The media – and a rather desperate-looking set of Tories behind Theresa May – made much this week of the Conservatives clinging on by the narrowest of margins, around 160 votes across three wards, in Wandsworth, a borough that the Tories have held for forty years.
As the SKWAWKBOX observed on Friday, the faces on the assembled Tories looked anything but celebratory. Shell-shocked, yes. Relieved, certainly. Afraid, definitely.
But the fact that they tried to present a night on which they held on by their fingernails while losing eight seats as cause for celebration spoke volumes for how scared the Tories are of Corbyn’s Labour – no matter how they try to spin the local elections as a Labour failure.
But now the votes are fully counted, it has emerged that Labour won the ‘popular vote’ in the borough. The final numbers were:
Labour total vote: 123, 208
Tory total vote: 121, 295
Theresa May’s first appearance on Friday was on the steps of Wandsworth town hall where she celebrated clinging on by her fingernails as a “success”.
Small wonder those assembled Tory faces looked so shell-shocked. Here they are again, to enjoy:
It’s anything but ‘job done’ yet for Labour. But the onward, upward march continues – however furiously the Tories and their media allies are spinning otherwise.
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Hey Skwawkbox,
Sometime next week Jess Phillips is guesting on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff. The website gives no details of which day.
Therefore we need Skwawkbox-ers who are free in the mornings (9.15-11.15) to be ready to phone in and give her an off-topic hard time. A hastily created on-topic question (topics announced at the top of the show) will be needed to get past the phone jockey and onto the air.
It may be worth Skwawkbox’s time to make a special post promoting this idea (if you’re in agreement) before Monday morning…
Oh God! It’s Monday and the main topic on The Wright Stuff in about 10 mins is “Is the Labour party under Corbyn going nowhere?”. On the panel is… Wes Streeting?!?!
To be fair on Matthew Wright, he’s decided to absent himself today. Make of that what you will…
What a shitty, undemocratic system operates in council elections.
At first I could not understand how Labour could have obtained a higher share of the aggregate vote over the whole borough but still not formed the council. However, it seems that each ward is treated as a discrete entity and that councillors are elected on this basis. This means that in all probability, assuming that a higher average income level in a ward is more likely to attract a higher Tory vote and where incomes tend to be lower, there are more votes for Labour, the verdict of the richer citizens will be decisive in selecting the composition of the council.
The voting system should change. Councillors should be allocated on the basis of the proportion of votes the party they represent receives. This will produce a far, far more representative assembly,
I used to live in Wandsworth, and was always appalled at the number of working class Tory voters. It was significant that Wandsworth was at the forefront of council hose sales, indeed the first ever sold was, I think,in that borough. It was one of the most effective policies in trapping the turkeys voting for Christmas. It still is. In wales the assembly has stopped all sales, and I know many who are actually in poverty, and heading for worse as UC is rolled out, still voting Tory in the vain hope they at sometime will he able to buy the social housing they have.
Did you see the seats? You should update the article with seat numbers, gains/loses. Labour did very good. They gained 7 seats, Tories lost 8. This was Tory stronghold for 40 years? Margaret Thatcher ‘s fav council? Labour are very much gaining ground. Very close. Says a lot.
Britain Elects:
Wandsworth local election result:
Lab: 38.7% (+6.4)
Con: 38.3% (-1.5)
LDem: 8.5% (+0.8)
Grn: 7.9% (-4.7)
Seats:
Con: 33 (-8)
Lab: 26 (+7)
Ind: 1 (+1)
If the situation was reversed and this had been a Labour stronghold we would have seen wall to wall lurid headlines about how Labour had been rejected by the voters.
BBC ‘News’ coverage has degenerated into nothing more than blatant propaganda.
Yes and Labour won all 4 London Borough Mayors plus the Lib Dems just beat Labour in Watford by 2k, we also won the Mayor for South Yorkshire.
If the London seats had been translated into a General Election result the Tories would have lost 12 seats and their majority.
The rank and file and Progresive Labour MPs just need to continue grafting for the Transformative Labour Govt. we all dream of which we also hope will be an example to the World.
Have a good bank holiday break!
The devastating consequences of Tory council’s knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing are gradually being revealed.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/08/grenfell-tower-more-costly-fire-resistant-cladding-plan-was-dropped
“A costed proposal to fit Grenfell Tower with panels that did not burn was dropped amid pressure from the Conservative council to slash the cost of the refurbishment.”