More of the same from New Labour

Obviously from a New Labour perspective last night was as bad as it could get. I understand that the Conservative successes take the Party to a position that is better than we were in 1997 - in fact the best since the local government review in 1974.

So the disillusioned Labour voter will be further disillusioned by seeing more of the bluster and hype that has got them to where they are. The truth is that the 10p tax issue was only part of the story, New Labour, under Gordon Brown are incompetent, they will not and cannot become competent without a change in Leadership.

I was interested to hear Ian Gipson, MP for Norwich North on 5 Live earlier and, whilst he was supportive of Gordon Brown, seemed to drop a big hint that the dour one has until Party Conference season to sort himself out.

As for the Lib Dems. Well it hurts me to say that things were better for them than many, including me, had expected but they certainly haven't capitalised on the unpopularity of New Labour anywhere near as much as they could and they are looking forward to losing MPs come the next General Election. Nick Clegg is trying to be another David Cameron, my own view is that people will not wash that - if they want a David Cameron they will vote for the original and turn away from 2nd best.

How was it for you?

Anyone suggesting that the local election results were anything other than a success for the Conservatives is barking. Nobody predicted a gain of anything like 882 seats, and most of the pre-election analysis said that it would be a disappointing result if we didn't get 40% 0f the vote.

On the flip side, the Conservatives should view this as our starting point. Getting over 40% of the vote should be seen as the Party having achieved a strong base from which to grow. This was a mid-term election and it is true that, historically, Government support rises in the latter half of a Parliament, but my suspicion is that the beginning of the Brown era will see Labour support drop even further. So this week's results really do increase the possibility of a significant Conservative victory after the next General Election.

I cannot finish without mentioning our remarkable victory in Fenland. Before the election we were a Lib Dem free zone and we faced some really difficult contests with both them and the Labour Party in places (although we were also guaranteed 22 seats before a vote was cast!!), the Lib Dems adopted some of their usual tactics. After the election Fenland is a Lib Dem and a Labour free zone, with the Conservatives having won 39 out of 40 seats.

My congratulations go to Mark Archer, the Independent, for his victory in Manea. I bet he didn't stand with the expectation of being the opposition leader so quickly.

Blair to announce retirement on 2nd May?

Iain Dale has posted this article where he raises the possibility of Blair announcing his retirement on May 2nd. This would be a way of trying to negate the Anti-Blair vote at the local elections the day after.

This is a really interesting thought. We all know that the majority of the grass roots of the Labour Party hate Blair and what he has done for their party; many of their candidates stand reluctantly and even then Labour only manage to find nominations for 61% of seats. We also know that Blair's main focus over the last year or so has not been the best interests of Britain, but about trying to create a legacy. This final (and only) act of kindness to the Party he abused could also serve to leave a less bitter aftertaste about the Blair project from the party membership.

61% of Labour seats uncontested - no surprise

I, for one, am not surprised by this figure. I have mentioned before in Fenland the Labour Party have only put up 6 candidates out of 40 - the Lib Dems fared little better. It is not good for democracy that the Conservatives are in a position of having guaranteed control of Fenland Hall even before a vote is cast.

Some of the reasons for this situation are quite apparent, the Government are massively unpopular, politics in itself is going through a rough time and many of the grass roots Labour activists that are around will not stand because their own left-leaning instincts are too much of a clash with the direction New Labour has taken.

But I think the situation has other causes. In Fenland the only political activity, outside of elections has come from the Conservatives. As well as having active Councillors, as a party, we have done our bit to let people know we have been around through engaging with the media and through initiatives like the NHS action days. How can you find candidates if you do nothing to invigorate and find support?

Four Years On....

I found this link to a BBC article from the local elections 4 years ago, highlighting the number of uncontested seats in Fenland. Despite our local media speculating that the situation might be different this time round, we have 18 Councillors unopposed.

This is caused by total inactivity from the other major parties over the last 4 years. No doubt they will then claim they deserve votes just to ensure oppostion. Maybe they ought to do something to earn votes first.

Mixed Feelings

I found out yesterday that I am to be unopposed as a candidate in the District Council elections in May. It is something I have genuine mixed feelings about. I am obviously chuffed to bits at the opportunity to represent Kingsmoor Ward for the next 4 years, and for the opportunity to help take Fenland even further forwards.

But it is another sad day for our democracy. Even before a vote is cast in Fenland the Conservatives are guaranteed a majority because of the lack of candidates. That is not down to National politics, it is down to the failure of the two othe major political parties in Fenland to do anything to engage with the people of Fenland, despite a similar situation at the election 4 years ago.

It would not surprise me if the few opposing candidates in Fenland used the "vote for me, Fenland needs opposition" argument. It would not be valid, Fenland needs opposition that cares for the people of Fenland and has a proven commitment to them - they have totally failed to do that; the massive improvement that has been achieved in the area over the last 4 years has been achieved without decent opposition.

The Elections Are Not Just In Scotland And Wales?

Am I the only one getting increasingly annoyed by the BBC completely forgetting that there are elections going on outside of Scotland and Wales on May 3rd.

Whilst events in Scotland and Wales are important, the English local elections are also critical. They provide a key indicator for exactly how unpopular New Labour has become; a failure by New Labour in England could be the point at which certain MPs realise that they need to stand up to the bully-boy tactics from the Brown Camp and get behind a different candidate.

Whilst there is the potential for Brown to lose any influence he might have in Scotland (if the SNP do pull off a victory), this could be worsened by a collapse in the New Labour vote in England which will leave him without any authority here.

But then, from the BBC's perspective, New Labour are likely to do worse in England - so they will inevitably hold off from commenting until they can no longer get away with it.