Council by-elections
Three by-elections last night including further evidence of a Labour surge in the south, with the gain from 4th place in 2009 of a seat on Gloucestershire County Council (part of the marginal Stroud parliamentary constituency):
Carnoustie and District Ward, Angus CC. Ind gain from SNP. First preference votes: SNP 1289 (41.5%, -5.2), Ind 1252 (40.3%, +40.3) Lab 258 (8.3%, -13.6), Con 217 (7%, -9.3), LD 93 (3%, -11.1). Swing of 22.9% from SNP to Ind since 2007.
Rodborough Division, Gloucestershire CC. Lab gain from Con. Lab 793 (31.7%, +19.4) Con 790 (31.6%, -3.7%), LD 660 (26.4%, -5), Green 260 (10.4%, -10.7). Swing of 11.6% from Con to Lab since 2009.
Amberley & Woodchester Ward, Stroud DC. Con hold. Con 366 (54.9%, +0.5), Lab 177 (26.5%, +10.8), LD 124 (18.6%, +6.8). Swing of 5.2% from Con to Lab since 2008.
posted by Luke Akehurst at 8:43 am
7 Comments:
Well done Brian Oosthuysen in Rodborough.
It's interesting to note the collapse in the Green vote. A lot of the anti-Labour protest vote has been going their way over the last few years.
Stroud is a bit of a Green stronghold. Many prosperous former "weekend hippies" now live there. Local editions of the Guardian are rumoured to be printed on hand woven organic Lama wool.
It's probably easier for some of its thoughtful inhabitants to vote Labour with clear consciences when we're in opposition and away from the grubby compromises that power inevitably brings.
I shall enjoy my next trip to Rodborough Common. Although it had David Drew as its MP until last May, it's the sort of area that doesn't look Labour, similar to the anomaly of dinky-doo Corfe Castle having Jim Knight as its MP before he became Baron Knight of Weymouth. David Drew, by contrast, is now chair of Forest Green Rovers...
11:28 am, February 04, 2011
It was no surprise that Labour lost the Stroud constituency at the last election. However, they did do remarkably well under the circumstances and remain very competitive.
David Drew was always one of the better Labour MPs. He voted against Trident replacement and the Iraq war. But, regrettably, for identity cards and the database.
1:12 pm, February 04, 2011
The Independent in Carnoustie had 1,252 first preference votes, not 1,522 - in other words he was behind on first preferences and won on transfers. Perhaps relevant to the great debate on AV.
3:04 pm, February 04, 2011
Thanks David I've corrected that.
7:37 pm, February 04, 2011
From yesterdays Manchester Evening News:
Control of Stockport council hangs on a knife edge after three councillors defected from the ruling Liberal Democrats. They decided to quit over their opposition to the Conservative-Lib Dem government's cuts. Another three defections would see the Lib Dems lose control of the council – and the Labour opposition says that looks increasingly likely. Lib Dem transport chief David White left first, followed by councillors Roy Driver and Ann Graham. All three have applied to join the Labour party but will sit as Independents. Councillor Driver said their move could be a sign of things to come. “I won’t mention any names but some may decide to follow our move,” he said. “I think there are quite a lot of people within the group who don’t feel that they want to be in a mark-two version of the Tory party. “That’s not what I signed up for.
We are extremely disappointed with the coalition government and the way they are implementing the Tory-led cuts in public expenditure. “It is working out worse than we expected in terms of the budget cuts. “We have been thinking about this for a while – it’s not an on-the-spot decision.”
9:00 pm, February 05, 2011
Brian Oosthuysen
fantastic result
uber great
11:13 pm, February 05, 2011
Savers are having their interest income stolen to pay for bank debts and the banks are giving it away to landlords and developers who are pricing people out of the market. Fraud on a grand scale? Banks write off debt for landlords January 14 2011 18:26 Several of the UK and Irish banks that received government bail-outs are offering to write off up to 25 per cent of a mortgage debt for professional landlords and developers – just to encourage them to move to new lenders. Anglo Irish Bank – the institution at the centre of Ireland’s property meltdown and the recipient of €30bn of government money – is one of a number of lenders willing to let certain property owners off a proportion of their debt if they refinance elsewhere. “We have seen a number of clients coming to us having negotiated discounts with lenders and these discounts have been as high as 25 per cent,” said Simon Gammon of Knight Frank Finance. Most discounts are offered to borrowers deemed distressed or a potential bad debt. According to brokers, the number of “discount” deals being offered is increasing, with many banks phoning clients over the past two weeks to start negotiations. Banks are offering either to waive exit penalties and contribute to the cost of remortgaging elsewhere, or to write off between 10 and 20 per cent of a loan. These deals are attractive to Irish banks as, even with a discount of 20 per cent, the bank will receive considerably more then the 50p per pound it would get from the National Asset Management Agency, the Irish government’s bad loan bank. “We have several specific banks that are in deep, deep trouble and are having to offer more generous incentives,” said David Whittaker of Mortgages for Business
12:40 pm, February 06, 2011
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