With the Conservative support sinking fast, and not much hope for a recovery, everybody is starting to think about the next general election. The Labour Party are no exception, but are now recognising that they cannot hope to win everywhere…. and have just published a list of seats which they have already written off as unwinnable for them,

This makes sense, in part so that people who are adopted as Labour candidates know that they are only flyng the flag and have no real chance of winning. But also so that they. the Labour Party, can concentrate their resources on more promising prospects. And also, I think. to send a signal to everybody, that Labour are not going to be putting in much of an effort in those seats, and they are going to leave it to somebody else to get the Conservatives out (which will also help Labour, of course).

One of the seats that Labour has given up on is here in Central Devon.

This is not surprising. The last time people actually cast a real vote in a real election was in May this year, in the district elections. This year the Liberal Democrats won 39 council seats in the Central Devon constituency, while the Conservatives took only 36. In the same elections, the Labour Party did not win a single seat in the whole of Central Devon…. and neither did the Green Party. So all the signs are that here in Central Devon the next election for the Westminster Parliament will be a straight choice, between the Conservative incumbent and the Lib Dem challenger.