The Lib Dems’ 8,000-vote lead in yesterday’s Chesham and Amersham by-election sounds very impressive. So does the party’s vote share of 57% to the Tories' 36% – but majorities and percentages can be quite misleading.
The Lib Dem vote jumped from 14,627 to 21,517 – a rise of 6,890 votes. But dig a little deeper and it turns out that much of that was managed by squeezing the Labour vote, which dropped by 6,544 to 622.
The real story of the election was one of Conservative collapse, as its vote dropped from 30,850 to 13,489 – a fall of 17,361. It was turnout that did for the Tories.
