Shock poll shows Lib Dem Victoria Collins set to win Harpenden & Berkhamsted at next election

The most detailed survey in five years has predicted that Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Victoria Collins is set to defeat the Conservative Party in Harpenden & Berkhamsted at the next election. 

The MRP poll by YouGov, reported in The Telegraph yesterday, finds that the Conservatives would narrowly lose the seat to Liberal Democrat candidate Victoria Collins if an election were held now. More widely, the Liberal Democrats are predicted to win 48 seats at the next election, most of them from the Blue Wall in which Harpenden & Berkhamsted sits.

This follows four unprecedented by-election wins in formerly safe Conservative seats in the past two years, as well as hundreds of gains in local elections across the Blue Wall since 2019. Of the 56 councillors on St Albans District Council, for example, 48 are now Liberal Democrats, while of Dacorum Council’s 51 councillors, 28 are Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats have made constituencies like Harpenden & Berkhamsted the centrepiece of the party’s General Election campaign, vowing to ‘tear down the Blue Wall’ and better serve the thousands of voters who are sick to their back teeth with the Conservative government. 

The Liberal Democrats in Harpenden & Berkhamsted are running major campaigns against the Government focused on fixing local health services that have been run into the ground. The party are calling for the right to see a GP within a week or 24 hours if in urgent need, a legal guarantee to start cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral and ensuring people can get an NHS dentist appointment when they need one.

 Responding to the poll, Liberal Democrat candidate for Harpenden & Berkhamsted, Victoria Collins said:

 “People in  Harpenden & Berkhamsted deserve better and this poll shows that thousands of voters are crying out for real change after being taken for granted by this Conservative government. 

“Sadly, Conservative MPs are too busy fighting with themselves to care for our area. We shouldn’t be in a situation where local families can’t get a GP appointment, water companies get away with dumping sewage in our chalk streams and canal, and people can’t afford the basics. We need a change - and this poll confirms that voting for the Liberal Democrats is the best way to deliver it.

“While the Conservative Party could not be more out of touch, the Liberal Democrats are campaigning hard for a fair deal. As our area's next MP, I would stand up for Harpenden, Berkhamsted, Tring and the surrounding villages and give local people the voice that they need and deserve.”