The Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition took a real
drubbing in Thursday’s local elections. Together they rightly lost over 700
seats, as well as control of a number of Councils.
In
Scotland,
the SNP achieved another fantastic election. It out-polled the Labour Party and
won a total of 424 seats, electing 61 more councillors than when the seats were
last contested. The SNP also won control of Angus and Dundee Councils, and has
already formed an administration in
Midlothian, in
partnership with an Independent and a Green Councillor.
But it was very disappointing how the
London
media downplayed the SNP successes, preferring to publicise how well the Labour
did in
Scotland
– even though it elected fewer councillors, made fewer gains and won fewer
votes overall.
In
Glasgow, for
example, Labour won 44 seats out of 79, while the SNP won 27 – an increase of
seven. Labour was shown as having gained five seats, but in 2007, when the
seats were last contested, they actually won 45 seats! (The difference was that
a number of deselected councillors walked on Labour a few months back.)
Sadly, in
Wales,
Plaid Cymru did less well, electing 158 councillors – 39 less than in 2008.
Very good Plaid Cymru councillors have lost their seats,
with voters streaming back to Labour to express their anger at the policies of
the Coalition. I know many of the Plaid members and I would like to extend my
commiserations at this time.
Plaid is however the largest group on three Councils. In
Gwynedd, it elected 37 councillors, winning exactly half of the 74 seats
contested. There is one seat still vacant. In Ceredigion, it won 19 seats (out
of 42) and, in Carmarthenshire, it won 28 seats (out of 74).
They are still the second largest party in Welsh local
government and will have a vital role to play in standing up for
Wales.
But looking ahead to the 2013 local election, the
unpopularity of the Coalition bodes well for MK.
I am confident that MK is poised to do extremely well. We now
have ten months to prepare a strong team of candidates for Cornwall Council, as
well as local town and parish councils. If you want to be part of this
campaign, why not get in contact?
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