Hard Brexit, hills and chocolate dominate Lib Dem campaign in Stoke

As promised, I was in Stoke on Saturday helping Zulfiqar Ali (not to be confused with Zulfiqar Ali) and the Liberal Democrat team. Great to see the campaign pushing the party's distinctive European message very hard, especially given the potential electoral benefits for the party overall:

I was very struck by the area I was efficiently dispatched to by Ed Fordham. It was just the sort of area which in many other places is a safe Liberal Democrat ward. Neat gardens and small cars can be a combination for someone from any part of the social or political spectrum, but it is a combination which often signifies Liberal Democrat.

The combo was there aplenty as I went up and down steps, steps, hills and steps.* But, this wasn't one of the ex-Liberal Democrat wards. When you add up those and the wards like the one where I was, you get to a large chunk of the constituency. It is the sort of place that would have had a Liberal Democrat MP if by chance the right combination of people had become super-activists in a previous decade.

So if you've not yet made it to help or donate, I'd very much encourage you to do so. You'll get a raffle ticket and the chocolate supplies are plentiful.

* Ed: I think you'll find this constituency is flatter than Belgium, well known for its docile dogs, with every letterbox at waist height, an unusual wind pattern which means it is always at your back, less rain than the Sahara and not a draft-excluding-leaflet-crunching-brush in sight.