A Parish Council by-election in Whittle Hall was won resoundingly tonight by Matt Newton (LibDem) in a straight fight with the Conservatives by 573 votes to 336. This in a ward next to the one currently being abandoned by Fiona Bruce (Con), who is off to fight the general election in Congleton, and an area where the Conservatives have to advance if they are to have any chance of winning Warrington South in the general election.

So why should Lymm residents care about a minor election in a far flung ward at the other end of the Borough?

It is because it is a real pointer to the opportunity you will have at the General Election. Warrington South is a three way marginal constituency. The other parties will try hard to persuade you otherwise, yet Labour has given up all hope of a win here and don’t even have an official candidate yet, following Helen Southworth MP’s announcement that she wouldn’t stand again, probably because she preferred to stand down than lose.

The Conservatives are smugly expecting victory and writing us off, because they know they have had more money to spend than anyone else and they feel that all they need to secure victory is to write off the LibDem challenge. A big mistake that takes the electorate for granted.

You will have the opportunity at the general election to decide whether you want more of the ding-dong of the two big parties that have landed us with the current economic catastrophe. Or, whether the time has come for a more consensual politics in Westminster where everyone works together to get us out of this mess.

Only additional LibDem MPs will achieve that and you will have a real opportunity to elect one here next year. Jo Crotty is an outstanding candidate and will make a brilliant MP.