COUNCIL BY-ELECTIONS 12.08.21

Six by-elections this week - three in England and three in Scotland.  Labour were defending one seat  - in Tower Hamlets - and were crushed by local party Aspire.  Aspire is the successor party of Tower Hamlets First, the party that was banned in 2015 due to its involvement in electoral fraud.  The driving force behind both parties is Lutfur Rahman, a former Labour councillor.

Elsewhere in England there was a narrow hold for the Tories in Suffolk, fending off a surge from the Lib Dems who took full advantage of the absence of Green and independent candidates.  The Lib Dems had a good night both north and south of the border, with an easy hold in Cumbria and two gains in the Highlands.  The Highland results followed several rounds of counting due to the STV (single transferable vote) method in which second preference votes are counted until a candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote.

In North Ayrshire there was no need for further counting as the Conservatives stunned the incumbent SNP on first preference votes.  The Sturgeon and her separatist fanatics won't be happy with this week's results.

Orwell & Villages, East Suffolk District Council

Con: 873 (45.9%) +10.9%

LDem: 800 (42.0%) New

Lab: 230 (12.1%) -1.5%

Con HOLD

Inverness West, The Highland Council

(First preference votes)

SNP: 718 (33.7%) +4.4%

LDem: 678 (31.8%) +4.2%

Con: 293 (13.7%) +1.8%

Ind: 230 (10.8%) New

Grn: 159 (7.5%) New

ISP: 42 (2%) New

SLP: 11 (0.5%) New

LDem GAIN from Ind (elected at stage 7)

Wick & East Caithness, The Highland Council

(First preference votes)

LDem: 657 (27.3%) +23.6%

Ind: 622 (25.8%) +18.8%

SNP: 593 (24.6%) +12.9%

Con: 523 (21.7%) +7.8%

SLP: 16 (0.7%) New

LDem GAIN from Ind (elected at stage 5)

Dalry & West Kilbride, North Ayrshire Council

Con: 2,016 (53.5%) +31.3%

SNP: 1,292 (34.3%) +10.5%

Lab: 305 (8.1%) -0.3%

LDem: 58 (1.5%) New

SLab: 57 (1.5%) New

Ind: 42 (1.1%) +0.6%

Con GAIN from SNP

Grange, South Lakeland District Council

LDem: 1,336 (66.2%) +6.0%

Con: 541 (26.8%) +0.4%

Grn: 85 (4.2%) -2.7%

Labour: 56 (2.8%) -3.8%

LDem HOLD

Weavers, Tower Hamlets London Borough Council

Asp: 1,204 (46.5%) +31.4%

Lab: 742 (28.6%) -21.8%

Con: 360 (13.9%) +7.6%

Grn: 205 (7.9%) -1.8%

LDem: 50 (1.9%) -5.7%

TUSC: 30 (1.2%) New

Asp GAIN from Lab

Abbreviations

Con = Conservative

LDem = Liberal Democrat

Lab = Labour

SNP = Scottish National Party

Grn = Green

ISP = Independence for Scotland

SLP = Scottish Libertarian Party

SLab = Socialist Labour

Asp = Aspire

TUSC = Trade Union and Socialist Coalition

Ind = Independents

LABOUR SELECTION CHAOS

“A skirmish almost broke out when a man tried to take his wife’s ballot and fill it out, but she opposed".

(Poplar & Limehouse selection meeting)

Labour selections and reselections are currently taking place across the country for the general election that Labour is desperately trying to block.  It sounds bizarre, but then this is Labour.  In the last two days police have been called to two separate selection meetings, for Nottingham East and Poplar & Limehouse.  The ballot paper for both seats was dominated by Muslim candidates and both winning candidates are dead certs to hold these safe Labour seats.

Nadia Whittome selected as Chris Leslie's replacement in Nottingham East

Apsana Begum selected as Jim Fitzpatrick's replacement in Poplar and Limehouse

The Poplar selection took place in the banana republic of Tower Hamlets amid chaotic scenes.  Photo ID was required to get into the meeting, but this hurdle did not appear to 'disenfranchise' those attending (more Labour hypocrisy) as more than 500 mostly Muslim men crammed into the meeting hall.  Laughably, these all-female shortlists were supposed to be about equality, yet the turnout at this meeting reflected nothing of the sort.  The winning candidate congratulated "strong BAME women" for the campaign and then posed for a photo in which you can count the women present on one hand.  There was no mention of the LGBT candidate, funny that.

We know how her supporters want to "transform society" and "seize it".  The second paragraph is clearly aimed at her supporters (or dare we say, handlers).  When she speaks of "radicalism" she is not necessarily referring to socialism.  So much for feminism.  This is the future of our nation under a Labour direction.

Nottingham East general election 2017

Chris Leslie (Lab) 28,102 (71.5%) +16.9%
Simon Murray (Con) 8,512 (21.6%) +0.9%
Barry Holliday (Lib Dem) 1,003 (2.6%) -1.6%
Robert Hall-Palmer (UKIP) 817 (2.1%) -7.9%
Kat Boettge (Green) 698 (1.8%) -8.1%
David Bishop (Elvis) 195 (0.5%) New

Chris Leslie was one of the Labour MPs who left to form 'Change UK'.

Poplar & Limehouse general election 2017

Jim Fitzpatrick (Lab) 39,558 (67.3%) +8.7%
Chris Wilford (Con) 11,846 (20.1%) -5.3%
Elaine Bagshaw (Lib Dem) 3,959 (6.7%) +2.5%
Oliur Rahman (Ind) 1,477 (2.5%) New
Bethan Lant (Green) 989 (1.7%) -3.1%
Nicholas McQueen (UKIP) 849 (1.4%) -4.7%
David Barker (Ind) 136 (0.2%) New

Jim Fitzpatrick is not standing in the next election.

RECYCLING HUMILIATION FOR LABOUR

The Daily Express has revealed the best and worst performing council areas in the UK with regards to recycling.  Most of the best performing councils are Conservative-run, but most of the worst performing are Labour-run.

The statistics come at a time that Labour is positioning itself as a 'green' party, having recently wooed both 'Extinction Rebellion' activists and eco-brat Greta Thunberg.  In a further humiliating twist for Jeremy Corbyn, joint fourth on the list for worst performing is his own local council of Islington.  Labour are clearly not practicing what they preach!

Best Performing Councils

1. East Riding (Con)
2. South Oxfordshire (Con)
3. Rochford (Con)
4. Vale of White Horse (Con)
5. Surrey Heath (Con)
6. Stroud* (NOC)
7. Stratford-upon-Avon (Con)
8. South Northamptonshire (Con)
9. Rutland (Con)
10. Cheshire West & Chester (Lab)

* Coalition of Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats

Worst Performing Councils

1. Newham (Lab)
2. Hammersmith (Lab)
3. Westminster (Con)
=4. Birmingham (Lab)
=4. Islington* (Lab)
6. Barrow-in-Furness (Lab)
7. Tower Hamlets (Lab)
8. Lewisham (Lab)
9. Isles of Scilly (Ind)
10. Gosport (Con)

*Jeremy Corbyn's local council

THAT COUNCIL (AGAIN)

Quite possibly the dodgiest council in Britain is in the spotlight again.  Tower Hamlets (collective sigh) has only just concluded one investigation into corruption, now it is launching another.  Last week the so-called 'Clear Up Project' set up to investigate claims against the previous administration was closed with 'no evidence' of fraud uncovered (a City of London police inquiry is still ongoing).  Now there is an investigation into allegations of housing fraud, with an early casualty in the shape of Cllr Mohammad Harun.

Cllr Harun, who is also a solicitor, quit his post shortly after the investigation was announced.  He also deleted his Twitter account.  The mayor, John Biggs, confirmed that the allegations directly involved Harun, but the Tories claimed other sitting councillors were also implicated.  One of Harun's predecessors - Cllr Shahed Ali - was jailed for housing fraud in 2015.

Labour's Mohammad Harun

Tower Hamlets, a London borough where Bangladeshis are the largest ethnic group, has a history of corruption.  The former mayor - Lutfur Rahman - was found guilty of electoral fraud in 2015.  The current make up of the council is 40 Labour (one member currently suspended for alleged anti-Semitism), 2 Conservative, 1 Lib Dem and now one vacant, thanks to the outgoing Harun.