00:00Recently, there's been a noticeable shift in political loyalties right here across Bristol and the West Country.
00:07The traditional strongholds of Labour and the Conservatives are looking far less certain.
00:13Look, there's no doubt that when you look at the history of the South West,
00:17it does tend to be a very fertile territory for the Liberal Democrats in particular.
00:22And if you remember the leader, Paddy Ashton, he came from that area, if I remember correctly,
00:28the MP for Yeovil. So, yes, I see it as being a place where they can make big inroads.
00:36The level of disillusion with the traditional parties is not going to abate at any moment.
00:41So, undoubtedly, they will see that as a place where, of course, they can build that hard land.
00:46And who knows? The latest opinion poll shows that reform may win the next election,
00:52but the next biggest party could be the Liberal Democrats.
00:55So they could be the official opposition. Hey, who'd have thought that?
00:57And, of course, you'll get the Labour and the Conservative way down into the fourth and fifth position.
01:03So, yeah, we see this in Bristol.
01:05That's, again, sort of traditional Liberal Democrat and green territory.
01:10And, indeed, Bath, an area I know fairly well.
01:13That's also seen to be a place where, of course, the Liberal Democrats have always done very well.
01:17And it's no bad thing.
01:18People may ask, what is it they put in the water that makes people so much more inclined?
01:22Maybe it's a sort of greater sort of Liberal tendency.
01:25We do not know.
01:27We often get this in the sort of big metropolitan areas, you know, particularly in London.
01:31But, as I say, the fact that sort of the South West has been sort of the heartland, the citadel, is nothing new.
01:37But I think we're going to sort of see it develop an even greater importance going forward.
01:42But with both the Greens and the Liberal Democrats appealing to similar voters, is there a danger this centre-left vote could end up being split and handing an advantage to others?
01:54Well, the Corbyn project is having a very difficult birth because, of course, the two main protagonists, if you will, Jeremy Corbyn.
02:04We know plenty about Jeremy Corbyn.
02:06We know much less about Sultana.
02:09It was supposed to be a marriage made somewhere.
02:11But, of course, they seem to be falling out.
02:15Although, interestingly, I was looking at the stats on their social media.
02:20She has roughly twice as many followers as does Jeremy Corbyn.
02:23So, perhaps she's the sort of the future.
02:26Corbyn, the man who's been around for sort of forever, it seems to be.
02:28The Gandalf, if you like, of politics.
02:30Maybe his time is coming to end because he can't go on forever.
02:33And sort of the left, if I may sort of call that, or the sort of the hard left, perhaps,
02:39will sort of pick up some people who are young people who might have gone to the Labour Party in the past,
02:44completely disillusioned with them.
02:45It seems to be a sort of natural home.
02:47But, hey, you know, they're fighting in the sort of same territory as the sort of the Green Party,
02:51who seem to be sort of occupying or have very similar policies.
02:55And even the Liberal Democrats seem radical in comparison to the two major parties at present.
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