A Good Night For Labour In Rochford

November

27

3 comments

Labour won the Rochford Ward by-election last night – by just 4 votes!

Matthew Softly Labour ? ? ? ? ? ??332
Michael Lucas-Gill? Cons. ? ? ? ? 328
Nicholas Cooper UKIP ? ? ? ? ? ?? 250
Dan Irlam? Lib Dem?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?114
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Labour Majority?????????????????????4

Labour GAIN from Conservative. The turnout was only 17.95%.

The share of the vote , compared with the last election last May, was as follows:

Labour 32.4%. Up by 3.2% on May
Conservative 32.0%. Down by 8.2%
UKIP 24.4%. Down by 6.2%
Lib Dem 11.1% Up by 11.1%

So congratulations to Mr Softly. This now means there are 2 Labour Councillors on RDC – they can now form their own group. Rochford has always bean the strongest ward for them in the district, represented in the past by such great figures as Maureen Vince and Charlie Stephenson. Also our commiserations to Mr Lucas-Gill, coming second by such a narrow margin in such very difficult circumstances.

As for us – we started this election campaign in Rochford with an eighteen year old inexperienced candidate, with no history of standing in the ward since about 2003 (we got 7% then). We finished it with a much more experienced, enthusiastic candidate who is getting very well known, attracting helpers and with a position just 218 votes behind the winner. There is much to look forward to at future elections around Rochford, as part of our campaigning to try to help in the local area.

To win in local elections you really need a big team of leafletters. If you can help Dan for future leaflet deliveries please let us know!

About the author, admin

  • Admin – as they can now be a ‘Group’ , does that mean entitlement on the Development Committee ( ie: 8-5 instead of the 9-4 we have at present )?.

    Also the 18% turnout once again reflects public apathy with local politics,
    which is a shame because that is another aspect in the decline of democracy.

  • Never thought I’d say this but pleased labour took the seat. 18% turnout says something to me either electorate really couldn’t care less about politics or they’ve all lost faith in our local ‘democratic’ system. Personally I’m beginning to feel a bit of the first and a lot of the latter.

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