Wednesday 11 May 2011

Oh Roger

Roger Gale appears to be trying to rewrite history to turn last weeks local elections into a victory for the Conservative Party in Thanet. Lets look at the raw facts.

  1. The Conservatives lost five seats, one in North Thanet and four in South Thanet.
  2. They only just held onto two more of their seats as they won by twenty five votes in Garlinge and only two in Beacon Road!
  3. There was a 5% swing in the vote from Conservative to Labour.
  4. Nearly every other Conservative Council in Kent was able to hold power (except Gravesham) and in many cases actually gained seats.
The result for the Thanet Conservative party when compared to the rest of the South East and Kent is appalling. When you look at Thanet against seats just like it in the South East like Dover and Dartford it really shows how bad the Thanet result was. Roger is right when he says no party won, but after his party has just taken a pasting in the elections perhaps he should think before he writes.

4 comments:

  1. Not to mention being left with only one Tory on Ramsgate Town Council and losing a seat on Broadstairs Town Council to Labour who did, in fact,double their representation to two.

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  2. Robert Williams11 May 2011 at 20:37

    Oh dear, so much for the co-operation it would seem. Yes, the Conservatives did not do well in Thanet, though as I understand it they still took some 47% of the votes cast. That does make them both the party with the most seats and the greatest support.

    Having said that, I am not comfortable with the idea that a group, the independents, with the least seats and votes should decide who governs. That is hardly democracy although I accept there needs to be a leader and cabinet.

    Whatever is resolved it will take a great deal of goodwill and co-operation to conduct the business of the council for, with such slender margins, whoever the independents vote with, a few absentees could upset the balance. Hate to think of councillors wheeled in on hospital trolleys for votes.

    How about trying for a while at least to stop the anti-Tory rhetoric here and the anti-Labour rhetoric elsewhere. I understand people work fine together in committees so why not in the full council.

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  3. As a member of the public who has attended a few full council meetings out of interest somehow I can't see a cosying up between the two main parties.

    Vitriolic comments flung across the chamber usually in the direction of the Labour front bench made me shudder and wonder if I was back in some dreadful school playground.

    A Leader calling the Shadow Deputy 'an idiot' or an Independent called 'a creep' and 'talentless'. Hardly bodes well for co-operation for the benefit of Thanet.

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  4. Laura Sandys has got it right, at least in her article for the local papers she admits that it was a bad election for the Conservatives as well.

    Mr Gale has simply been in power too long and is out of touch!

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