Rochester by-election: Lib Dems blame tactical voting for party's worst ever result In the worst showing by a governing party in UK parliamentary history, the Lib Dem candidate, Geoff Juby, came fifth, behind the Green Party, with less than 0.9 per cent of the total vote. Mr Juby got only 349 votes, less than a quarter of the 1,692 cast for the Green candidate, Clive Gregory, though more than the 151 garnered by Hairy Knorm Davidson of the Monster Raving Loony Party. It was the Liberal Democrat Party's worst result in its 25-year history, outdoing a previous worst of 1.4 per cent in Clacton. It is the 11th time in this Parliament that the party has lost its deposit by scoring below 5 per cent. Tim Farron, the party's president, told BBC Radio 4"s World at One programme: "I spent quite a bit of time on the doorsteps of Rochester. I might flippantly say I probably met all of the Liberal Democrat voters. He added that he thought that the party's candidate had been the victim of tactical voting by electors who switched to the Tories in the hope that it would keep Ukip from winning the seat. Before 2010, one of the Liberal Democrats" greatest strengths was their ability to pull off sensational by-election victories by persuading Labour voters to switch to them to keep the Tories out. They were also seen as the party of protest, but since the last election that role has been taken over by Ukip.