Election round-up

May 3 2008 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

ANOTHER election, still much the same party make-up at Kirklees Council.

Of the three major political parties, Tories go up two, Labour down one and the Liberal Democrats rise by one.

Hardly the big breakthrough the Tories need in the north if they are to make headway on the national stage.

Not the disaster suffered by Labour in other parts of the country because of the Brown effect and the ill-advised 10p tax band affair.

And definitely far from a resounding vote of confidence in new Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

British National Party councillor David Exley lost his seat and other candidates from his party did not have the impact they expected, leaving the far right in a declining state in Kirklees politics.

Surprises were minor and, in truth, analysts would be hard put to make anything of the mixed bag of results.

One pleasing aspect was that turnout by voters averaged a healthy 40% and in one ward soared to an unprecedented 50% – despite the absence of any real local issue to set the polls alight.

Look forward now to a few weeks of posturing as local politicians argue over how the council should be run for the next year.

No-one has ever agreed to power-sharing in the past and the assumption must be that the parties will continue to hold to that position.

Conservatives have been at the helm for the past two years and should be allowed to continue, if only on the basis they now have a higher number of seats.