Liberal Democrats in Cornwall - Culture, Character or Campaigns? - Dr John Ault

The Liberal Democrats in Cornwall have often outperformed the rest of the party. The historic culture of Cornwall, being remote from London and having a strong regional identity, has often been credited as being the cause of this. Political characters such as David Penhaligon and Isaac Foot have also been credited with being the reason the party persisted in this part of the Celtic Fringe when the Labour Party replaced it in the early twentieth century elsewhere. John Ault, using original surveys around the 2010 UK General Election has identified how important these factors are and also how important the campaigning the party does is as well. The Liberal Democrats have used a highly effective form of targeting to win seats in parliament since the 1960s using Community Politics. This research shows just how important this is in Cornwall and compares the party there with others parts of the UK where the party has also seen recent success.