- Harborough, Oadby & Wigston Local Election Candidates 7th May 2015
If the numbers of local election candidates are anything to go by then my local Harborough constituency looks like being a race again between the Liberal Democrats and the Tories.
Labour missing from over half local elections
Labour start from a position of zero councillors in Harborough (which includes Oadby and Wigston). They only have candidates for under half of the 45 local council seats. Labour have finished 3rd here behind the Tories and Lib Dems at every general election since 1979. In 2010 they got just 12% of the vote in Harborough. Under first past the post, voting Labour here will simply hand another win to the Tories.
Record low number of Conservative candidates
The Conservatives are also in poor shape locally. The Tories have sunk to a record low of just 15 candidates in Oadby and Wigston. At the last Borough elections in 2011 they were reduced to just 4 councillors. Since then in-fighting and splits have seen that number fall to just 2.
A Two-Horse Race
Local Councillors in Harborough, Oadby & Wigston April 2015
So in Harborough the Liberal Democrats will once again be the best chance to unseat the Conservative MP. The Lib Dems have a strong local government base, holding 33 of the 53 council seats in the constituency.
In the local elections the Lib Dems have 38 candidates to the Tories 30. This is more than any other party and includes a full slate in Oadby and Wigston Borough and Market Harborough.
Few UKIP and Green candidates
Given their national media coverage, both UKIP and the Greens have surprisingly weak numbers of candidates locally.
Over the whole constituency there are just 4 UKIP and 7 Greens standing. With this showing, it is probable that neither can provide a realistic challenge in Harborough, Oadby and Wigston on the 7th of May.
