Chesham and Amersham has fallen. The once uber-Tory Chilterns citadel has been snatched by the Lib Dems, with local campaigners citing planning reform and HS2 as the main drivers for their success.
After the ginormous swing — from a 16,000 majority to an 8,000-vote deficit — fears are growing that the Tories’ planning reforms might become a victim to demographic subsidence. Many of the government’s backbenchers are keen to undermine the party’s house-building efforts. They fear Amersham-style retribution from similar voters, eager to punish them for devaluing their most-prized asset and adding congestion to their quaint country lanes.
The Nimbyist revolt has been a major political force for yonks
Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely reacted to the election defeat by arguing that it was ‘the start of a significant pushback from communities on planning,’ taking on the ‘relentless housing targets — very often the wrong housing in the wrong areas — [that] just feeds the hamster wheel of planning doom.’
The start of the pushback? This Nimbyist revolt has been a major political force for yonks, steadily growing in power in line with the astronomical rise in house prices.
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