A Lib Dem vote hands power to the Tories

"What's the point of voting Lib Dem?" is a question I pose occasionally on this blog, but it has been put into even sharper focus this week by the admission by the Liberal Democrat leader that he would hand power to the Conservatives if the next election results in a hung parliament.

For Conservative readers that's joyous news - and it may also be music to your ears if you're thinking about voting Liberal Democrat but are happy if you get a Conservative government.

But the sole reason Putney elected a Conservative MP at the last general election is because enough former Labour voters switched to the Lib Dems as a protest against the government. The Conservative vote only increased by 4%: not enough on what is called a straight swing to have won on its own. But about 5% of Labour's decline went to the Liberal Democrats, and I understand the reasons why.

If you're one of those who switched to the Lib Dems in 2005, I wonder if you're quite so enthusiastic about Nick Clegg's desire to leap into bed with the Conservatives? If you're not, then voting Lib Dem again has much greater risks attached to it than it did four years ago: it will be a proxy vote for the Conservatives and a Tory government.

The only sure-fire, cast-iron guaranteed way to stop the Tories here in Putney is to vote Labour.