Did you vote in the Local Elections?

[legalalien]

Interesting that the Greens apparently came close in Nunhead and Queens Road.

https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/southwark-elections-2022-labour-tightens-its-grip-on-the-council-with-convincing-win/

Let?s see whether the ?vote nationally and get rid of Boris? strategy works - I?m not convinced, but if it does work at least there will be something for me to celebrate!

[Rockets]

Congrats to Labour - I am very surprised they have managed to come out of this without losing a single seat - but I was absolutely amazed how many friends were voting on a national agenda.

Labour do need to be careful as they are basking in their well-earned victories in London but, as Corbyn found to his cost, the People's Republic of Islington isn't indicative of the country's mood and I see Labour have lost Hull and seats in places like Salford - their traditional heartlands so they can't allow complacency to creep in again as there is still a lot of work to do before the election.

And, as everyone knows, Boris won't be leading the Tories into the next election so whilst he will likely be got rid of Labour are very much thinking about the next leader (which is why they have been attacking Sunak so much) and that may present a whole range of new challenges to them.

[JohnL]

Rumours of a re-shuffle (goodbye Sunak) if results aren't good for the tories - but don't think Boris will go yet.

Sue Gray might force his hand at some stage.

[Jenijenjen]

Despite what the pundits are saying, it?s wrong to think Labour has won locally because voters are angry with the central Tory government. Most who voted Labour did so simply because they prefer to live in an area with a Labour administration with Labour policies.

[ab29]

Poor Londn. I wish people voted on local issues rather than trying to punish tories.

[Jenijenjen]

ab29 Wrote:

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> Poor Londn. I wish people voted on local issues

> rather than trying to punish tories.

They did vote on local issues. There are many more local issues than LTNs

[legalalien]

No one really knows why anyone else voted the way that they did. But Labour certainly campaigned on an anti- Tory platform rather than a pro-Labour one - at least in the campaign literature I received - so presumably they themselves saw the potential in anti-Tory votes. It maybe makes it a bit harder for them to claim a clear mandate for some of their more controversial policies - but that doesn?t really matter given they?re in charge for four more years and no one can stop them, I guess!

[Rockets]

Looking at the results thus far I think Labour has a problem nationally - they should have cleaned-up in these elections given the weight of the protest vote against Boris and they are losing seats in some of their heartlands to the Lib Dems. This may further galvanise the anti-Starmer elements within the party and there could be instability/infighting - on Radio 5 just a moment ago they said that Lisa Nandy had made negative comments on Starmer's leadership (which the Labour guest they were interviewing refuted BTW). Infighting and the tug of war between centre-left and hard-left within the party always kills Labour.

The Tories are probably hurting from losing some key London seats but probably think they got away with one as they should have taken a hammering given what they have put people through and the scandals surrounding Boris et al.

Lib Dems are probably the biggest winners thus far but the challenge for them is whether they can turn the protest vote into something more tangible at the next election but they do seem to be rebuilding via councils in many parts of the country.

[Rockets]

Jenijenjen Wrote:

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> ab29 Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Poor Londn. I wish people voted on local issues

> > rather than trying to punish tories.

>

> They did vote on local issues. There are many more

> local issues than LTNs

By no means scientific but a few of our friends in Herne Hill who are very anti-LTN and terrified they are going to get one told me that they voted Labour to send a message to Boris and the Tories.....I was like...what...are you mad...have fun with your LTN when it arrives!

Labour did not campaign on local issues and went out of their way to make it a national issue (certainly the plethora of leaflets that dropped through our door didn't mention anything about local issues)

[ab29]

It would be so much healthier to have different representation, not only in Southwark but London. Now not only Southwark is a one-party state, but an entire city.

[Rockets]

Southwark is even more red than it was before......

[Earl Aelfheah]

@rockets - In Dulwich Village the Conservatives and LibDems campaigned specifically on LTNs.

The ?anti low traffic? folk touted this as a ?referendum on LTNs?. Labour got double the vote of LibDem and Cons on 61% turnout, and now, predictably they?re saying it wasn?t about that after all.

For what it's worth, I?m sure it wasn?t only about one issue, but the result at least suggests that LTNs are not as unpopular as a vocal minority would have us believe.

The data is also clear - they?ve succeeded in bringing traffic down and increasing active travel.

My hope is that people can now concentrate on making more improvements locally to transport and the environment.

[hpsaucey]

Rockets Wrote:

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> Southwark is even more red than it was

> before......

And will hopefully become more green :)

[eastdulwichhenry]

We can but hope! Interesting news that Westminster has gone Labour too. They have been traditionally one of the worst when it came to traffic reduction and cycle lane provision.

rahrahrah Wrote:

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> the result at least suggests that LTNs are not as

> unpopular as a vocal minority would have us

> believe.

> The data is also clear - they?ve succeeded in

> bringing traffic down and increasing active

> travel.

> My hope is that people can now concentrate on

> making more improvements locally to transport

> nadthe environment.

[Rockets]

Rahx3 - can you send us the link to the share of vote as I would be interested to see them as I can't find them anywhere?

Clearly LTNs were not the key agenda item for the voters and yes, this was the opportunity for people to register their rejection of the LTNs but they didn't - there's no denying that. But Labour did, very successfully, move the agenda away from local issues to national issues - we saw it on here, lots of people saying they would vote to protest against Boris.

And let me correct you, the data is not clear at all, Covid succeeded in bringing traffic down and increasing active travel - the LTN's role in that is still very unclear and something we will continue to debate for a long time.

I really hope Labour will take a refreshed approach and begin to engage with everyone over active travel and not just listen to those with most to gain and ignore anyone who has a differing opinion. They haven't to date and given they didn't even mention LTNs in their manifesto and now they have even more control of the council I am not sure this leopard will change its spots anytime soon!

[ab29]

Rockets, I have no illusions - four more years of arrogance and not listening to constituents.

[Jenijenjen]

Every candidate in every election, National and local, campaigns using their opposition?s weak and unpopular points so nothing new here.

legalalien Wrote:

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> No one really knows why anyone else voted the way

> that they did. But Labour certainly campaigned on

> an anti- Tory platform rather than a pro-Labour

> one - at least in the campaign literature I

> received - so presumably they themselves saw the

> potential in anti-Tory votes. It maybe makes it a

> bit harder for them to claim a clear mandate for

> some of their more controversial policies - but

> that doesn?t really matter given they?re in charge

> for four more years and no one can stop them, I

> guess!

[ohthehugemanateeLTN3]

Big turnout in Dulwich Village!

https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/southwark-elections-2022-labour-tightens-its-grip-on-the-council-with-convincing-win/

Loos like the pro-LTN party collected quite a lot more votes.

[ab29]

Hi Admin, the above is obviously a fake account.

[hpsaucey]

ab29 Wrote:

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> Hi Admin, the above is obviously a fake account.

Fake or not, makes a fair point.

HP

[ohthehugemanateeLTN3]

ab29 Wrote:

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> Hi Admin, the above is obviously a fake account.

Well, it looks like the anti-LTN crowd are getting ever more brazen about trying to get those who disagree with them banned. How, precisely, is the account fake other than you not liking what I say? I can assure you that the account is very real and there is a very real person behind it.

Bringing it back on topic, I did vote, and I placed my vote definitively for the LTNs. I am looking with interest what the more detailed breakdown of the voting share was, beyond just the winning candidate votes. Some astonishingly dedicated soul has already created the wikipedia page, but sadly it has not been populated yet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Southwark_London_Borough_Council_election#Dulwich_Village

[Jenijenjen]

The word desperate might be more appropriate than brazen

[ab29]

hpsaucey was told off many times before for login in as multiple users.

[legalalien]

The breakdown is on twitter

https://twitter.com/margynewens/status/1522421747454205952/photo/1

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

ab29 Wrote:

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> Rockets, I have no illusions - four more years of

> arrogance and not listening to constituents.

Your mistake here is confusing the fact that you didn't get your way with the idea that the councillors aren't listening to constituents. There is a point at which you just have to accept something and move on. Maybe today is that day for you - or maybe not.

You have complained that Southwark is a one party state - immediately after a hotly contested multiparty election. Please spend some time in Asmara or Pyongyang before trotting out this tired line of moaning.