Click to enlargeThey claim on the leaflet that it is a "Two-horse race in Watford". Which is a complete and utter lie, as it is a three-horse race. The result at the 2005 election was:
Thus, the claim that "Only the Lib Dems can beat Labour here" is utter bullshit. So long as Ian Oakley works hard, he has plenty of chance of winning this seat. Sal Brinton, the Lib Dem PPC for Watford has no more chance than he does, and neither does Claire Ward, the sitting MP. It really is a three-horse race, and anyone can win.In her letter, Sal Brinton claims that
Many local residents have told me they were bitterly disappointed that Labour narrowly held on to the Watford parliamentary seat at the last election. As the Liberal Democrat candidate, I finished in a clear second place, with the Conservatives third. Labour were only able to win because the vote against them was split.
Half of that statement has already been proven to be wrong. Sal was not in a "clear" second place. There was less between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats than between the Lib Dems and Labour [Con-LD: 793; LD-Lab: 1,148]. It isn't possible for them to have finished "close" to Labour, and yet "clear" from the Conservatives considering the numerical facts.Labour was only able to win this seat because the vote against them was split. And the implication that people should thus vote Lib Dem in Watford in order to get rid of the useless Claire Ward is rubbish, and can easily be turned right back on them. Labour nationally won only because the vote against them was split. So, to advance their own implied argument, the Lib Dems should pack up and go home because it is them that are causing this Labour Government [2005 result: Lab 37%, Con 33%, LD 22%]. Which of course they won't, and they shouldn't. But that is what Sal's argument says they should do.
The Lib Dems are also claiming that Ali Miraj, the ex-PPC, has said that
Labour MP, Claire Ward, knows that she has me to thank for still having her job.
If he did say that, he really is an utter idiot, and I'm glad that he isn't Watford PPC - or a candidate at all.The Lib Dems are thus lying again. Their bar charts are at best misleading, and at worst downright lies. And their commentary on the results are just as bad. When will they stop their lying? Probably never. But at least they really have earned the nickname "Fib Dems".
