Election 97

Taunton

Current MP David Nicholson
Conservative 97 23,621
Labour 97 8,248
LibDem 97 26,064
Nationalist 97 0
Other 97 318
Elected party
Taunton

Robert Waller wrote
Old constituency Taunton
Conservative 92 29,576
Labour 92 8,151
LibDem 92 26,240
Nationalist 92 0
Other 92 279
Elected party Conservative

The Liberal Democrats were probably on track to win the west Somerset seat of Taunton during the campaign running up to the 1992 general election - until it became clear that Labour had a very real chance of winning, and the good burghers took fright and returned the Conservative MP David Nicholson with a majority of a little over 3,000.

The Lib Dems are still a very strong force in local elections here as in almost all parts of Somerset, and with the continued sanitisation of 'New Labour' under Tony Blair, the fear of a 'socialist' government might have been assuaged. This might give Jackie Ballard a better chance to dislodge David Nicholson this time around: as long as the Labour vote itself does not increase substantially to squeeze the Liberal Democrats.


Super Profiles

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