Leader’s ‘victory’ claim as Labour lose their grip
Mixed feelings for Tories after poll leaves council hung
ROSSENDALE council leader Alyson Barnes has declared last week’s local election result ‘a victory’ for Labour - despite losing overall control of the authority.
Her party won eight of the 13 wards on offer on the day - double the number of the Conservatives - but with them at a dominant ebb when these wards were last contested in 2016 - the outcome saw the lead group’s narrow majority wiped out.
After the dust settled, Labour was down one seat overall from its pre-election mark, having gained the Stacksteads seat left vacant by the death of Independent Terry Haslam-Jones in March, and lost Goodshaw and Facit & Shawforth seats to the Conservatives and Independent Janet Whitehead, respectively.
The Tories also took Whitewell in a seat uncontested by Independent Pam Bromley, who had won a 44-vote majority as a Labour candidate in 2016, to gain a net two seats from their pre-election mark - only to hand back these gains later in the week with two councillors leaving the group.
The turnout for the election was 36.9 per cent.
Over the coming days the council will be working through the implications of no one party being in overall political control.
Coun Barnes said: “I feel like we’ve won the day.
“When you think about what we were faced with in this election and it’s been an election like no other - very much a pandemic election.
“I think [the Conservatives] set it up in a way that benefits them with a lot of money spent on paper going through doors.
“Our strength and preferred method of campaigning is talking to people.
“We knock on doors and talk to people and we were not able to do that for a long time.
“I think that put us at an immediate disadvantage.”
Despite Tory gains, overall Labour’s vote proved to be more robust in Rossendale than elsewhere in Lancashire and nationally, with the party enjoying success in the county council elections.
Referencing Labour’s lost ground nationally, Coun Barnes said: “I think there are some issues with the national party and we have a real hill to climb there.
“I have no doubt we will do it, but we need to build that trust back.
“There were a few local issues like the emerging Local Plan and the added effect of a handful Green candidates.
“Their vote only comes from one place.
“So I think there were a lot of challenges in there and to come out of this with a net loss of one I think we have done as well as we could probably expect.
“I would put that down to our high calibre candidates and councillors.
“I think the net result is they’ve got the backing of the electorate in really large numbers.
“We had everything to lose today.”
The balance on the hung council now lies with Independent and Community First councillors - three from Whitworth and two from Bacup.
Speaking before it was confirmed Bacup councillors Jimmy and Janet Eaton would join the Independents, Coun Barnes added: “I will always talk to people and I like to think that I can work with the Whitworth members.
“I feel I’ve got a good relationship with the existing Whitworth members of the council.”
Asked about possibly of having to concede cabinet positions or committee positions in the event of her leading a minority council, she added: “It all falls out of the political balance.
“We’ll have to look at that, but I would expect people to look at the issues as they come up.”
Former Conservative group leader Coun Peter Steen, speaking before stepping down as leader, said the results showed the party was “getting back”, with Rossendale council now hung with Labour the largest party, but he admitted to mixed emotions.
He said: “It was a disappointing result.
“We held the only two [seats] we were defending, which is good news, and made gains.
“But we had hoped to do better. It was particularly personally disappointing that my wife Hazel failed to win Stacksteads.
“It’s now a hung council so we need to talk with others to see how it’s going to pan out.
“It all depends on the Independents.
“All the contests were close.
“We can’t help feeling for the candidates that worked so damn hard but lost, but that’s politics.”
Coun Steen said it had been a different campaign this year, adding: “The lack of talking to people on the doorstep was very frustrating. You can put a leaflet through the door, but even going into a town centre people are reluctant to stand and talk, and that doesn’t help at all.
“You cannot get the message across the same.
“It’s been mostly fought on local issues; nothing national has been mentioned at all.
“Nobody is interested in the sleaze and God knows what.”