Yes, I am back ! I bet a few didn't expect that? After a massive buck to the national trend I was returned for the revised ward of Newport East yesterday with a thumping majority, for which I am deeply honoured. Thankfully the contest was fought on my record and our priorities for the next 4 years and I am grateful to the other two candidates for that. My next campaign begins on Monday, as I am going to treat myself to two days rest. An IW Labour councillor can never rest on their laurels.
Very sadly I am now the only Labour councillor at County Hall as Deborah Gardiner fell victim to the national political scene in her marginal Lake North ward and all other Labour candidates paid the price of the Westminster farce. Still one Labour councillor on the Island is generally as effective as a dozen from any other party..........
Overall the IW Council election results were a half-hearted endorsement of the local Conservatives who offered little policy-wise and rode on the coat tails of their national leader. By my reckoning they effectively lost half a dozen wards they (notionally) held and now have a much reduced majority of 8 rather than the 22 they got in 2005. Much healthier. Also good to see them lose 2 'Cabinet' members and two policy commission chairmen, giving the leadership a bloody nose - including the leader's right-hand man.
The dear old Liberals were unable to take any advantage, losing two of their previous councillors, but gaining three (including two of the many re-treads they offered up to the electorate). With just 5 they remain a party who needs to learn how to do opposition.
The real gainers were the various independents who now number 10 - most notably Chris Welsford, the education campaigner. If they form a grouping they are now effectively the 'official' opposition and I look forward to their alternative budget strategy next February and their regular presence at Cabinet meetings.
I intend to keep blogging for the next 4 years, so I hope readers will continue to treat this is an alternative view of what happens at County Hall
8 comments:
Congratulations Geoff.
Congratulations Geoff, shame about Deborah.
As you admit, the national party probably responsible for Labour's loss of every single council in England. Quite astounding.
Let's hope your predictions re the indies proves right. I won't hold my breath. They look like a right rag bag of oddballs and ner likely to be's! Chris Welsford has lost the argument, he can only really be an irritant. Pugh will deal with it. By the way, I've never seen anyone so happy as Mr Pugh was at the count yesterday. Sad really.
That's DP's life; do not begrudge him his glee - after all, he's got to go back to work on Monday and face the same set of problems that were there on Friday, and with a set of new councillors with whom he will have to struggle to make some accommodation. Agree with anon at 6.42 about the quality of some of the indies, but give 'em a chance. Some people grow when given a chance to do so.
I regret the loss of Debbie, but also that of Erica Oulton, to be a bit even-handed. Erica listened, unlike most of her colleagues, & was fair-minded, as I believe both Geoff and Debbie would agree. Can't afford to lose people like that, unlike some of those who have gone, and one or two who are still with us. Hope the Tories open the door to the other parties and independents when apportioning jobs, or they won't represent what the electorate wanted.
Re: Anon 6:42PM
Not sure what Chris's agenda is, but I suspect a bad implementation plan for schools could do a lot more damage than the underlying issue of the numer of tiers. Hopefully he well scrutinise this.
I understand the influence of the national picture but I still fail to see how the island could possibly re-elect a majority Conservative Council when the last 4 years have been typified by financial ineptitude, wanton waste and indecision, undignified infighting and double standards and an uncanny ability to move nothing forward and everything backward (schools, roads, regeneration)
In effect, the island has gone "great, let's have some more of that" - or is it just me ?
That's politics! Only 8% of respondents to IWC surveys thought education was an issue. Pugh knew he was only up against a very vocal minority. His result proved it, as did the other Tory wins.
Shame Alan Wells lost, he's a good decent, honourable man with a brain and the best interests of the island at heart.
Bottom line, our school results are not good enough, change is badly needed and very overdue. We have to adopt the same system as the rest of the UK.
Change was badly needed in 2005 but the Tories reversed the decision of the previous Council to move to two tier hence my point that we have gone backwards ! It would have been done and dusted by now. Anyway, if education was not an issue and the island has looked at everything else the Tories have achieved I still don't see how anyone could possibly give them another go....
You do have to ask what choice people had, don't you? Even leaving aside the national picture, the realistic alternatives down here were a rag-bag of independents (I wish them no disrespect, but they're a varied bunch), a fairly small number of largely unknown Labour candidates plus a couple of more familiar figures, and LibDems who represent a very recent and entirely inglorious past. Oh, and an old lady in SE Wight who deludes herself that her BNP colleagues are not the very kind of Nazi who came so near to destroying her country in her own lifetime.
In fact, the Tories did pretty badly on the whole, so I think education probably did have an impact on the island. What we're seeing I believe is a consequence of the constantly growing gap between public and politicians of all parties (and especially Labour, currently). This is one of the secrets of Geoff's success: in his case, that gap just isn't there and he has worked assiduously to ensure it isn't. There's a lesson there for all politicians, if they choose to profit from it.
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