Bitter Labour rues the loss of Amber Valley after campaign of ‘lies and falsehoods’
TORIES TAKE NINE OF 15 SEATS THAT WERE UP FOR GRABS
LABOUR’S woes in Derbyshire and nationally have been compounded with the loss of Amber Valley Borough Council.
The Tories took nine seats from Labour out of 15 up for grabs, including the seat of Amber Valley council leader Chris Emmas-Williams, who said it had been a “disastrous” day for his party. Emmas-Williams has been a councillor in Amber Valley for over 35 years.
The nine gains for the Conservatives were in Belper Central, Alfreton, Heanor East, Heanor West, Heanor & Loscoe, Codnor & Waingroves, Ripley, Ripley & Marehay, and Shipley Park, Horsley and Horsley Woodhouse.
The Conservatives held on to three seats, in Ironville & Riddings, Shipley Park, Horsley & Horsley Woodhouse, and Kilburn, Denby & Holbrook. They also gained a vacant seat in Heage and Ambergate, which had been Conservative-held.
Labour managed to hold on to only two of the 11 seats it was defending this time, and did not manage any gains. The only cheer for Labour came in the news that one of those held was the seat of Belper North, that of Ben Bellamy, deputy leader of the Labour group, a tip to take over the group.
There was a healthy turnout across the wards. Belper North, which Labour held, recorded the highest turnout of 50%. The lowest turnout was in Somercotes, also a Labour hold, with just 27%.
With nine extra councillors in Amber Valley, the Conservatives were visibly elated by the results, which reflected huge gains for them elsewhere in Derbyshire.
Kevin Buttery, leader of the Conservative group and the man who will almost certainly take over leadership of Amber Valley council, said: “Amber Valley Conservatives have had a fantastic result today.
“We were ‘cautiously positive’ about this before. The polls showed us doing well but they have been wrong in the past.
“We ran a positive campaign, we’ve got some good councillors, and a good manifesto that the people of Amber Valley could relate to.
“The number one priority for us is to sort out the council finances, sort out the bin contract, and get the council working again.
“The mood in Amber Valley is positive coming out of the pandemic and I want to bring that positivity into Amber Valley council.”
Mr Emmas-Williams said: “It’s been a disastrous day for us. At the end of the day we delivered on our promises to people.
“I thought this election was based on local issues but that’s not been the case. Quite frankly I don’t think I’ve ever been in an election with so much acrimony and so many lies in campaign literature.
“The voters have let us down. I hope they don’t live to regret it.”
Labour will be forced to regroup this week and decide on a new leader and a new deputy leader on the council.
And while it won’t be officially confirmed until later in the week, Cllr Bellamy is likely to now take over the Labour group, which consists of 18 councillors, down from 27.
He said: “Clearly we have had some devastating results in Amber Valley. Losing Chris EmmasWilliams after 35 years’ service is
especially galling, and the personal attacks that he was targeted with are beyond the pale.
“I have no doubt that he will soon be back. The Conservatives have taken control of Amber Valley with a campaign based on lies and falsehoods.
“However, I’m a strong believer that the truth will always come out in the end, and we will be holding them to account.
“Amber Valley Labour will bounce
back, and I predict very different results over the next two elections.”
The scalp of Chris EmmasWilliams joins the defeats of other big-hitters in the county including Paul Smith, leader of the Labour group on Derbyshire County Council.
Labour was left without a leader or a deputy leader on Derbyshire County Council, and is now being forced to select a leader for Amber Valley.