Tag Archives: local elections 2013

NewsHound

LibLink…Robin McGhee: Can UKIP handle the trials of local government?

By NewsHound | Thu 30th May 2013 - 9:55 am

This article appeared a few weeks ago, but we’ve held it back because its author was standing in the Liberal Youth elections. It is worth sharing, though, because it illustrates accurately the dilemma that UKIP now faces. How does it build a local government base when its councillors are inexperienced, anti politics types who don’t really know who their supporters are.

Robin McGhee is an organiser for the party in Norfolk. He describes the UKIP representatives at the count in Cromer:

Perhaps nine in ten were men, nearly all (very) elderly, and with the same expression of stubborn bafflement as a tortoise

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , , and | 17 Comments
Stephen Tall

Where Ukip won (or almost won) on 2nd May 2013

By Stephen Tall | Tue 14th May 2013 - 7:45 am

Wondering where Ukip won (or almost won – see below) in the local elections on Thursday, 2nd May? Then here’s a handy graphic and breakdown by constituency…

ukip vote may 2013

My thanks to Lib Dem Ben Mathis (@binny_uk) for crunching the Ukip numbers, as below. We’ll update the list with any more found…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 17 Comments
Ed Maxfield

Opinion: The Liberal Democrats and the County Council elections – a whole new chapter?

By Ed Maxfield | Thu 9th May 2013 - 5:43 pm

A wise man said to me today: “are you going to write a new chapter for the book after you came third in your election?” The chapters in 101 Ways to Win an Election are each the same length as an LDV article so I thought, “why not!?”

The first and most obvious point to make is to never stop learning. Each campaign has the potential to teach you something new. The trick is to learn the right lessons, which generally will come from listening carefully to what the voters are telling you about your campaign.

In this

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 13 Comments
David Lloyd Mayala

Opinion: Lessons from the local elections – a Congolese point of view

By David Lloyd Mayala | Tue 7th May 2013 - 11:00 am

Last week local elections took place up and down the UK.   As local elections go, I know these caused more of a stir than most because of the UK Independence Party’s strong showing.  The elections also prompted much personal interest for me as this was the first time I rolled up my sleeves and got involved in political campaigning in the UK.

Coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, elections and the electoral process are in their infancy.  Since our nation’s chaotic independence from Belgium in 1960, there have been only two multiparty national elections.  The one-party government under the 32 …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 5 Comments
The Voice

Paddy Ashdown: Liberal Youth are absolutely fantastic

By The Voice | Tue 7th May 2013 - 7:55 am

Liberal Youth’s Gold Guard effort during the local election campaign saw them campaign vigorously all over the country. There were action days from Berwick to Cambridge to Somerset and every night an hour was set aside to call for a specific candidate.

Some of the party’s most treasured figures put together this video to thank them, and it was emailed to their members last night. Well, Paddy said a little more than thank you, but he’s allowed, because we are obliged to obey his every instruction between now and 2015.

We thought you might like to see it.

Rumour has it, by the …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “We are back in the saddle.”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 5th May 2013 - 8:55 am

Nick Clegg’s message this week is pretty chipper, name-checking some of the 350 Lib Dems (re-)elected to serve their communities this week, many of them in battleground areas. “A year or two ago even if we worked hard we didn’t win: now our message is getting a hearing again. We are back in the saddle.” His only negative words are reserved for Ukip, who he says offer a “quick fix” which would backfire: “if UKIP ever got to deliver their policies, unemployment would soar, the rich would get a massive tax cut, and we’d face swingeing cuts to our schools and hospitals”. However, their success makes the Lib Dem presence in the Coalition even more necessary, argues Nick: “it is more important than ever that we, Liberal Democrats, anchor the Government in the centre ground.” Read the full message below…

libdem letter from nick clegg

A massive thank you to everyone who worked hard in this year’s local elections. It’s been another tough year in our journey from a party of protest to a party of Government, but where it matters most, in our Parliamentary seats, we’ve stayed strong and even made gains, beating the Conservatives by 5% of the vote.

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The Voice

LDVideo: Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes comment on the Lib Dem performance in the local elections

By The Voice | Sat 4th May 2013 - 5:20 pm

The Lib Dem leader and deputy leader on the outcomes from Thursday’s elections…

Nick Clegg on the Lib Dems’ local election performance

Local elections: Simon Hughes defends Lib Dem result

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged and | 6 Comments
Timothy Sykes

A Labour Party member writes… The 2015 General Election will NOT be a disaster for the Liberal Democrats

By Timothy Sykes | Sat 4th May 2013 - 3:45 pm

Timothy Sykes is a Labour Party member at the University in Hull. Here he offers his take on what the local elections mean for the Lib Dems…

In the 2013 local elections, the Liberal Democrats did much better than many people were expecting. The loss of 124 council seats is less of a mid-term slump than the significant loses inflicted upon the Conservatives, or the disastrous election results that Labour suffered in 2009. The only clear winner was UKIP, which really had an astonishing night, gaining around 140 seats.

The reason the Lib Dems did not suffer quite as embarrassing a defeat …

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Posted in Op-eds | 19 Comments
Stephen Tall

Local elections 2013: the story in four graphics

By Stephen Tall | Sat 4th May 2013 - 12:05 pm

Here’s the story of this year’s local elections in three graphics…

First, let’s start with the bald statistics: the Lib Dems made a net loss of 124 councillors on Thursday. As I pointed out here, that’s slightly better than forecast. But still, as the party’s chief executive Tim Gordon noted in his post-election briefing, each is “a real loss to both their local communities and the Liberal Democrat family”.

lib dems local elections 2013 - 1

But here’s the reason Lib Dems are feeling not-quite-so-bad this morning:

lib dems local elections 2013

Here’s how the party has summarised the good news:

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Posted in News | 57 Comments
Stephen Tall

What the 2013 local elections mean – for the Lib Dems and the next election (and beyond)

By Stephen Tall | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 7:15 pm

Well, it could have been worse.

The BBC calculates that the Lib Dems have finished these local elections with the loss of a net 124 councillors, slightly better than the projected loss of 130 according to the Rallings and Thrasher model I said the results could best be judged by.

The Tories have done slightly worse (actual loss of 335 councillors compared to a projected loss of 310); while Labour has disappointed its own supprters (an actual gain of 291 councillors compared to the projected gain of 350).

There’s no doubt which party is the biggest winner: Ukip, by an …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 79 Comments
Giles Goodall

Opinion: Ironically, the rise of UKIP makes Britain a more European place

By Giles Goodall | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 7:00 pm

UKIP logoUKIP’s relative success in the English local elections and South Shields by-election this week has met with predictable reactions across the political spectrum: from copycat politics and jealousy on the Tory right, to handwringing and downright despair on the centre left.

But while UKIP has succeeded in hoovering up disenchanted Tories by the thousand, its appeal is clearly much broader. In fact, the rise of UKIP’s populist anti-politics replicates a pattern played out across Europe since the crisis hit, from the Danish People’s Party to Italy’s Beppe Grillo. Ironically, with …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 25 Comments
The Voice

Local elections 2013 live blog…..

By The Voice | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 9:57 am

09:56 Caron:

And we start off with some good news from Ashfield. Simon Hughes has just said on BBC Breakfast that it looks like we have held our seats and got the youngest councillor in the country elected.

10:10 Stephen:

10:26 Caron:

Congratulations to Lib Dem Voice’s Sara Bedford on her election as County Councillor for Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire.

10:29 Caron:

The Telegraph has its own spin on Tim Farron’s appearance on …

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Posted in News | 19 Comments
Nick T

The three things I’ll be looking for in today’s results

By Nick T | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 9:31 am

The extent to which county council election results tell us about the state of politics in the country is without doubt significantly overstated. Only a fraction of the population voted yesterday, and in places that are not representative of the country as a whole.

But the results can tell us some things, and here is what I am looking out for.

1 – How do votes translate into council seats won?

As all Liberal Democrats know, winning votes is little fun at all unless it also means winning seats, and those two things are far from the same in a first-past-the-post electoral system. …

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Posted in News | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Local elections 2013: Summary of overnight Council results

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 8:05 am

Stephen Tall has the South Shields analysis for you here. I’m rounding up the council results.

Lib Dems win by-election with swing from Labour in Sheffield

Let’s start with some very good news. We can still get a respectable swing from Labour to us in the north. Sheffield Liberal Democrats successfully defended Fulwood ward in a by-election caused by  the sad death of Cllr Janice Sidebottom in March. New Cllr Cliff Woodcraft won with a majority of 1428 (compared to 800 when the ward was contested last year). This is significant because Fulwood is in Nick Clegg’s seat. There was a …

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 25 Comments
Stephen Tall

Polls are closed! Here’s some election reading to keep you going for the loooong wait…

By Stephen Tall | Thu 2nd May 2013 - 10:05 pm

Lib Dems winning hereThey’re over! Nothing more to be done now but wait. And it’ll be a long wait for most, with many of today’s local elections not due to be counted until tomorrow. I offered my preview of today’s local elections earlier this week. To keep you going, here’s a clutch of analysis.

Local Election Preview (Anthony Wells)

With the Conservatives starting from an extreme high, it is almost inevitable that they will lose a lot of seats and lose control of a substantial number of councils. It also means that Lib Dem councillors up for re-election are overwhelmingly in LD-v-Con areas, not LD-v-Lab areas. In recent local elections the Lib Dems have done OK against the Conservatives, but been massacred where they are up against Labour in metropolitan areas. With very few LD-v-Lab urban areas having elections, don’t expect huge Lib Dem losses this year.

Local Elections 2013 – Seat Projections Too ‘Conservative’? (Patrick Briône and Damian Lyons Lowe for Survation)

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Posted in News | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

The Sun refuses to back the Tories, says ‘Vote local’ (Aka: The Sun hedges its bets)

By Stephen Tall | Thu 2nd May 2013 - 11:00 am

The Sun_Kinnock_1992Does what The Sun says matter?

In its own terms, of course not. Its own self-promoted myth that it was ‘The Sun wot won it’ for the Tories in 1992 with its anti-Kinnock front page belies the reality: it backs the party it thinks is most likely to win.

It’s in that narrow sense that it’s interesting The Sun has declined to back either the Tories or Labour today for the first time in its 44-year history:

Who you choose today must be a local decision, not a national one. Read

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 7 Comments
The Voice

Good Morning! And best wishes to all Lib Dem candidates today!

By The Voice | Thu 2nd May 2013 - 7:30 am

Best of luck to all Lib Dem candidates in today’s local elections across England (and in the Ise of Anglesey).

Good luck, too, to Hugh Annand in today’s South Shields by-election; and to John Brown (Doncaster) and John Appleby (North Tyneside) in today’s mayoral elections.

And a particular shout-out to LibDemVoice’s ‘Libby Local’, the first-time candidate in ‘Libbyshire’ who’s been keeping LibDemVoice readers up-to-date with campaign progress over the past 6 months. You can catch up with all her experiences here.

goodmorning_ld

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The Voice

Clegg defends Coalition: “We inherited from Labour an economy teetering on the edge”

By The Voice | Wed 1st May 2013 - 8:58 pm

Nick Clegg was interviewed while on the campaign trail in Lewes today for Channel 4 News by Gary Gibbon — here’s a 6-minute excerpt in which Nick explains the steps the Coalition has taken to rescue the economy since 2010:

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged , and | 13 Comments
Stephen Tall

Ukip set to win 22% this Thursday according to ComRes poll

By Stephen Tall | Wed 1st May 2013 - 10:10 am

UKIP logoMuch excitement this morning at an unusual event: a poll looking specifically at this Thursday’s local elections. And more than that, a poll showing Ukip on 22%! The full figures are:

    Conservatives 31%
    Labour on 24%
    UKIP 22%
    Lib Dems 12%

Important point: this poll was conducted only in the areas which will actually vote this week. That’s why the Tories are ahead and Labour’s behind. The equivalent vote shares compared to the last time these same seats were fought in 2009 is as follows (via the ever-excellent Anthony Wells):

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 18 Comments
Stephen Tall

What will happen to the Lib Dems in Thursday’s local elections?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 29th April 2013 - 8:25 am

Lib Dems winning hereThere are just three campaigning days left until this Thursday’s local elections taking place across much of England.*

It’ll be tough-going for the Lib Dems…

The last time these seats were fought, in 2009, was a high water-mark for the party: we polled a national equivalent vote-share of 25%. As I said in my morning-after-the-night-before round-up here, they “were, generally, pretty damn good for the Lib Dems”.

Since entering government, the party’s become used to taking a battering in local elections. As the national polls indicate, our vote share has roughly halved since the Coalition was formed. Because we poll higher in local than national elections, this means we’re likely to secure around 15-16% of the popular vote on Thursday. If that’s the case, our number of councillors will again decline.

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Posted in Local government and News | Also tagged , , , and | 26 Comments
Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “5 good reasons to get out and campaign for the Lib Dems”

By Stephen Tall | Sat 27th April 2013 - 6:08 pm

‘Only Liberal Democrats fight for a stronger economy and a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life.’ You might have heard that one before. You’ll hear it again in Nick’s message below. And in every speech between now and the next general election. Lib Dem supporters are bound to get sick of hearing it; let’s hope so, because then there’s just a chance it’ll have been heard even once by most voters.

It’s been a good week for Nick, as his ‘5 things’ message emphasises: the ‘snoopers charter’ has been torpedoed; the economy is growing again; crime is falling; income tax for the low-paid is being cut again; and the Green Investment Bank has issued its first guarantee. Those aren’t bad headlines ahead of this Thursday’s local elections in England. Read all about them below…

libdem letter from nick clegg

Five good reasons to get out and campaign for the Liberal Democrats this weekend, and support us in Thursday’s local elections.

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Samuel Fisk

Liberal Youth are making a difference – can you help this weekend?

By Samuel Fisk | Wed 24th April 2013 - 1:58 pm

Liberal Youth are making a difference up and down the country this month to get more Liberal Democrats elected.  Just as in Eastleigh, we’re showing the potential for Liberal Youth to be an election winning organisation as well an internal policy pressure group.

We’ve already had national action weekends in Sheffield and Cambridge, as well as national phone banking events with our shiny new connect account.

But we’re only just getting started.

This weekend we’re urging Liberal Youth members with no elections in their region to head to key target areas.  We’re holding action weekends in Somerset and Northumberland this weekend.  …

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NewsHound

Nick Clegg: “No Liberal Democrat Council will close a single library this year”

By NewsHound | Wed 24th April 2013 - 10:59 am

The Independent reports on Nick Clegg’s appearance on BBC Breakfast yesterday in which he talked about the local elections and the national situation. The Liberal Democrat leader contrasted the difference in approach between Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour councillors with respect to Council budgets:

The deputy prime minister criticised “extravagant” spending on the “wrong thing” by Labour and Conservative councils.

“Above all, what you shouldn’t do when money is scarce, is waste money on extravagant or unnecessary expenditure – so the Conservative leader of the Leicestershire county council who spent over £200,000 on a chauffeur, or the Cotswold conservatives who spent

…

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “I absolutely love being out on the campaign trail”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 21st April 2013 - 5:20 pm

With local elections taking place across much of England (and, lets not forget, the Isle of Angelsey in Wales) on Thursday 2nd May, Nick Clegg’s letter this week focuses on the drive to get out the Lib Dem vote…

libdem letter from nick clegg

With less than two weeks to go until this year’s local elections, the campaigning has really stepped up a notch. I’ll be spending the next week criss-crossing the country, knocking on doors, delivering leaflets and hearing about local Lib Dem success stories from jobs we’ve created to libraries we’re

…

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Mary Reid

Join Team 2013

By Mary Reid | Wed 10th April 2013 - 2:54 pm

 

team2013

Team 2013 is the brand being used by the Lib Dem campaign for this year’s local elections. A bright new website has been launched to encourage you to help the campaign, even if you don’t have elections to fight in your own area.

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The Voice

Make sure your nomination is not invalid

By The Voice | Tue 26th March 2013 - 4:15 pm

Are you standing in the local elections in May?

If so, you need to be aware of a change in the guidance about nominations and the new nomination form. If you do not return the form correctly you may be disqualified.

The regulation is:

a candidate must return the entire consent to nomination form which includes copies of the relevant legislation by the close of nominations for their nomination to be valid

So when you return your nomination form you must send back the 5 pages of legislation, as well as the consent form.

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Posted in Election law and News | Leave a comment
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