Yesterday I browsed a Labour blog. There was a piece about the Liberal Democrats entitled Convenient whipping boys or villains? and I read the piece and sometimes I do wonder if people actually believe the bullshit that pours out of their mouths (or in this case through the fingers of their keyboard).
The blog belongs to arguably the most noted activist for any party within Southend-on-Sea. A man who could very well win a Council seat on Thursday night. A man who everyone tells me is a pretty nice bloke and not many actually have a bad word to say about him. I’ve never met him. I have seen him and will probably see him on Thursday night at the count no doubt. So all I know of him is what he writes on his blog.
‘So how did you come to the quite strong title?’ I am hypothesising that you might be asking yourself. Well let me point out two chunks of his blurb on the above article:
Many decent councillors will be ejected, and those that do hang on will do so more through avoidance by the electorate of less palatable alternatives.
So he is saying there are many decent Liberal Democrat Councillors. Very nice and very accurate however fast forward a few hundred words and how does he end his piece?
I shall answer my own question: they are villains. Their fingerprints are on every piece of damnable legislation being passed in this Parliament. I hope every one of them is shown the door this Thursday.
So he hopes every Lib Dem is voted out. This is despite him saying that there are many good Lib Dem councillors. What absolute tribalistic bollocks (Yes I know tribalistic isn’t a word but go sue me). So in races where the Lib Dems are up against racist right-wing parties he wants them in instead of the Lib Dems. In races where it is Tory or Lib Dem he wants the Tories to win. These aren’t the words of a Labour supporter but more words of a spurned lover and that is how a vast majority of Labour supporters have acted since 2010.
These are also the words of a man who can’t separate local and national politics. He knows (as does anyone with their finger on the pulse in Southend) that the only hope to stop the Tories is for the Lib Dems to win seats like St. Laurence and West Leigh from the Tories. If the Lib Dems fail in this then the Tories will retain control of the Council. Labour will take Kursaal unless Anne Jones has run one of the worst local campaigns in living memory. It is about an open a goal as you can get so you can chalk that one up and that leaves the Tory majority at one.
Belfairs is a seat that is true blue but the incumbent was kicked out of the Tory party for reasons unknown but is standing as an independent and instead of being one of the dullest races in the borough it is suddenly one of the most exciting. The Tory candidate is not guaranteed to win as the independent is very well liked and he could hold it even without being a member of the party.
The thing is three Lib Dems are defending and two are in a real dogfight. Alan should hold on in Leigh but Mary and Graham face real battles although the sense is Mary will be ok in Prittlewell but Graham in Blenheim Park is a toss-up. If either of these seats go blue then the Tories will still hold the sway in Southend.
The other seat that could go from the Tories is actually the seat Julian himself is attacking. Milton could go red and that could well be the seat that turns this from a Conservative council to one of No Overall Majority as long as the Lib Dems hold off the Tories where they are defending.
The make-up of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council will realistically be decided on the following seats:
Belfairs – Ind defending – Con attacking
Blenheim Park – Lib Dem defending – Con attacking
Kursaal – Con defending – Lab attacking
Milton – Con defending – Lab attacking
Prittlewell – Lib Dem defending – Con attacking
Southchurch – Ind defending – Con attacking
St. Laurence – Con defending – Lib Dem attacking
Realistically they are the seven seats that could lead to a change in power at the Civic Centre. Yes Leigh and West Leigh could change hands (Lib Dem to Con and Con to Lib Dem respectively) but I think not. My seat Westborough has an Ind defending from Lab so that wouldn’t change the power of balance. Thorpe also will be closer than people think as it’s not Ron Woodley this year but the ‘Granny Tax’ is going to crush Clive Lucas here in what should have been a closer run contest than people thought.
I actually had a long chat with Clive and he seems like a decent guy. I won’t be voting for him as I’ll be voting Lib Dem but reading some of the rubbish the independents have written about him in the past it saddens me greatly that even the independents lie and spread lies with their literature but that is a story for another day.
So the Conservatives need to lose two seats and gain none for the balance of power to shift. Should every Lib Dem lose (all three defending in Southend would lose to the Tories) then there is no doubt Southend would stay a Conservative run council. So there we have it. The most prominent activist in Southend – a man who by his own admission is Labour through and through actually wants a Conservative run council in Southend-on-Sea because he wants the Lib Dems wiped out and the only way for that to happen is for the Tories to win those seats.
He might not have thought through his blog but realistically if every Lib Dem loses on Thursday night it will lead to a Conservative run council here on Thursday night. There is no way that Labour or any other party is taking the three Lib Dem seats the party are defending on Thursday. No way in hell. There is more chance of me finally getting that date with Sophie Ellis Bextor and you know what readers – I’m not getting that date. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
So Julian Ware-Lane is a Labour supporter first and foremost but dreams of a Tory run council instead of a coalition of Labour, Lib Dem and Independents, which could happen if the Lib Dems aren’t wiped out. You read it here first…
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Please leave any comments or contact me directly via the E-Mail Me link on the Right Hand Nav. You can stay in touch with the blog following me on Twitter or by liking the blog on Facebook. Please share this content via the Social Media links below if you think anyone else would enjoy reading.
The Tory horse wins most of the races in Southend on Sea simply because some Labour Councillors will not catch up with History!
In Southend it is true that Labour have at hand, A very good activist in Julian Ware-Lane, Problem is. He is ‘ well left of Carl Marx and appears to have ‘not noticed’ that such doctrine ended quite dramatically a few years ago!
These Labour stalwarts will not relinquish their earlier day indoctrinations even in the face of evidence that it is holding them back! Surely, the time to ‘come clean’ is after the revolution not before it?
it’s simple….jealousy!
This ought to be surprising, but it isn’t really. I don’t know about Southend but the very effective guerrilla tactics employed by the lib dems over the years to build up council seats and local powr bases mean that they are surprisingly unpopular with both the other parties. The “labour/Tories can’t win here” type of election materials get up everyone else’s noses.
My theory is that Labour don’t blame Tories for being Tories, even if they believe them to be lower than vermin, nor do Tories blame Labour for being Labour. So if either wins, that’s up to them. But, the Lib Dems are hateable because they can facilitate victory for the enemy without having the excuse and justification of actually being one of them. What’s to complain about in getting a Tory council if you vote for Tories?
I am very sorry to report that from my vantage point there is so little difference between the coalition parties that the word ‘Tory’ could apply to either of them.
I also think you have added two and two and made five. Still, I guess you already know this.
Me nice? – I am no better than anyone else. Come and say ‘hello’ on Thursday if you spot me before I spot you.