Congrats To Harlow

May

1

4 comments

Harlow Lib Dems gained a district council seat in a by-election last night:

Harlow DC, Staple Tye

LD John Strachan 604 votes (39.1 %; +6.0%)
Con 544 (35.3; -15.3)
Lab 329 (21.3; +5.1)
UKIP 66 (4.3; +4.3)
Majority 60
Turnout 30%
LD gain from Con

Percentage change is since May 2008

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  • Note that the Conservative Party lost votes to UKIP, Labour and the Lib Dems.

    Were there any particular local issues there that caused the Conservative vote to slide?

    I would be interested to hear more about this if you are in touch with the Harlow Lib Dems.

  • I think the Harlow Star explains one ‘issue’:

    A HARLOW councillor charged with sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl has been remanded in custody for a further five weeks after his case was delayed.

    News – david kirtonDavid Kirton, (56), formerly of Longbanks, Harlow, appeared for a plea and case management hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday (Monday, December 15) but the defence successfully applied to put off the case until a later date.

    Martyn Levett, defending, requested an adjournment for further information to be obtained. Judge Christopher Ball QC granted the application and remanded Kirton in custody until January 19.

    Mr Kirton, is charged with three sexual offences allegedly committed against the teenager since February 1 this year.

    He served on the council as a Conservative since winning his seat in the Staple Tye ward at the local elections in May. However, he was suspended following the allegations and is now no longer a member of the party.

    From the ALDC website:

    Harlow’s by-election came under unusual circumstances when a former Conservative councillor was thrown off the council due to non-attendance as a result of a six month stint on remand. The by-election campaign was centred on Lib Dem opposition to cuts by the local Conservative council and resulted in a collapse in the Conservative vote of 15%. Combined with a Lib Dem increase of 6% this saw John Strachan elected by 60 votes to become Harlow’s ninth Lib Dem councillor.

    You might think in the circumstances this would be an easy gain, with the Tories embarassed to fight and Labour giving up but one Harlow chap has told us:

    “The ward was completely swamped with Conservatives and Labour people
    today while we did our best with limited numbers …… both of
    the other two parties clearly didn’t want us to win.”

  • I thought that there must be other factors at work because of the following national opinion polls.

    “ComRes’s monthly poll for the Independent is out, and shows topline figures of CON 45%(+5), LAB 26%(-2), LDEM 17%(-1). Changes are from the last ComRes poll, carried out at the end of March.”

    Populus polling says “55% of people now expect the Conservatives to gain a majority at the next election, including 12% who expect a Tory majority of over 100. An additional 12% expect the Conservatives to be the largest party in a hung Parliament. 7% expect Labour to be the largest party in a hung Parliament, and 18% expect Labour to retain an overall majority.”

    But at the local elections there are often many local factors at work, not the least of which is the value of local candidates who have established a special trust with local voters almost regardless of political ticket and the performance of a local political majority administration.

    The only problem is getting the voters to have regard for local issues at watersheds like this rather than a directional vote based on national politics.

  • As a Harlow Council employee I shall not say much on this matter, suffice to say the council works very hard for the people of Harlow, a council that RDC could learn a lot from!!

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