WHAT WENT wrong for the Lib Dems in the election, writes Clive Betts from the Assembly press gallery.
Party leader Kirsty Williams blames the sight of the black tin ballot box in the polling station.
In the wake of the party leaders’ debates, opinion poll predictions for the Lib Dems rocketed; the party even seemed with reach of becoming the second-largest party in the UK vote.
But it all faded away, and the party ended up more or less where they had started when the election campaign began. It now has to put up with the consolation prize of being the minor partner in a coalition cabinet with the Tories.
Not bad, you might say. But earlier the party seemed to be heading for second place in voting totals – which would really have upset the political apple-cart.
According to Ms Williams – who is becoming more confident in her as party leader as time passes – voters were considering voting Lib Dem until the last days, But when they saw the ballot box, their courage deserted them, and they fell back to their usual allegiance.
Well, that’s one idea. Although Ms Williams herself said a lot of work was needed to find out more precisely what went wrong.
Bearing in mind that it didn’t go wrong everywhere. The result from Ceredigion was the one bright spot of the evening/morning, she told us. Mark Williams’s vote soared from 37 per cent of the poll to just over 50 – making him one of the few MPs who can justifiably say he was truly voted in by a majority of the electorate.
At the same time Plaid’s percentage sunk from 36 per cent to 28.
With a majority of over 7,000, this could almost be described as a safe-seat for the Lib Dems. Particularly as the Cons are almost no-where in sight, and Labour – who held the seat once-upon-a-time – almost lost their deposit.
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