Alperton Goes Gold: Lib Dems Hold Strong in Brent Seat as Labour’s Support Crumbles

The general election in 1784 was a unique one as it was one of the first times in our nation’s history that people voted either for or against their local candidates based on their national loyalties. This week, in the London Borough of Brent, voters took to the polls to make their voice heard on the national scale once again.

Earlier this year Cllr Anton Georgiou resigned and triggered a by-election in Alperton, and paved the way for Charlie Clinton, former parliamentary candidate in Holborn and St Pancras, to stand. In the wee hours of Wednesday 19th, it became clear that the Liberal Democrats held strong. With nearly more votes than all candidates combined, Charlie now joins the small but energetic team of Liberal Democrat Councillors in Brent, but while the Lib Dem voice on the council may be small, that of Alperton residents was heard loud and clear.

Fought over street cleanliness and the availability of much-needed social housing, the by-election result showed how Liberal Democrats are the strong choice when Labour fails to live up to its promises. An ex-Labour Party member wrote in Wembley Matters:

“Brent residents need a Council that listens, does the right thing, tells the truth because it is worth telling and represents the electorate first”

They also said that the incumbent Labour government is partly to blame for the Labour vote collapsing in Alperton, but it is not an insignificant insight. From the outrage caused by the changes to Agricultural Property Relief and the tax on family farms, to axing winter fuel payments for struggling pensioners, many voters are voicing their grievances with Labour by shredding them at the polls in by-elections, or shifting the tide in the opinion polls.

The first YouGov poll since the GE last year indicates a 1-point contest between Reform and Labour, with only a slim, majority of Labour voters saying they’d back the party again at another election. This is both exciting (here is the politics student in me), and troubling (there’s the Lib Dem).

As Cllr Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin of Torridge District Council wrote in the Western Morning News, the “Tories are no friends of UK’s farmers” and neither are Reform friends of any other communities they purport to be the allies of. This is the challenge of the Liberal Democrats in every council seat as we gear up to take on the locals in May: reminding people that we are the steadfast allies of farmers, pensioners, working people, students, teachers, carers, and care-users.

Whilst the noise of percentage polls and the right-wing wave from across the pond puts wind in Reform’s sails, we can be out there, making a real difference for real people. Just as in Alperton.