Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
TOM JOHNSTON ‘Further erosion’ of Labour vote
Further erosion of the Labour vote was the main feature of the council by- election in the Thorniewood ward.
The election was prompted by Hugh Gaffney MP relinquishing his council seat.
The ward has had two Labour councillors and one SNP councillor for 20 years, so a by-election for a single seat should normally see Labour start with some 60 per cent of the vote to the SNP’s 30 per cent.
In actual fact,the first preference round of votes saw Labour on just 1362 and the SNP’s spirited local candidate, Eve Cunnington, come very close with 1202 (Tories 296, Lib Dems 168, Greens 46).
The Labour vote share had noticeably eroded from 50.25 per cent in May 2017 to 44 per cent; the SNP had edged up from 38.6 per cent to 39 per cent ( Tories 9.6 per cent, Lib Dems 5.5 per cent, Greens 1.5 per cent). The SNP, of course, had already achieved its main votes swing in Thorniewood at the local election in May 2017; the turnout was 29 per cent.
With 33 seats, the Labour group still relies on the eight Tory councillors to give them their majority on the 77-seat council; the SNP have 31.
Constituting Scotland’s second-most deprived area, North Lanarkshire Council has shown its support for Challenge Poverty Week.
The SNP government in Holyrood has done much to fight poverty at council level in North Lanarkshire; £16 million has been put into our most deprived schools through the Scottish Government’s pupil equity fund and the Scottish Attainment Challenge.
Deprived council areas like our own receive the lion’s share of such funding. Throughout North Lanarkshire, homes of single-brick construction in the most deprived areas have received the Scottish government’s cavity insulation/cladding programme ( HEEPS), saving families £400 a year each through much- reduced fuel costs.
Period poverty has been challenged through the SNP government’s funding of free sanitary support in schools and other public buildings. The SNP’s bedroom tax mitigation helps 70,000 households in Scotland (meaning about 5000 in North Lanarkshire).
Even the council’s Club365 holiday hunger programme relies on up to 50 per cent Scottish Government financing – through the key activities side of the club.
Payments of £10 a week for every child in poorer families will be part of the Scottish Child Payment Scheme, to be rolled out to the least well-off families by 2021. Funeral poverty is to be combatted by the SNP government.
The recent UK Labour conference in Brighton showed that free personal care for the elderly and free prescriptions remains just a dream for many older people in Tory-dominated England; it’s something we take for granted in Scotland – thanks to the establishment of a Toryfree National Parliament in Edinburgh.