For many Egyptians, November 4th is better known as ‘Love Day’, a localised version of Valentine’s Day initially conceived, pun intended, in the 1970’s. If anyone needs a bit of love after last Thursday, it is our Liberal Democrat campaign teams across the country who’ve had a bit of a torrid time.
Of the seven principal authority by-elections that took place on the 4th, a total of four changed hands. Our worst result on the day was the loss of the Lyth Valley ward on South Lakeland District Council to the Tories by a wafer-thin 23 votes. A Conservative hold in Ponteland East on Northumberland County Council was cold comfort as they lost two of their defences to Labour. Plaid picked up a seat in the Cenarth ward of Carmarthenshire County Council with a healthy 80% of the vote. Labour were the main beneficiaries of the contests, holding a brace with successful defences in the Ladywell ward of Lewisham and Hulme in Manchester – where a turnout of only 10.9% makes it difficult to read much of a meaning into the result. Labour also picked up Coleridge ward on Cambridge City Council and Moredon in Swindon from the Tories. This leaves the net results for the main parties as; Labour up two, Tories down one, and Lib Dems down one.
It’s high tide for cheap headlines and easy answers in the press, and a post-CSR bounce for Labour isn’t exactly a surprise. Doing as we always do, keeping our focus on our communities, working our wards, listening to the people and letting them know what we’ve done for them in their area, is still the key to success. It is worth remembering that when the smoke clears and the hot air cools down, we will still be there out delivering on our promises, and Labour will still be stood empty handed on the sidelines. ALDC are here to make sure our members stay ahead of the game, with weekly updates on election news, best practice, and artwork templates. There is also the G8 programme of financial assistance for council groups for the upcoming local elections, annual Kickstart two-day residential training event, and regional ‘Flying Start’ day-long training sessions scheduled across the country. You can find details of all these and more at www.aldc.org. The best of luck to all of our councillors, candidates, and campaigners in the field.
Craig Whittall
craig.whittall@aldc.org