Four in Ten Council Seats Have No Labour Candidate

I'm in the middle of writing my Eastern Daily Press column on the lack of council candidates. I've done an analysis of Norfolk councils, which I will share with you later. In the meantime I have just received a timely press release from the Conservatives which highlights the problems which exist for Labour, and also the LibDems, in these elections. Their activists seem to be turning their backs on their parties. The main problem area for the Conservatives is the North East, where only 53% of seats are being contested, although this is 8% up on 2004. This is the text of the release from CCHQ. I post it in full as it is full of fascinating stats!

"Tony Blair and Gordon Brown face the hard truth that their Party’s organisation
is crumbling following the publication of new analysis showing that Labour has
failed to find town hall candidates for 40 per cent of all the council seats up
for election in May’s English local elections. This is the lowest number of
candidates fielded by any Party of government at this particular election cycle.
By contrast, Conservatives are fielding a record number of council
candidates.

Detailed number-crunching of all the 10,000+ council seats up for election, based on the lists of nominations published by each local authority, shows:

· Labour are only contesting 60.6 per cent (6,360) of all the seats up for election (5% down on last time). There is no nomination fee for local elections and just 10 local signatures are needed to sponsor a candidate.
· Conservatives are contesting 88 per cent of seats (9,264) – the best ever performance in these seats.
· Liberal Democrats are contesting just 64 per cent (6,667) – only marginally better than Labour (only a tiny improvement on last time)
· The BNP are running 717 candidates and UKIP 805 candidates (less than the 1,000+ they claimed earlier this week).
· Disappointingly the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats have not met the challenge posed by the BNP at these elections. Conservatives are contesting 96.7 per cent of town hall seats against the BNP, with Labour failing to run candidates against the BNP in 47 wards (6.6 per cent) and Liberal Democrats giving the BNP a free run in 129 wards(18 per cent).

Labour
Labour are fighting a lower proportion than four years ago. Labour candidates are contesting 6,360, or 60.6 per cent, of the seats. This is a significantly lower proportion than four years ago, when they contested 65.6 per cent of the seats. Labour are fighting a lower proportion of the seats up for election than Conservatives managed in the ‘low point’ of 1995.

Conservatives
Conservatives are fighting a higher proportion of the seats up for election than ever before. Conservative candidates are contesting 9,264, or 88.3 per cent, of the 10,491 seats up for election. This is our best ever performance in these seats. Four years ago, when most of these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 83.5 per cent of the seats.

The lack of Labour candidates potentially makes the local elections harder for Conservatives in CON-LIBDEM areas where Conservatives previously did not obtain more than half of the vote share.

Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrat candidates are contesting 6,667, or 63.5 per cent, of the seats. This is only a slightly higher proportion than four years ago, when they contested 63.2 per cent of the seats.

BNP and UKIP
BNP are contesting 717, or 6.8 per cent of the seats and UKIP are contesting 805 seats, 7.7 per cent. UKIP’s nominations are below the “more than 1,000” they pledged to run earlier this week. Conservatives have sought to ensure we are running candidates against the BNP; there are just 24 seats with a BNP candidate but no Conservative candidate; this compared to 47 Labour and 129 Liberal Democrat seats.

Green Party
Green candidates are contesting 1,394, or 13.3 per cent of the seats, compared with 9.4 per cent four years ago

REGIONAL BREAKDOWNS

East of England
Conservative candidates are contesting 1,401, or 96.1 per cent, of the 1,458 seats up for election in the East. Four years ago, when these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 92.4 per cent of the seats.
Labour are contesting 906, or 62.1 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 993, or 68.1 per cent.

East Midlands
Conservative candidates are contesting 1,263, or 82.6 per cent, of the 1,529 seats up for election in the East Midlands. Four years ago, when these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 78.9 per cent of the seats. Labour are contesting 1,022, or 66.8 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 667, or 43.6 per cent.

North East
Conservative candidates are contesting 477, or 53.2 per cent, of the 897 seats up for election in the North East. Four years ago, when these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 45.2 per cent of the seats. Labour are contesting 745, or 83.1 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 484, or 54.0 per cent.

North West
Conservative candidates are contesting 1031, or 89.9 per cent, of the 1,147 seats up for election in the North West. Four years ago, when these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 81.1 per cent of the seats. Labour are contesting 920, or 80.2 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 645, or 56.2 per cent.

South East
Conservative candidates are contesting 2,082, or 98.4 per cent, of the 2,116 seats up for election in the South East. Four years ago, when these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 96.6 per cent of the seats. Labour are contesting 1,115, or 52.7 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 1,635, or 77.2 per cent.

South West
Conservative candidates are contesting 1,494, or 88.2 per cent, of the 1,693 seats up for election in the South West. Four years ago, when these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 82.0 per cent of the seats. Labour are contesting 587, or 34.7 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 1,304, or 77.0 per cent.

West Midlands
Conservative candidates are contesting 932, or 91.6 per cent, of the 1,017 seats up for election in the West Midlands. Four years ago, when these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 88.2 per cent of the seats. Labour are contesting 612, or 60.2 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 540, or 53.1 per cent.

Yorkshire & Humber
Conservative candidates are contesting 584, or 92.1 per cent, of the 634 seats up for election in Yorkshire & Humber. Four years ago, when these seats were last up for election, Conservatives contested 86.8 per cent of the seats. Labour are contesting 543, or 71.5 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 399, or 62.9 per cent."