Labour In Crisis

The local Labour Party has only been able to field just 21 candidates to fight the 46 seats on Shepway Council. Both the Lib Dems and the Tories are fighting every seat.

In large parts of our area there will be no Labour candidates at all in the elections.

Lib Dem campaigner Tessa Caruana said, "This shows just how weak the Labour Party are in our area. To be unable to convince enough people to stand for even half of the seats on the Council is astonishing!"

Labour Decline

Just four years ago, Labour had 56 candidates. Since then they have seen their vote plummet across Shepway.At the General Election, Labour had one of their worst results in the South East in Shepway. They also finished last in each part of Shepway at the County Elections.

However it is in a series of local by-elections that Labour's fall has been most apparent. In recent by-elections they have lost several seats to the Lib Dems. In two recent elections, they failed to register even 5% of the vote.

Lib Dem campaigner Kim Culshaw added, "Everyone knows that Labour cannot win here in Shepway. That's why many former Labour supporters are turning to the Liberal Democrats to get real change in our area."