Rawtenstall results should worry Labour leadership
RETURNING council leader Alyson Barnes pointed to the fact that support had held up in Rawtenstall for Labour – citing it as proof that you can’t believe everything you read on social media.
In fairness to the council leader, at least Coun Barnes gets stuck in on social media, answering questions and joining in debates.
But should a council so confident it is doing the right thing in Rawtenstall be happy just to see its votes hold up in the town which will benefit most?
Two of the three Rawtenstall wards voted this year, and Labour has certainly made ground in terms of number of votes recorded in the town compared to 2014, but so too have the Tories – in fact, compared to 2014, the Tories have added twice as many votes to their tally as Labour.
Millions of pounds of regeneration money is pouring into Rawtenstall, and during the election the Labour group condemned opponents of the Spinning Point development as ‘politically motivated.’
For me, that was arguably the low point of the election campaign.
The vast majority of people aren’t politically motivated.
Those who are civic minded should be applauded for their actions, even if you disagree with them.
The results in Rawtenstall should worry the Labour leadership of Rossendale council.
It suggests that, at the very least, the council has some work to do to convince voters that it is doing the best by the town.
Better still, reassuring those who seek to be active in the town, even if, as Coun Barnes says, the Civic Trust ‘objects to everything’.
Maybe they object to everything because they believe Rawtenstall deserves better than what is on offer?