UPDATED: Labour victory in Wirral Council by-election (From Wirral Globe)
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UPDATED: Labour victory in Wirral Council by-election
9:18am Friday 1st March 2013 in News
Labour victory in Wirral Council by-election
Labour came out on top as they secured a victory at last night’s Wirral by-election.
Phillip Brightmore picked up 1,411 votes in the Pensby and Thingwall ballot, which was held following the resignation of Tory councillor Don McCubbin.
Former cabinet member for children’s services Sheila Clarke came in second place for the Conservatives with 868 votes while Lib Dem Damien Cummins polled 834.
Jan Davison for UKIP gained 426 votes; Allen Burton for The Green Party received 74 and Neil Kenny for the English Democrats 53.
Council leader Cllr Phil Davies said the result sent a “strong message” to the coalition Government.
He said: “It was an absolutely fantastic night for Labour. To gain a seat from the Tories in Pensby and Thingwall was a really excellent achievement and I think it is a reflection of the anger that we picked up on the doorstep towards the Government's cuts to the council budget and working tax credits.
“I think people voted last night to send a strong message that the Government need to change direction. Phillip Brightmore will be a brilliant councillor and I’m really pleased for him because he worked very hard.”
The by-election was the borough’s third this year following polls in Leasowe and Heswall in January.
Leasowe was a victory for Conservative Ian Lewis and Heswall was held for the Tories by Kathy Hodson.
Last night's results mean Labour now have 37 seats in the town hall; Conservatives have 22 and Liberal Democrats have seven.
Liberal Democrats won the Eastleigh Parliamentary by-election last night, with the Conservatives pushed into third place by a late surge from the UK Independence Party.
Local councillor Michael Thornton held on to the seat vacated by disgraced ex-Cabinet minister Chris Huhne - polling 13,342 votes.
Ukip's candidate Diane James was second on 11,571 - more than 1,000 ahead of Tory Maria Hutchings (10,559) in a blow to Prime Minister David Cameron.
Comments(11)
Wirralrob
says...
10:19am Fri 1 Mar 13
bigfoot
says...
10:41am Fri 1 Mar 13
LocaLGovwatcher
says...
11:00am Fri 1 Mar 13
reliant22
says...
11:37am Fri 1 Mar 13
Nationally, Labour are being shown the door.
So much more Town Hall secrecy to look forward to now. Roll on the next General election and good luck to Martin Morton.
David Scott
says...
7:56pm Fri 1 Mar 13
bickyboy
says...
8:35pm Fri 1 Mar 13
"Strong message to the government" my foot. Phil, they ain't listening, and the election of one Labour councillor because of the splitting of the anti EU, anti immigration vote isn't likely to register on the Bullingdon Boys' radar.
Hugo1008
says...
9:24pm Fri 1 Mar 13
The colour of the candidates rosette means nothing if they just abide by the political dogma of the Party Whips.
What we want and need is elected peoples representaives, namely a Councilor who works and strives purley in the interests of the local population, nothing to do with discredited party politics they should be speaking for the majority of the electorate in their ward, and not just for a handful of Party Political Members.
It is the ratepaying electorate or members of the public, who lavishly support each and every one of the 66 Councilors in the Council, and not the very small number of Political Party Members and Activists in the Ward concerned.
There should be no corrupt slease or deceitful Party Politics in Local Government, we have enough of that in National Party Poltics.
Lets wipe out petty Party Politics from Local Govrnment, and make some changes.
ginger26
says...
9:27am Sat 2 Mar 13
antisthenes
says...
10:35am Sun 3 Mar 13
This utterance is Proof that Davies is deluded... if he thinks that central government is any way interested in the result of a ward by election on Wirral...he is plainly barking!
This demonstrates a kind of self-inflation....Da
vies speaks to the nation!....of a local politician who has one eye on Westminster and is rehearsing his media rhetoric for when Frank Field steps down.
The interest that Westminster should take in Wirral is to send in the inspection teams to expose and hold Davies and his crew accountable for the chronic failings of the disastrous regime that Davies has bolstered and earned thousands and thousands of pounds from for well over a decade!
Davies should focus his goldfish-like concentration on what really matters that is the fact that more than 2000 of those who voted rejected Labour.
I hope that Brightmore will not be seduced by Labour Group cronyism and that he will ally himself with the growing ranks of dissenters who want Davies and his old guard mafia to go and go soon.
Positive thinker
says...
7:44pm Wed 6 Mar 13
PaulCa says...
10:13am Fri 1 Mar 13