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:: NEWS :: Local Election Results Round-Up Hindu Voice UK, May 2006 The Conservatives made significant gains, especially in London. The elections saw the greatest number of Conservative controlled Councils in over 20 years. Conservative supporters have portrayed the results as a sign that the party has successfully broadened its appeal, and is back on track nationally. Some also see it as public endorsement for David Cameron's leadership. However, it is yet to be seen whether the Conservative gains were merely a temporary voter response to the preceding two weeks of embarrassments for the Labour Government or whether people really do want to see the Tories back in power. Results were quite uneventful for the Liberal Democrats, who achieved very mild gains in both their total share of the vote as well as in the number of councils they control. There was reason to celebrate for the Green Party, who brought their number of councillors to 92, a gain of 20. Councillor Mr Read said that the gains gave the Greens the chance to have more leverage on issues such as affordable housing and stopping incineration. George Galloway's Respect Party, which ran a poll akin to India's Lalu Prasad or Mulayam Singh Yadav, saw mild success, gaining seats in Tower Hamlets. George Galloway was a former member of Labour, who formed his own party when he felt that Labour were abandoning their core ideology in the quest for electoral success. The Respect Party are the most vocal anti-war party. Last and not least, the racist British National Party (BNP) made significant gains, bringing their total number of seats to 46, more than they have ever had in the past. Grinning BNP supporters stated that they are 'well on their way'. Some of their victories were by the narrowest of margins. For example, they scored a shock victory in the Chelmsley Wood ward of Solihull, by a mere 19 votes. The biggest BNP breakthrough was in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, where the party won a startling 11 seats out of the 13 wards for which they fielded candidates. Barking Labour MP Margaret Hodge was criticised for saying during the campaign that 80% of white families in the area were "tempted" by the BNP, thus giving the party free publicity and indirect encouragement. However the results in fact vindicate her comments. Dagenham for many years had a reputation for being one of the worst areas for a non-white person to live, being host to a great many violent racist attacks. That reputation subsided somewhat in recent years, but with the recent election results the area is once again on its way to reacquire its reputation as a 'race-hate capital'.
After 176 of 176 councils
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The
local elections of May 4th saw large and embarrassing losses for a
scandal hit Labour Party. The party lost control of councils that
they had controlled for many years, most notably Camden, in which
they had been in power for 35 years. Tony Blair responded to the poll
drubbing with a radical overhaul of his cabinet in an attempt to restore
public confidence. Only time will tell whether his move will be successful
or whether it is a case of 'too little too late'.