317 forever
Established Member
Thinking especially of the South West which has traditionally been Lib Dem, mainly Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. In 2010, a quarter of Lib Dem seats were in the South West and West Country. They had some seats like Bath and Bristol West that were Remain areas and indeed, they lost, won and have retained the former.
However, look at their other seats...
In Cornwall, they had three seats but Cornwall voted Leave by 56.5%
In Devon, they had two seats that both heavily voted Leave
- North Cornwall
- St Austell & Newquay
- St Ives
In Somerset, it was more mixed with South Somerset (mainly Yeovil) being a heavy Leave by 57.9%. Somerton & Frome straddles both Mendip and South Somerset so hard to say whilst Taunton was Leave 52.9% whilst Wells (in Mendip) voted Remain by 51.1%.
- Torbay - voted Leave by 63.2%
- North Devon - voted Leave by 57%
So whilst I appreciate what you're saying and some of the seats like Thornbury or Bristol East or Cheltenham, they could have had a chance with a Remainer ticket, they had no chance in the areas where traditionally have been strong.
Also, might be one for the Lib Dem thread
It was not even necessarily being pro-Remain that was to their detriment. It was their Revoke policy without a People's Vote. While it was not politically unreasonable to advocate a sincere policy supported by 16.1 million voters plus many young voters in particular, it was socially unreasonable to advocate this in defiance of the referendum result. It was therefore no wonder they experience wipeout and no breakthrough in Leave constituencies.