Archive for May 3rd, 2008

Walkden South Election Result

Published on May 3, 2008 in Walkden. 0 Comments

A few comments on the Walkden South election result. I’m delighted that Nicky has joined Les and I on the Council, and that a ward which had never elected a Conservative before 2004 now has a full complement of 3 hard-working Conservative Councillors.

A huge thank-you to all local residents in Walkden South who turned out to support Nicky - and a big pat on the back to all residents who turned out to vote. At 40.3% only one ward (Worsley) had a higher turnout in the entire City of Salford.

CAVANAGH, Tommy (BNP) 336
OGDEN, Pauline (Liberal Democrat) 458
RYAN, Brendan Patrick (Labour) 815
TURNER, Nicky (Conservative) 1649

Turnout 40.3%
Conservative Majority 834

A two-horse race?

Published on May 3, 2008 in Salford. 1 Comment

Here’s a graph of the Citywide vote shares. It’s neck-and-neck between Labour and the Conservatives across the whole City of Salford.

Next year it’s the European Elections and there must be a real possibility that the Conservatives will outpoll Labour across the City. I doubt this has ever happened before - anyone care to let me know?

I know that your Conservative Councillors (now all 13 of them!) will continue to listen to the concerns of all local residents - from Kersal to Cadishead and from Langworthy to Little Hulton. Labour have no moral mandate to run this City any more and we will challenge their poor decision-making at every opportunity.

Liberal Democrats - Patronising Here!

Published on May 3, 2008 in National Comment and Salford. 1 Comment

Interesting to listen to Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg trying to spin the results yesterday - he talked about the Conservatives making no progress in (I paraphrase, I’ve been trying to find the video and haven’t yet succeeded) the “big important northern cities”.

Clearly the Liberal Democrat leadership do not feel that Salford, where we gained 3 seats and polled as many votes as Labour across the City, is an important northern City. Presumably the Liberal Democrats are happy to talk down to other northern Cities like Wakefield (7 Conservative gains) and Sunderland (5 Conservative gains).

The Salford Liberal Democrats had a decent night on Thursday, gaining 2 seats from Labour and holding on to the 2 wards they were defending, so it must be a real kick in the teeth to hear how dismissive their Party Leader is about the City in which we all live.

Happy News From Elsewhere

Published on May 3, 2008 in National Comment. 0 Comments

I’m delighted by the results from across the country, but I’d particularly pleased that three friends and colleagues have been elected.

In Chester, a friend of mine from University Tom Parry was elected to the City ward of the new Cheshire West authority. Tom missed out on election to Chester City Council by a handful of votes last year and I’m delighted that he has been successful this time.

Closer to home, some excellent news from Wigan. James Grundy has been elected to the Lowton East ward on an unbelievable swing, and Sean Ell has been elected as the new Conservative Councillor for nearby Astley Mosley Common. James and Sean are the first Conservative Councillors in east Wigan (Leigh and Tyldesley) for three decades and I am absolutely over the moon that their hard work has paid off. Fantastic.

Congratulations to all our successful Conservative candidates across the country.