By Daniel Tagg
Following on from my conversation with former leader of the Liverpool Lib Dems turned university lecturer Paula Keaveney on yesterday’s show, it’s time to take a look at how some of the hottest talking points from this year’s local elections panned out. From Tory-free Liverpool, to a Labour resurgence, here’s what we know now that all of the votes have been counted…
Liverpool City Region
Much of my discourse with Paula centred around the unique set of circumstances that surrounded these local elections within Liverpool. Following the now infamous corruption scandal involving many previous members of the council, all positions were up for re-election, with boundary changes and a reduction in the number of wards only added to the complications – but would this turbulent context lead to some shocking results? In short, no. As expected, Labour dominated the area once again, winning 61 of the 85 seats. The Lib Dems (15 seats) and the Green Party (3 seats) also enjoyed modest success, while the Tories (0 seats) managed to outdo themselves with their lowest vote share ever in Liverpool. It is also worth noting that, as Paula predicted, there was no success for any of the poorly organised (unofficial) Liberate Liverpool candidates, despite their recent campaigning surge.
The National Picture
As far as the country as a whole is concerned, the overriding story is that it has been a horror show for the Conservatives. When we went on air on Friday, Paula and I discussed how the first batch of results painted a worrying picture for the Tories, with Paula affirming that she predicted that it would only get worse as the day went on – and she was absolutely right. Following significant damage in Medway and Middlesborough in the morning, the afternoon saw the Conservatives suffer considerable losses to Labour in Stoke and Plymouth, and lose control of the historically safe seats of Stratford-upon-Avon and Windsor to the Lib Dems. Overall, the Conservatives lost just under 1000 seats nationwide, with Labour and the Lib Dems gaining over 1000 between them. Whilst these elections cannot be counted on as accurate forecasts for the next general election, they do point towards a wholesale rejection of Rishi Sunak’s party in favour of Red and Orange brands of centrism.
University Of Liverpool Candidates
One thing that I’m sure all of my fellow University Of Liverpool politics students will have had their eye on is how some of their very own lecturers fared in the polls. However, the fact that they were standing for the Conservative party in overwhelmingly Labour areas left them little hope. As was firmly predicted by Paula, none of the three were elected; coming out on top of the trio was Danny Bowman with 71 votes in Calderstones, closely followed by Andrew Roe-Crines with 68 in Anfield, with David Jeffery bringing up the rear with 39 in Aigburth. I have no doubt that these were the kind of results they expected, but kudos to them for standing anyway.
Summary
All things considered then, things turned out pretty much as was anticipated: Liverpool remains a Tory-free zone, Labour and the Lib Dems pick up the pieces from the inevitable Conservative collapse on the national level, and UOL’s three Conservative candidates fail to break triple digits in safe Labour seats. Now we just have to wait and see if the Tories can recover in time for the general election in 2025, or whether Keir Starmer and Ed Davey can continue to capitalise on the long-awaited Conservative disillusionment within Britain!
If you missed this week’s episode then fear not! You can catch up with Beyond The Headlines on Spotify to hear Paula Keaveney and I discuss at length her own career in politics, and whether or not she would recommend that any young politics student tries their hand at local council. Want to know her verdict? Better get listening! Enjoy!
Politics Hour 