Losses ‘reflect national mood’
LABOUR SUFFERS LOCAL ELECTIONS DEFEAT AS TORIES MAKE BIG GAINS ACROSS ENGLAND
THE Conservative party has made significant gains in the UK local elections last Thursday (6), taking control of 63 councils compared to Labour’s 44.
The Tories added 13 councils and an extra 236 councillors to their overall tally, while the opposition Labour lost control of eight councils and 327 councillors.
The local elections decide who runs services in local communities – such as schools and libraries – in 143 councils.
Despite Labour’s losses, the party announced on Monday (10) that Oldham’s new council leader will be the first Muslim woman in the north of England to take on the top job at a local authority.
Councillor Arooj Shah was elected as leader of the Greater Manchester borough’s majority Labour group after previous incumbent Sean Fielding was defeated by an independent candidate at last week’s local elections.
Labour lost four of their councillors to opposing candidates in a disappointing result for the party, but remains in control of the council, holding 40 out of 60 seats. It means that Shah will be confirmed as the new council leader at the annual general meeting of the council next Wednesday (19).
As leader she has pledged to clean up Oldham’s streets and take the battle to fly-tippers, as well as support the borough’s recovery from the pandemic and economic bounce-back.
Shah said: “I am truly honoured to have been chosen to lead Oldham council at a time of such importance for our borough.
“My priorities are simple – Oldham should be a place that we’re proud to call home, where we support one another, and where everyone can get on and live a good life.
In Bradford, Labour performed better than it did nationally. While there were some big losses for the party, it retained its majority, emerging from the 2021 election with just one fewer councillor, 51, than it had immediately after the 2019 election.
One loss for the party was in Keighley West, where executive member Adrian Farley lost his seat by just six votes to Tory candidate Ann Glentworth. Labour councillor Rosie Watson lost her Wyke seat to the Conservative’s Joan Clarke.
Labour did take the Bingley seat, with Marcus Peter Dearden unseating Conservative councillor John Pennington, who had been the leader of the party until October.
After the results were announced, Bradford council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “Looking at the national picture, I’m pleased that Labour has done better in Bradford district than in other parts of the country.
“I want to thank the people of the district for putting their faith in us to lead again through challenging times.”
At Darwen Town Council, the political balance remained unchanged after last week’s elections. It now has five Labour members, four Liberal Democrats and four Conservatives. Two long-serving members stood down before last week’s poll which was fought on new ward boundaries – Labour’s Pete Hollings and Liberal Democrat Vicky Rothwell.
Labour councillor David Smith said: “As expected the political balance of the town council was unchanged by the election. People tend to vote slightly more for individuals than parties in these polls.”
In Slough, Labour retained most of the borough’s wards, and gained in Upton, with 11 councillors out of 14 voted in. The Conservatives had two councillors voted in and councillor Madhuri Bedi retained her seat, but this time as an independent.
Reacting to the local Labour’s win, Slough’s MP Tan Dhesi said: “I am extremely grateful for the good people of Slough for continuing to bestow their trust. I can assure you that those 11 councillors will be working very hard on your behalf to make sure that they make our community a better, safer place so that you can all be proud of them and you can be proud of Slough.
“Within the very difficult national context, I think it is a great result for the Slough Labour party and we will continue to work hard on your behalf.”
The leader of the council, James Swindlehurst, said it was great to see people support Labour at the ballot box after an ‘intensive’ eight weeks of campaigning.
He said: “It is good to see people wanting to show their support for the work the council has done and endorse us [Labour] going forward to try and deliver good services to Slough residents.”
In Leicestershire, the leader of Leicestershire Labour group was the party’s first casualty in the county council elections after the Tories gained Coalville North.
Councillor Dr Terri Eynon said the defeat was a reflection of the national mood. “I’m not really surprised. I have to say I thought this would happen,” Eynon said.
“I don’t think I should take it personally. I think this says something about the national mood, results elsewhere seem to suggest so too.
“We have a representative democracy and people have voted for someone they think best reflects them and their life.”
The fallout from last week’s election continued in Bolton, as the party groups held talks to form an administration. No party has overall control in the borough, but it seems likely that a Conservative minority-led council will be formed with the continuation of working agreement between the Tories and smaller party groups which has been in place since 2019. That arrangement is primarily with Farnworth and Kearsley First and Horwich and Blackrod First independents, who each won another seat in the chamber last week.
The Tory position is now strengthened, and it is now the biggest party on the council with 20 of the 60 councillors.
Labour closely matches it in terms of numbers with 19 councillors. However, its leader, councillor Nick Peel said it was “highly unlikely” he would seek to form an alliance with other parties at this time, acknowledging that the Conservatives “had won the popular vote” within the whole of Bolton after the polls had closed.
Council leader David Greenhalgh said after the count that he was “taking nothing for granted” in terms of continuing his party’s lead role and would be having “constructive talks with other party groups” during the early part of this week.