At some point i read that the reason the south-west of England is a stronghold for the Liberal Democrat party is due to the soil: i think it was that the soil t

At some point i read that the reason the south-west of England is a stronghold for the Liberal Democrat party is due to the soil: i think it was that the soil there is suitable for dairy farming, and something about the economic structure of dairy farming led its well-off population to support the Liberals rather than the Tories, and that has persisted. But i can neither remember the explanation clearly, or find a source for it now. Sorry!