I’m angry
I’m tired, I’m sad and I’m frustrated.
In 6 seats, we were less than a thousand votes away from winning. That is agonising. Some of these campaigns saw increases in vote share of 20-30% – an extraordinary leap forward, achieved by hard work from fantastic teams.
We lost three outstanding MPs. Jane Dodds in Brecon and Radnorshire, Tom Brake in Carshalton and Wallington and of course, Jo Swinson in East Dunbartonshire.
We are still coming to terms with these three results. Jo missed out by just 149 votes. To have lost our Leader so soon after she was elected is a very bitter blow.
And on top of all that, we have a Boris Johnson majority Government.
Despite these disappointments, we got 1.2 million more votes yesterday than in the last General Election. Our vote was up 4% across the country. We have now established ourselves in close second places in a string of seats. We held three of our Scottish seats despite the SNP’s best efforts, and kept three London MPs against the Tory surge.
We elected 11 brilliant MPs:
Alistair Carmichael in Orkney and Shetland
Christine Jardine in Edinburgh West
Daisy Cooper in St Albans
Ed Davey in Kingston and Surbiton
Jamie Stone in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Layla Moran in Oxford West and Abingdon
Munira Wilson in Twickenham, taking over from Vince Cable
Sarah Olney in Richmond Park, retaking the seat from the Conservatives
Tim Farron in Westmorland and Lonsdale
Wendy Chamberlain in North East Fife – which we lost by 2 votes last time!
Wera Hobhouse in Bath
That is a talented team and I know they will make their voices heard in Parliament against the new Conservative Government.
After any election, there are lessons to learn – and believe me, we will be thinking a lot about our results over the next weeks and months. But we were honest and open with voters about our vision, and I stand by that decision.
Let’s all get some sleep and some rest. And then let’s get ready to hold this Prime Minister to account.
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