Video diary - 19th July 2019: at the PCC by-election count

Last Friday I attended the count for the Northumbria PCC by-election. As Lib Dem candidate was I heading to for a completely unexpected victory? No! Did Labour see their usual easy victory? No! Previously Labour took over 50% of the vote. Therefore 2nd preferences were never previously counted. This time Labour's vote dropped from 56% to 37%. Our vote climbed from 10% to 18%. It was a reasonably good performance which lifted us off the electoral sandbank on which the Lib Dems had been stuck from 2010 to the end of 2018. But it would be unwise to read to much into the result. The turnout was lamentable at 15%. This does show that the whole PCC system has failed to engage with people. I continue to argue that the system should be scrapped.

So, a creditable performance, a move in the right direction but the big battles are still ahead waiting to be fought and won.