I have blogged before about the fact that one of Tim Bonner’s and the Countryside Alliance’s errors (we are making quite a long list) is that those that oppose driven grouse shooting are a bunch of left-wing townies, whereas actually we know that it is in Conservative rural constituencies, like that of the Defra Minister Rory Stewart, where opposition to driven grouse shooting is strongest.
From eye-balling, nothing more sophisticated than that, the maps above there is a strong hint that it is the Lib Dems who play a large part in providing this opposition (do you remember the Lib Dems?).
It doesn’t take long to list the eight Lib Dem seats and to note that all but Tom Brake’s Carshalton and Wallington constituency are way ahead of the average number of signatures per constituency of around 36:
Norman Lamb, North Norfolk – 108 signatures
Tim Farron, Westmorland and Lonsdale – 96 signatures
Nick Clegg, Sheffield Hallam – 71 signatures
Mark Williams, Ceredigion – 64 signatures
Alistair Carmichael, Orkney and Shetland – 57 signatures
Greg Mulholland, Leeds North West – 56 signatures
John Pugh, Southport – 46 signatures
Tom Brake, Carshalton and Wallington – 19 signatures.
But also many former Lib Dem seats have a very strong showing – including the Isle of Wight – at 128 signatures still the highest scoring seat in the UK.
And a few words on the Greens tomorrow.
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