British voters turn to the conservatives

bbc | May

[may18]

Iain Duncan Smith hails spectacular Conservative local elections victory

Iain Duncan Smith has hailed the 2003 local government elections as a spectacular victory for the Conservatives.

With some results still to be declared, the party notched up net gains of more than 500 council seats across England, and now controls an extra 27 local authorities throughout the country.

Losing more than 750 seats, the Labour Party suffered its worst result since the "Winter of Discontent" almost 25 years ago, while Liberal Democrat gains were restricted to well under 200 council seats and a couple of local authorities.

In contrast, the Conservatives picked up more than three times as many net seat gains and nine times as many extra councils. While the Liberal Democrats control just 27 councils in the whole of England, the Conservatives won that many overnight.

Among the councils captured from Labour were Castle Point in Essex, East Staffordshire, Erewash in Derbyshire, Thanet in Kent, and Kettering and Wellingborough in Northamptonshire.

Conservatives also took charge in district councils right across England, including Chelmsford, Ashford, Congleton, Cotswold, Guildford, King's Lynn and West Norfolk, Melton, Mendip, Poole, Ribble Valley, Rutland, Salisbury, Scarborough, Selby, Stafford, and Stratford upon Avon and Worcester, where there had been no overall control.

Commenting on the results which were far better than predicted by politicians and pollsters, Mr Duncan Smith said: "This is a spectacular victory for the tens of thousands of local Conservatives who have campaigned tirelessly on local issues across the country."

The party leader said Labour had suffered its worst result since the Winter of Discontent in 1979.

"The Conservatives are now the largest party of local government in Great Britain. More and more people are recognising that Conservatives provide better services and still manage to charge lower taxes - a fair deal for everyone," he added.

Conservative Chairman Theresa May described the local election results as "excellent", and said: "Across England, people rejected the failed management of Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors and elected Conservatives to manage their local services better. By focusing on a campaign of local issues and local action we have shown that we can beat the Government across the country.

"People recognise that Conservatives give people better services but still manage to charge them lower taxes. Our task for the next two to three years is to show people how we can repeat this on a national level."

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It seems people are fed up of labour telling them we should be lax on immigration, be ashamed o fly the flag, and be forced into europe. Roll on the general elections!

May

[KantianBurke]

ping

[wideawake]

Labour Isn't Working.

[may18]

I agree, looks like people are finally making their feelings known

Im hopefull for he next general election, and hopefully another 12 years of thatcher-like policies

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Hallelujah! Good news! The burst of a love for freedom is spreading!

[KC_Conspirator]

I bet this had something to do with many of their ridiculous stands on the war.

[mewzilla]

Oh, parts of Labour are working. For Saddamn. How is Galloway anyway? Still on the loose?

[wideawake]

I suspect that Galloway will never be found liable in any court. But I also suspect that his main sources of funds: libel suits and bribes from dictators, will dry up right quick.

The leftist idiots in his constituency will keep electing him, but he will radioactive within Labour and no one will want to be seen with him.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

There's a lot of Labour people I can't stand. Like Galloway and others of his ilk for instance. But I don't dislike Tony Blair, and he's been a good friend to the USA. However, I'm glad that conservatives are coming back to power in the UK. Since I live in California, I'm hoping to see a similar trend soon, before it's too late here.

[section9]

This sounds promising, but has the Tory Party recovered its strength in the South? Only when that has occured can they begin to advance into the Midlands, the great battlefield of British politics.

Voting on local council elections can be a precursor to later, national results, however.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[MadIvan]

The Tories took back a lot of councils in the South. It was a good night.

Regards, Ivan

[may18]

Update on galloway

he is to be expelled from the party as confirmed by blair, even labour cant condone treason

I dont think its a reaction to war, the tories were more in favour of bush than blair, and are mor euro sceptic

its a reaction to being forced into european policies against 80% of the publics wishes

and being told time after time being proud to be british is racist

Local elections are a good indicator to generals

finger crossed ivan

[section9]

Excellent. They were crushed acrossed England proper in 1997 and again in 2001, in the summer before the attacks. Indeed, 2001 was more devastating, as the Tories should have been able to pick up some marginals in their home ground. Instead, they lost some to the LibDems.

I'm still of the opinion, however, that the Tory Party is two election cycles out from being returned to Government. The decisive issues will remain British sovereignty, the Pound, and Britain's place in Europe.The Tories must remain nationalists!

Be Seeing You,

Chris