Blimey. I know that there isn’t the same appetite for Cameron now as there was for Blair in ’97 – but if the Tories can’t win an election like this – then they must be really worried.
Bedford has elected a new Mayor – Liberal Democrat Dave Hodgson. This is an amazing victory for Dave – and he and the Bedford LibDems have done brilliantly. I mean in this climate – just after the Tory conference – this is stupendous.
There hasn’t been tons of coverage about this election in the media – but it is an important one. The Mayor of Bedford represents more people than an MP does, and Dave will be making important decisions that affect peoples’ lives.
I think this result will put the wind up the Conservatives quite rightly. The General Election is so not a done deal. With Labour trailing a miserable fifth, the battle is clearly between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives as to who scoops up all those Labour deserters.
Lynne Featherstone 
Freshers fairs were a good weather-vane on the “Cameron effect” or lack of it – I remember trying to recruit students at a couple of Freshers events in 1996 and it was like pulling teeth, while the Labour society would be awash with members. Lib Dem recruitment was so much easier than in 96. People are heartily fed up with Labour now, but there isn’t that sense of magnetism or (misplaced!) hope around the Tories that we saw when Labour were on their way in.