A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left. Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Council by-election results

Yesterday's council by-election results, all from rain-affected Somerset, all showing movement from LD to Con:

Shepton East Ward, Mendip DC: Con hold. Con 435, LibDem 307, Lab 127. 3.6% swing from LD to Con.

Street North Ward, Mendip DC: LD hold. LibDem 347, Con 297, Ind 81. 13.7% swing from LD to Con.

Shepton Mallet Division, Somerset County Council: Con hold. Con 950, LibDem 783, Lab 271. 3.5% swing from LD to Con. Labour vote down from 28% to 14% in a ward which we held in the past.

Chard Crimchard Ward, South Somerset DC: LD hold. LD 423, Con 320, BNP 154. Swing 2.1% LD to Con. Labour did not run having got 96 votes last year.

10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brown can't win an election, It's all over for Brown. People have made up their minds and it's now damage limitation. Looking at the financial situation of the party I wouldn't be shocked if Labour as a party will be split.

The Unions as I predicted are so far very reluctant to help Brown recover a 25 million debt. A debt run up by Blair whos funders will not sponsor Brown. So serious is the situation that big funders don't want to be associated with such an unpopular leader. It's about PR and Brown has very little.

If Labour get less than 100 seats do you really think the party will recover?

7:28 pm, May 30, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The unions as I predicted are so far very reluctant to help Brown recover a 25 million debt."

...and if the report in yesterday's Guardian is to be believed they are also consorting with the Conservatives....

8:04 pm, May 30, 2008

 
Blogger Merseymike said...

Yes, I think Labour will survive, just as the Tories have survived their tough times....

But there will be changes, because politics isn't static.

As fr talking to the opposition, the unions would be daft if they didn't do so. Just as business talked to Labour when they were in opposition

8:48 pm, May 30, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Time to join the Lib Dems then Luke? Slippy Sedgemore did it before retiring with his Golden pension

8:58 pm, May 30, 2008

 
Blogger Merseymike said...

The LibDems are FAR too left wing and liberal for Luke!

9:08 pm, May 30, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Darrell, the unions have simply given up on Labour. They are talking to the conservatives but via a lobby group. Most unions that represent private sector workers feel very alienated by NuLabour and thats the reason why they are changing tactics.

I think most unions though Labour might actually do something with respect to workers rights and pensions....but it's simply got worse. The min wage is not a living wage and lots of workers have seen their pensions destroyed by greedy employers.

I can honestly see the Labour party going bust.

9:33 pm, May 30, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think this sums the situation up very neatly.

11:09 pm, May 30, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Latest news the building industry is sacking 1000s of workers. Sales are flat and property is falling in price at £1,200 per week. So much for the no more boom and bust.

john Lewis is reporting sales falling by as much as 10% already and other shops facing a very uncertain future.

So the two things keeping the UK afloat are about to crash....property and shopping.

Disaster.

4:20 pm, May 31, 2008

 
Blogger Merseymike said...

But property wasn't keeping us afloat - that was part of the problem. inflated house prices are actually not good for spending long term because they reduce the amount of disposable income people have

There are plenty of empty houses around. And too many people living in the south-east.

And nothing is going to change this - the pound is far too strong and if this was any sort of labour government they would devalue it.

Still, the European Union you hate so much will be protectioniat within 10 years which is absolutely necessary for the good of Europe.

8:21 pm, May 31, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No you are right inflated house prices are not good. But the whole idea is to stop a boom and have a gradual rise that matches wage inflation. But a crash following a boom is just as damaging as it will bring down the whole economy and cost jobs and will make a lot of people homeless.

Personally my house is a home and not an investment. But I do need to know that this investment is safe and not subject to financial betting.

Brown had clear choices and he made all the wrong ones. firstly it was his decision not to regulate the financial markets as his belief that individuals and banks should take risks. Second the idea that house prices are not part of inflation was also his belief.

If we had restricted lending based on income and made sure that the cost of living (inflation) took into account the cost of a house then we wouldn't have much to worry about. Yes the banks would still be in the shit because of US subprime but our people would be secure knowing that their homes are relatively safe.

From what I know I'm afraid that there is more misery to come. Don't be shocked if you see some large housing associations go under because of this mess. From what I'm being told there are around 160,000 jobs at risk this year alone.

9:10 pm, May 31, 2008

 

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