Liberal Democrat activist in Westminster North – views and comments
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I have decided that there will be a renaming of my blog.
With the refocusing of my blogging to concentrate on local London and constituency issues, I am playing with a number of names including:
Liberal London
NW1 Liberal Democrat
These are only the first two I have come up with - if you have some suggestions, make a comment and let me know!
Church Street Ward is one of the most deprived wards in Westminster, accordingly to social/demographic trending and analysis.
In 2008, there was a by-election and the results where as follows
This meant that the vacant seat went to the Tories.
In 2006, the figures where as follows:
There where THREE Labour Party candidates elected in 2006.
Now looking at the 2010 election, you will see the voting patterns have changed:
Abdel-Hamid Ahmed Gharib The Labour Party Candidate 1920 ELECTED
Ahmed Mehfuz The Conservative Party Candidate 1234
Amieur Mohammed 271
Cuthbertson Peter Malcolm The Conservative Party Candidate 1049
Grahame Barbara Joan The Labour Party Candidate 2138 ELECTED
Hall Christopher Bernard Liberal Democrats 714
Hamood Salahuddin Mohamed Green Party 361
Mourad Fatima The Conservative Party Candidate 921
Thompson Martin Adam Liberal Democrats 625
Toki Abdul Aziz The Labour Party Candidate 1832 ELECTED
In 2006. the Tory’s managed 807 as their top candidate vote, however in 2010, they managed 1234 (this is the candidate who won the by-election in 2008 and stood again, only to be defeated). The LibDem candidates (of which there where three) in 2006 polled a total of 797 votes which amounts to 11.75% of the votes cast. In 2010 elections, there was a much higher electoral turnout (11065 votes cast) and the LibDems (2 candidates this time which perhaps was an advantage) polled 1339 votes which amounts to 12.10% of the votes cast.
Which ever way you look at it, an increase in share is an increase! Considering that the local party had decided to concentrate on two other wards and there was NO (repeat NO) candidate literature for the Church Street Ward LibDem candidates, this is remarkable. I did a lot of work in getting my name known (using social media and networking tools and talking to people in the area) so I am impressed that I actually polled more votes than the other LibDem candidate who contested the by-election 2 years ago.
So what do we do now?
I think that we should concentrate on wards which we CAN WIN and there needs to be a hard look at the voting figures over the past 2 elections and any subsequent by-elections (which I am doing at the moment) and identify trends and patterns, use these and start planning NOW for the next election (which also means we will be in a position to fight any arising by-elections if they occur).
More to come on this as I crunch the numbers.
We did not gain any of the expected seats we where fighting for. We did not gain any seats at all.
Why? Was the council vote a reflection of the general election vote?
Maybe…
Where we fighting in the right wards? (see next posting for an analysis of my ward)
In my opinion? No.
We should have concentrated on the wards in which the Labour Party vote was one we could gain. Why? Westminster Council is historically Tory. There are a number of Labour seats held, and these are where we can make inroads.
Forget fighting the Tories in Westminster, we are in my opinion, not going to win.
Instead, we go for votes we can win.
Will anyone listen to me? I don’t know, but I am going to make my voice heard!
A reminder to you all: I am part of a team of 12 bloggers working on the news desk at LBC 97.3 (Londons’ leading speech radio station) going to air with Iain Dale as the presenter.
Join us on 0845 60 60 973 or TEXT us on 84850.
Do you have news or views to share with me and the team?
How are the results going in your area?
Any breaking news?
Stories to tell?
GET INVOLVED!!
You can contact me via Twitter @chrisLibDemNW1 or using the form below:
Should that be the question?
Not even sure that the rules of grammar have been obeyed, and they definitely would not be when tweeting – nice short to the point tweets please!
Find me on Twitter as chrisLibDemNW1
I will be making comments about local and national political issues, leading up to and after the general and local authority elections.
Feel free to interact with me.
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