General election: Well-respected MP's loss shows Lib Dems' plight

Δημοσιεύθηκε: 8 Μαΐου 2015 - 05:43

Just how steep a price the Liberal Democrats paid for their five-year coalition with the Conservatives was demonstrated with the defeat of Simon Hughes, a popular and well-respected local MP who had held his central London seat for 32 years until Friday morning.

Neil Coyle, a local Labour councillor, won the seat with 43 per cent of the vote to Mr Hughes' 34 per cent, overturning a former Lib Dem 8,500-vote majority.

"This is not a verdict on Simon Hughes but a verdict on five years of Cameron and Clegg," Mr Coyle said after being declared the victor.

Mr Hughes, a former deputy leader of the Lib Dems, responded: "Liberalism is not ashamed, Liberalism is proud of the way we've served this community. Liberalism will go on making the argument for freedom, whatever the political mix of the government the day after tomorrow."

"To the people of Bermondsey and Southwark, you could not have ever, ever given me a greater opportunity. I hope you think that for 32 years, I have served you well."

Members of all the parties present praised Mr Hughes, 63, as an assiduous representative for the area who built up a seemingly impregnable base of support over three decades. Until 2010 Mr Hughes had always been in opposition and had "never been contentious for local people", Mr Coyle said, adding that Labour had "been a bit lacklustre in the past couple of decades" in the area.

But once Mr Hughes' party entered government and became responsible for unpopular coalition policies such as the "bedroom tax" and university tuition fees, that changed and his local reputation was not enough to save him.

Mr Coyle said his rival "thought he was unbeatable" and that "my ward has had less of Simon Hughes after 1997 than before 1997", referring to the year Tony Blair won a landslide for Labour. "His foot's been off the pedal since then."

Of Mr Hughes' decision to contest this election, he said: "He could have gone with dignity, he appears to have chosen political Dignitas," an apparent reference to the Swiss assisted-suicide clinic.

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

Bordering the river Thames from Deptford to Blackfriars Bridge, Bermondsey seat covers the southeastern fringe of central London. The area is much poorer than the national average, with almost a third of children there judged to be in poverty in 2012. It is also ethnically diverse - two-fifths of residents are not white while the national average is about 13 per cent.

Mr Hughes was first elected in 1983 after defeating gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, then standing for Labour in a by-election noted for the homophobic abuse directed at the latter, including from his own party. Liberal party canvassers promoted their candidate as "the straight choice" and the News of the World ran a picture of their opponent altered to show him wearing lipstick and eyeliner.

Mr Hughes was deputy leader of the Lib Dems for four years until January 2014 and has been minister for justice since December 2013.

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation