Vote 2008 News
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Tories are biggest group in Wirral
TORIES and Labour councillors were very much in agreement about one thing - voting patterns appear to have matched national unhappiness with Gordon Brown's Government.
Veteran Wallasey Conservative Kate Wood, who held her Wallasey seat, told the Globe: "There's little doubt about it - the public is clearly dissatisfied with the Labour Government and Gordon Brown in particular.
"The 10p tax rise has been constantly mentioned on the doorstep but it wasn't just that.
"There also seems to be some substantial measure of general distaste about the state of Mr Brown's premiership."
New Liscard Conservative councillor James Keeley - a 21-year-old student currently at Liverpool University, who beat Labour incumbent Dave Hawkins - said: "I am enormously proud to have been elected to represent the ward of Liscard.
"This is the first time in 23 years that the Conservative party has held all three seats in the Liscard ward.
"I do of course recognise that there has been a certain level of voting in our favour because of the problems the Government has brought upon itself, but I can honestly say that we did not campaign on that locally.
"We've been talking to the people of Liscard about how the Conservatives would change the way things are being run and clearly we've been listened to and understood.
"I have to say that my Liscard colleagues Leah Fraser and Karen Hayes have paved the way for people to believe in what we stand for. We fully deserve this win."
| "The public is clearly dissatisfied with the Labour Government and Gordon Brown in particular." | | Kate Wood |
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New Brighton's Labour councillor Pat Hackett, the cabinet member for regeneration, lost his seat to the Tories Sue Taylor after 14 years.
"I am of course terribly disappointed but I can't pretend I didn't see it coming," he said.
"Every door we knocked on, people were complaining about the 10p tax rise - and that's not something that we can do anything about on a local level.
"I'm disappointed because I've been working for years and years to bring investment into New Brighton, and it's ironic that now that the money is actually here - with the new Floral Pavilion taking shape and the rest of the resort redevelopment finally coming into place - that national issues should overshadow that."
The Conservatives' Ian Lewis took Leasowe from Labour's Don Prout, giving them a seat in the ward for the first time.
"We didn't fight for this seat on national issues and we didn't need to," said Mr Lewis. "The people of Leasowe and Moreton East are fed up with the way the local Lib-Lab pact has treated them and they've voted comprehensively to tell them just that.
"I have been welcomed warmly by residents over the last 18 months and I am delighted and proud to be able to represent them on Wirral Borough Council for the next four years."
Labour party leader Steve Foulkes said: "As my mum always used to tell me when I entered politics - you have to expect nights like this.
"This is not a great night, that's true. But we also have to appreciate that many people are voting against us because of national issues we don't control.
"I'm upset for people like Pat Hackett who has worked his socks off for years to attract investment into his ward in New Brighton, and just as his hard work comes to fruition he finds himself out of a seat because of issues with central Government.
"As a party, we now need to reflect on the decisions made against us and concentrate even more on local issues.
"Our story locally was very good in terms of the levels of council tax we've delivered and the investment we've helped bring to Wirral. We've performed well.
"But people are more concerned about national issues right now and we have to recognise that.
"So it's not been a good night, and naturally I'm disappointed. But we'll go away and we'll examine what's happened, and we will bounce back. I can promise you that."
Conservatives have been excluded from council committees during the past 12 months due to a Labour and Lib Dem partnership.
Lib Dem group leader Simon Holbrook said that position would be looked at: "I'm not ruling anything in and I'm not ruling anything out. The agreement with Labour was only ever set up to last a year.
"The onus is on the Tories to come to us with their ideas."
9:08am Friday 2nd May 2008
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