Party contests fewest seats since 1999 as Labour attempts to make inroads into Lib Dem heartlands
The proportion of council seats that the Liberal Democrats are contesting at the local elections next month has fallen to its lowest point since 1999, with some senior figures in the party now acknowledging that they face an uphill battle because of their unpopularity in government.
Figures compiled by the Conservative and Labour parties, which have aggregated all the official candidate declarations received by the deadline, reveal that Labour is increasing the number of seats it is contesting fastest and that the Conservatives have also added more candidates but that the Lib Dems have withdrawn from some parts of the election battlefield.
Labour is contesting 11.5% more seats compared with the 2007 elections, the Tories are contesting 4.6% more and the Lib Dems 4.6% fewer. The number of seats in which Ukip is fielding candidates has increased by 3.9 and Green by 3.4%; the BNP has decreased by 4.3%.
The Labour analysis shows it making big advances into traditionally Lib Dem areas in the east and south-west of England. The Lib Dems have made their sharpest withdrawals in the south-east and north-west.
Overall, the Tories are contesting the most seats ? according to their compilation of the figures, 93.4% of all seats compared with 72.1% for Labour and 59.1% for the Lib Dems. At the moment the Conservatives control 211 councils, Labour 65 and the Lib Dems 32. There are 82 with no one party in control, 12 with independent councillors and three SNP-controlled councils.
Lady Eaton, the Conservative chair of the Local Government Association, suggested last week that Labour could become the biggest party in local government over the next two or three years if the surge some are predicting comes about.
A lot of focus on election night will be on Sheffield, which is Lib Dem-controlled and includes Nick Clegg's Hallam constituency. Newcastle city council, like Sheffield a Lib Dem northern outpost, is also vulnerable to a Labour resurgence.
Lady Warsi, co-chairman of the Tories, said: "Labour councils charge more and deliver worse services. The message is clear ? don't let Labour do to your council what they've done to the country."
Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour party, said: "The fifth of May is the chance for people to show the government that they have got it wrong with their unfair, savage and unnecessary cuts, the job losses and the risk that is being taken with the economy."
Tim Pickstone, chief executive of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors, said that he did not contest the figures the Tories and Labour had compiled. "I suspect they are accurate. We won't lose any sleep over those figures.
"We are going to emphasise our local record ? very often we have very strong track records as local councillors. It's also about stressing the distinctive things we're doing in government."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/apr/08/liberal-democrats-local-election-struggle
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