‘The people of Richmond Park and North Kingston have sent a shockwave through this Conservative Brexit government,’ said Sarah Olney, the victorious Liberal Democrat candidate in the Richmond Park by-election. She went on to announce that she would interpret the result as a personal mandate to vote against the triggering of article 50 if it comes down to a Commons vote.
The LibDems were perfectly entitled to try to turn the Richmond Park by-election into a protest against Brexit – in spite of Zac Goldsmith’s protests that it was all about Heathrow’s third runway. If you resign your seat and cause a by-election, opposition parties are entitled to fight on whatever issues they like. The LibDems strategy succeeded in winning the seat and putting a much-needed ninth MP in the Commons, and they deserve credit for that.
But if I were a strategist on the lingering Remain campaign I would be rather concerned at how Richmond is being interpreted as a judgement on Brexit – or as some might say a heart-rending cry from a population which voted Leave and now regrets it.
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