Liam Fogarty's final push in Liverpool mayor election
Independent Liverpool mayor candidate is today setting out why he believes he is the only credible alternative to frontrunner Labour's Joe Anderson.
Now we are in the final furlong of the race to become mayor Fogarty is going for one final push.
"Cllr Anderson is the odds-on favourite. His people are clearly taking no chances, with some areas now getting their fourth Labour election leaflet through the letterbox. But I truly believe that if anyone can give Joe a run for his money it's me."
This is critique of why he believes he is the only credible challenger to Cllr Anderson:
"Liverpool Liberal Democrat councillors are an endangered species. The idea that their mayoral candidate can compete with, let alone beat, Joe Anderson is fanciful. There's no evidence that the Greens and Liberals have a city-wide appeal beyond their respective strongholds in St.Michael's and Tuebrook & Stoneycroft.
"The Conservatives haven't had a councillor elected in Liverpool in over a decade. A Tory Mayor this time ? I don't think so. And the extremists and eccentrics among the rest of the field haven't got a prayer.
"I was the convincing winner of the only poll conducted in the course of this campaign, the exit poll conducted after the local churches' hustings two weeks ago."
It is hard to see anyone beating Joe Anderson, but could Fogarty vanquish the other parties and come second?
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David Bartlett
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Surely this story was meant to be published on the 1st of April, not the 30th.
Liam Fogerty's claim would be far more credible if he had actually been able to organise his petition get a mayoral referendum.
Everyone in politics knows how easy it is to get people to sign petitions, just as passing drivers will beep at any placard you might care to wave outside the town hall. But Liam couldn't manage it, perhaps because like most journalists he underestimated how much hard work is actually involved in doing politics.
Someone who over 6 years has single handedly failed to get the support of just 5% of the electorate, can't seriously jump up and down now claiming he can get the support of 50% on Thursday.
The Lib Dem election winning machine in Liverpool may not be as powerful at the moment, but everyone on the ground knows that they are delivering 10 times the campaign that the lacklustre Fogerty team has been able to muster.
If you want proof of that, knock on a few doors and ask them to name the mayoral candidates. Most won't be able to name any of them, but those who can will name Anderson, Kemp, perhaps even Coyne, Radford or Mulhern. Having been on the regional news 6 years ago doesn't make you a celebrity or a household name.
Its a pity, because a strong independent candidate could have really shaken up this election. Sorry Liam, that hasn't been you.
Greens beat labour two to one in a much more representative poll: http://john4liverpool.com/2012/04/29/greens-beat-labour-two-to-one/
and they have a full slate of candidates.
John Coyne's final push will bring him in second position.
Dead right. I think Liam Fogerty will come 2nd. And he could win 15% of the vote, signalling a significant degree of ill-ease with the decision to bounce us into this unwanted contest. The 'Joe' vote (c.60%) will trail the overall Labour vote by some margin, while Kemp will be humiliated. He won't even win a majority in Church ward; might not even save his deposit. But he will be able to console himself that, with Keaveney losing her seat, the path to the leadership of Liverpool LibDems - all ten of them - will now be open to him. Meanwhile Coyne, the biggest disappointment in the recent debate, will be exposed as a huge waste of space. The Greens are going nowhere: 'protest votes' will go to Fogarty. Any surprises? I find it hard to predict the nutter vote. UKIP could do well by its own standards; could come 3rd even. But the Nazis & Mulhearn, nowhere.
You'd think Laura Collins would try and keep her husband off this site these days.
Ronnie - get a life.