Support for the two main parties has fallen sharply across the South West. Experts are predicting major gains for the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK and The Green Party at upcoming elections.
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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