Last week saw the appearance of the pre-election adverts in The Kidderminster Shuttle, with the Conservatives being the only one of Wyre Forest’s four main parties not to pay for an ad.
Whilst it was interesting to see how the parties set out their stalls in both style and substance, perhaps most intriguing was the Liberal Party’s full page spread.
The zany font, orange and black emblem and lengthy candidate biographies are par for the course. What’s interesting is that former Liberal Democrat, now independent, councillor Peter Dyke appears alongside the Liberal candidates. Whilst Mr Dyke is clearly labelled as an independent and his boxed of section is free of Liberal branding, he is seen surrounded by their livery and slogans.
I blogged before about the interesting dynamic of the Aggborough and Spennells election; with the Liberal Democrat candidate attempting to oust his former colleague. However, I did not speculate about whether a re-elected Cllr Dyke would remain independent or would look for a new political home. Perhaps sharing the election advert was a logistical convenience or maybe it is a sign that Peter Dyke isn’t content without a party platform.
The story of Wyre Forest Liberal Democrats and their former councillors has certainly been an interesting one so far, and I don't think that it will be going away anytime soon.
Maybe after this election the Liberal party's famous "NOT the lib dems" will become "NOT the lib dems - any more".
