Southport journalist Martin Hovden gives his personal view on the latest “dirty trick” by the town's Liberal Democrats in the run-up to Thursday's local council elections:


I've lived in the resort's Kew ward for more than 20 years and until relatively recently it was a Lib Dem stronghold. I was a Lib Dem voter because of excellent councillors such as Terry Francis, Maureen Fearn and Fred Weavers (by the way, Fred is standing as the Green Party candidate in Kew tomorrow) - decent, kind people who tried their best to help local residents. I was also happy to vote for Ronnie Fearn as our local MP for the same reasons.


I'm all for robust and lively debate among our politicians, it's vital for democracy. We need strong opposition to whichever party is in power.


But over the years the local Lib Dems have turned snide and nasty when dealing with their political opponents. When I was editor of the Southport Champion we reported on the totally unacceptable bullying of Ainsdale Conservative Councillor Brenda Porter – one of the most honourable, hard-working and human politicians I've met in more than 50 years of covering local politics on Merseyside. The Lib Dems denied the charge, although privately older party members told me they were disgusted by the whole affair.


Add to this the hypocrisy of sneering at rival candidates because they don't live in Southport, when their own members did exactly the same – or making undeliverable pledges in election leaflets, such as promising more money for pensioners without pointing out there would need to be a Lib Dem government for this to be achieved.


And I'm sure you remember the Lib Dem promise over student tuition fees or their rush to jump into bed with the Tories.


But now they have sunk to a new low. Last night, I received a leaflet from the Lib Dems. I'm sure other parts of the town have received the same literature. It has four pages. One half of the second page is devoted to a report on the current investigation into fraud allegations at Liverpool City Council.


No one is claiming there should not be an investigation and if found guilty those responsible should be punished.


But what's this got to do with Kew or Southport or Sefton? The Lib Dems are clearly trying to suggest that this is what happens when you vote Labour. This is disgraceful. Cheap politics at its worst. And I would say exactly the same if other parties did likewise.


I've been thinking of all the scandals involving Lib Dem MPs over the years. And at the time it never crossed my mind that Southport Lib Dems should be condemned for what other members of their party have done. It's called being a decent, honest, fair human being.


Sadly a once proud, respected party is now a spent force in Southport. Labour have already made great strides in Southport. And it wouldn't surprise me if they gain more seats in Southport tomorrow.


But that is entirely up to you.


You'll be voting three times on Thursday – for your local councillor, the Merseyside Police Commissioner and the Liverpool City Region Mayor. Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm.


The votes won't be counted until Friday morning at Aintree Racecourse, with the results expected to start coming through from 1pm onwards. The local authority will publish the results live via sefton.gov.uk/elections and on its social media pages (predominantly Twitter) as they are announced.


Whatever your view, make sure you vote. And don't forget to take your own pen with you

In Ainsdale, we have a hard working Lib Dem in Lynne Thompson, who will be getting my vote.

Labour sent out a scrap of paper, mostly with national issues, which doen't concern me in this election. They also state it's a "two horse" race between Conservatives and Labour, on this I also disagree. I believe it will be a two horse race between Conservatives and Lib Dem..

05/05/2021 08:49 AM Tentill4 says:

Originally Posted by Tentill4

In Ainsdale, we have a hard working Lib Dem in Lynne Thompson, who will be getting my vote. …

Cllr. Lynne Thompson may work hard; but doing what?
Lib Dems notably have developed the technique of claiming successful activity in their quarterly Focus newsletters. However, how many think to ask:

What, exactly, are these Councillors doing?

Arguably they are spending a lot of time promoting themselves and their party while a cadre of Council Officers run the business of municipal government nominally overseen by Council Cabinet members in Sefton's current setup.

Council Officers are limited in their scope by excessive regulation from central government. Civic education is woefully deficient and local governments' important role is consistently under rated!

This is a very biased article and I take it from its content that the writer is a Labour supporter. He would need have been allowed to write an article such as this for a newspaper especially without admitting his allegiance.

Clearly the writer is desperate to supplement his pension with articles that contain the very abuse he tries to condemn.

Originally Posted by Nash

Clearly the writer is desperate to supplement his pension with articles that contain the very abuse he tries to condemn.

Absolutely! But it falls on deaf ears as we have heard so much of it - constant actions speak louder than words - not actions carried out at voting time only.

Southport Lib Dems make me sick. Constant anti-Labour leaflets though my door. Always blaming Labour for Conservative government austerity (Which the LDs were fully behind a few years ago!).