Alan's Green Thoughts

Owen Jones, left-wing journalist and loyal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, and most famous for authoring "Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class", has recently claimed that the Greens should join up with Labour: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/22/greens-labour-jeremy-corbyn It is clear that Owen is demonstrating the same sense of entitlement as so many left-wing Labour members and supporters, who spend more time trying to unseat who they see as rivals on the same side rather than Labour's natural opponent, the Conservatives. He is also entirely wrong about the Progressive Alliance: it was not responsible for depriving the Conservatives of their majority; on the other hand it was a clear disaster for the Green Party and was not a real alliance at all since Labour never intended to reciprocate. The Greens' best performances were mostly in areas with a strong Liberal Democrat vote or naturally progressive vote-a strong Labour vote was and is not ...

Readers, the results of the 11 British local by-elections which took place yesterday were as follows: Arun DC, Marine: Liberal Democrats 309 (32.7%), Labour 252 (26.7%, +7.3%), Conservative 242 (25.7%, -0.6%), Independent 141 (14.9%). Liberal Democrat gain from Independent [UKIP did not stand]. Boston DC, Old Leake & Wrangle: Conservative 536 (74.2%, +21.3%), Labour 123 (17.0%), UKIP 50 (6.9%, -40.1%), Blue Revolution 13 (1.8%). Chichester DC, Fishbourne: Liberal Democrats 459 (54.6%, +3.3%), Conservative 294 (35.0%, -2.5%), Labour 88 (10.4%). [Greens did not stand] Dorset CC, Bridport: Conservative 1660 (39.6%, +2.5%), Liberal Democrats 1451 (34.6%,-3.7%), Labour 691 (16.5%, +4.4%), Green 388 (9.3%,-3.2%). Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats. Hertfordshire CC, Goffs Oak & Bury Green: Conservative 1390 (59.6%,-5.5%), Liberal Democrats 482 (20.7%, +14.8%), Labour 383 (16.8%, -0.8%), Green 69 (3.0%). [UKIP did not stand] Lichfield DC, Stowe: Conservative 513 (4...

Readers, the results of British local by-elections of 15 February 2018 were as follows: Doncaster MBC, Armthorpe: Labour 1431 (75.4%, +35.0%), Independent (Williams) 466 (24.6%).[UKIP, Conservatives, and Greens did not stand] East Northamptonshire DC, Higham Ferrers Lancaster: Conservative 611 (55.6%), Liberal Democrats 244 (22.2%), Labour 189 (17.2%), Green 33 (3.0%), UKIP 22 (2.0%). [Conservatives elected unopposed in 2015] Epsom & Ewell BC, Ruxley: Residents' Association 398 (37.2%, -4.5%), Conservative 340 (31.8%, -2.2%), Labour 264 (24.7%, +9.9%), Liberal Democrats 67 (6.3%, -3.3%). Falkirk UA, Bonnybridge & Larbert (1st preferences)14: SNP 1295 (38.6%, +4.9%), Conservative 1088 (32.4%, +8.1%), Labour 813 (24.2%, +8.5%), Green 124 (3.7%, -0.1%), UKIP 35 (1.0%). [No Independent candidates] SNP elected at stage 5. Halton UA, Halton Castle: Labour 522 (70.3%, -5.5%), Darin Whyte (No Description, formerly TUSC) 133 (17.9%, +9.5%), Conservative 88 (11.8%). [UKIP d...

Welcome to part 2 of my watch list for the British local elections of 2018, this time covering districts.  Several of them have all seats up for election this year, and four of these-Harrogate, Huntingdonshire, Newcastle-under-Lyme and South Cambridgeshire-will be holding full council elections henceforth and not revert to election by thirds. With some exceptions, by thirds elections make capturing control of one council from a party or group more difficult and time consuming. They also make elections more expensive to administer, which is why many councils have switched to full council elections in recent years. The majority of countries with democratic local elections always hold full council elections. UNITARY AUTHORITIES: Derby: Labour only hold control of Derby City Council by one seat, but in the current political climate the chances of Labour making a net loss of seats are remote at best. Labour will almost certainly recapture both Alvaston and Derwent wards from UKIP ...

We are now less than three months away from the British local elections of 2018, featuring all London Boroughs, the first Sheffield City Region Mayoral election, and elsewhere in England. A large proportion of those councils holding elections this year have undergone extensive boundary changes. With UKIP in terminal decline, the rise of Corbynism and Momentum in Labour, demographic changes becoming more cemented, and the shadow of Brexit looming even in local elections, elections in many councils will become a turning point in their history, which in some cases will mean crossing the Rubicon. So what is on Alan's watch list this year? GREATER LONDON WATCH LIST Barnet: The Conservatives only hold control of this borough by one seat, and Labour only needs to win two seats to gain overall control of Barnet for the very first time. The two split wards of Brunswick Park and Hale are ripe pickings for Labour in a borough trending towards Labour (had Labour not been dogged by anti...

Readers, the results of British local by-elections from 8 February 2018 were as follows: Brighton & Hove UA, East Brighton: Labour 1889 (67.5%, +21.0%), Conservative 481 (17.2%, -5.3%), Green 316 (11.3%, -8.2%), Liberal Democrats 114 (4.1%, -3.8%). East Staffordshire DC, Stretton: Conservative 764 (42.6%, -6.2%), Save Our Stretton 625 (34.7%), Labour 347 (19.3%, -2.0%), UKIP 47 (2.6%, -27.3%), Liberal Democrats 14 (0.8%). Changes are since 2015, not the 2017 by-election in this ward. Eden DC, Hartside: Conservative 175 (52.9%, -3.9%), Independent (Castle-Clark) 98 (29.6%, -13.7%), Green 59 (17.5%). Staffordshire CC, Codsall: Conservative 1274 (67.6%, -7.6%), Green 329 (17.4%, +6.7%), Labour 283 (15.0%, +0.8%). South Staffordshire DC, Codsall South: Conservative 490 (78.8%), Labour 82 (13.2%), Green 50 (8.0%). [Conservatives elected unopposed in 2015 in this ward] Weymouth & Portland BC, Tophill East: Conservative 362 (47.0%, +16.8%), Labour 354 (4...

Readers, the results of the Alyn & Deeside Welsh Assembly by-election were as follows: Sarah Atherton, Conservative, 4,722 (25.4%, +4.4%) Carrie Harper, Plaid Cymru, 1,059 (5.7%, -3.3%) Donna Lalek, Liberal Democrats, 1,176 (6.3%, +1.8%) Duncan Rees, Green Party, 359 (1.9%, -0.5%) Jack Sargeant, Labour, 11,267 (60.7, +14.9%) Early reports claimed the result might be close, but the eventual result was a decisive win for Labour's Jack Sargeant, son of Carl Sargeant whose suicide last year prompted this by-election. UKIP's absence proved more helpful to Labour than the Conservatives, especially in a traditional working-class constituency like Alyn & Deeside. Alyn & Deeside also has a large proportion of English-born residents, relatively few native Welsh speakers, and a lot of the people living here commute to Chester or Liverpool. UKIP also agreed to stand aside if Jack Sargeant was selected, which he was, and UKIP stuck by this. The Conservatives had obta...

The results of yesterday's British local by-elections were as follows: Cornwall UA, Falmouth Smithick: Labour 643 (60.2%, +19.9%), Conservative 184 (17.2%, -7.2%), Liberal Democrats 184 (17.2%, -1.7%), Green 57 (5.3%, -11.3%). Sunderland MBC, Pallion: Liberal Democrats 1251 (53.9%, +50.9%), Labour 807 (34.8%, -13.0%), Conservative 126 (5.4%, -8.9%), UKIP 97 (4.2%, -25.9%), Green 39 (1.7%, -3.1%). Liberal Democrat gain from Labour; all changes are since 2014. The sharp swing to Labour in Falmouth Smithick was expected given the rapidly increasing student population of Falmouth, whose university is renowned for its arts specialism. On the downside, however, this is in turn leading to rapid gentrification of parts of Falmouth and house price rises shutting out many locals looking for housing, as I have explored earlier. Meanwhile in Sunderland, the Liberal Democrat gain was part of a backlash against Labour in Sunderland, who are perceived by some as lazy and corrupt, alt...