What went wrong for Labour as party suffers biggest defeat
THE Labour Party suffered one of their biggest defeats in recent years, losing eight seats in the North East Lincolnshire Council local elections.
The group lost control of the authority in 2019 and have now sustained one of the biggest losses in the party’s history. Former council leader Dave Watson lost to Conservative Georgia Astbury, 19 as Immingham is now represented by three Conservative councillors.
Croft Baker’s Kathryn Wheatley also lost to Conservative Graham Reynolds and in Sidney Sussex Gaynor Rogers lost to Brian Robinson for the Conservatives. The youngest candidate, 18-year-old King Edward VI Grammar School student Robson Augusta polled 740 votes in Scartho but it wasn’t enough to stem the overwhelming tide of Conservative votes. Opposition Group Leader, Matthew Patrick told Grimsby Live the
We will continue to hold the Conservative group to account for what they say they will deliver. They are going to have to deliver on their promises. We will continue with the fight
Opposition group leader Matthew Patrick
Conservatives have simply been lucky.
He said “Obviously it is a disappointing result. We have lost several good councillors and there are a number of would-be councillors who have not won.
“We will continue to hold the Conservative group to account for what they say they will deliver. “They have had a free pass, given the national picture. They were lucky. They are going to have to deliver on their promises. We will continue with the fight.” Liberal Democrats held on to East Marsh winning both the seats in the ward. There are now three Liberal Democrat councillors, with Labour on eight, down from 16 and Conservatives on 31. Councillor Kay Rudd said: “Now we can get on with the work for our residents.
“We will work with our partners. We have so many groups in the ward.
“Now is the time for everyone to work together for the benefit of the residents and get the improvements the residents deserve. We have a focus now to work together.”