Where were you on polling day?

DID you desert Labour in its hour of need in the St George West byelection yesterday (9th)?

If so, I'd like to know why. No doubt Labour would, too.

Was it Gordon's disastrous abolition of the 10p tax band? Or were you unhappy about the candidate, Kevin Herniman, being a little less local than his rivals?

Or perhaps you voted Liberal Democrat this time because you want to be 100 per cent sure no one ever tries to build an incinerator for our waste at Avonmouth – or anyone else in the city? Let me know.

Fewer than one in four voters even bothered to turn out on the day.

It doesn't seem as though ex-Father 4 Justice Angelo Agathangelou, who stood as an Independent, set things alight after all – despite his falling out publicly with his former party, the Conservatives.

Interestingly, Angelo came second as the Tory candidate in May last year – well under 50 votes short of the winner, the late John Deasy, who held the seat for Labour.

This time around, Angelo and the Tory decision not to select him as their candidate undoubtedly split their vote.

But even together they amassed just 766 votes yesterday – 50 votes behind Labour and 157 behind the Lib Dems' new councillor, Tony Potter.

So what happened to the Cameron bounce? Why aren't the Tories doing better in Bristol?

In the May elections last year they held on to their 13 seats on Bristol City Council – and didn't make a single gain.

They continue to play the role of kingmakers, though, actual and potential, as they hold the balance of power between the two major parties.

Labour was cock-a-hoop when it took two seats off the Lib Dems in 2007, closing the 10-seat gap between the two parties to one of six seats.

A few weeks after the elections, the Tories helped put Labour in power despite it being the second largest party, with 25 seats to the Lib Dems' 31.

Well, things haven't been easy. Labour has taken a great deal of flak all round over a variety of tough decisions. It's been difficult sometimes to see why they struggle on.

Not so difficult to see why they've had to, though!

The Lib Dems have been none too keen to take up the reins of power themselves.

Their 32 seats now play Labour's 24.

They could, in theory, put down a motion of no confidence in the council's Labour leadership next Tuesday at the full council meeting.

My guess is they won't. They know that running the council won't get any easier for Labour over the next eight months.

And they want to make sure they don't spoil their chances of winning an overall majority – at least 36 seats – at the local elections in May or June next year.

So my question to the new Lib Dem voter in St George is this: If you're so worried about the incinerator – or whatever the issue is for you – don't you want the Lib Dems to take power now and sort things out?

Of course, they'd have to court the Tories. But waiting till next spring could be too late for some decisions.