The Liberal Democrats are facing wipeout in their South Western heartlands. According to a new poll from ComRes/ITV News conducted in 14 Lib Dem seats, there is currently a 13-point swing to the Tories. If this was repeated on May 7, the Lib Dems would lose the following seats to their coalition partners: Bath, Cheltenham, Chippenham, Cornwall North, Devon North, Dorset Mid & Poole North, Somerton & Frome, St Austell & Newquay, St Ives, Taunton Deane, Thornbury & Yate, Torbay, Wells, Yeovil. Senior party figures who would be out include policy guru and Cabinet Office minister David Laws and the pensions minister Steve Webb.
One of the reasons for the collapsing Lib Dem vote might be Nick Clegg. In these seats, ComRes reports that 29 per cent of the voters say that Clegg puts them off backing the Liberal Democrats, while 32 per cent say the party has becoming irrelevant — worryingly, including one in five Lib Dem voters.
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