters there have realised that the Lib Dems are the real challengers this time and are switching in droves. A brief visit to Brent East was also very positive - there are already more Sarah Teather boards up than we had by the end of the by-election. She has worked really hard since the by-election and the voters seem to be recognising this.

Another seat we are doing really well in is New Forest East. Again I was met with a very impressive poster display, and the campaign HQ is being deluged with requests for posters, offers of help etc.

Overall the feel is very positive with the Lib Dem vote solid and enthusiastic and voters coming across from both the other parties for poltiical and tactical reasons.