In last week's elections the Tory candidate in the Tarleton ward in South Ribble, John Mee, got 88 per cent of the vote in a straight fight with Labour. Can anyone beat that vote share in a Con-Lab fight?
South Ribble is a Labour marginal. David Borrow, the Labour MP for the area, was last seen heading for M and S in search of a new pair of underpants.
Mike O'Brien looked a bit ashen as he watched the count at Nuneaton Town Hall on Thursday night too. His constituency of N Warks is next door and went Conservative at the last local election in 2007. They used to weigh the Labour votes in this neck of the woods and have returned a Labour council since 1973. No longer - its an almost dead cert that both his constituency and Nuneaton will go Conservative at the General Election. Cameron made a big impression locally when he visited during the campaign and toured the town centre with the local Conservative PPC _ Simon Rouse and in a Labour stronghold that should tell you something about how Brown is perceived hereabouts
ReplyDeleteI grew up in South Ribble. Classic working class respectable tory voters. They're back in the fold...
ReplyDeleteIn 1976 I received 95% of the vote in a direct fight with Labour on a 55% turnout in my rural ward of North Bedfordshire (now known as Bedford) May I claim a cream cake as my reward?
ReplyDeleteIn 1976 I received 95% of the vote in a direct fight with Labour on a 55% turnout in my rural ward of North Bedfordshire (now known as Bedford) May I claim a cream cake as my reward?
ReplyDeleteTarleton is rural Lancashire and has always been Conservative. I'm surprised it was only 88%.
ReplyDeleteWho will be the first MP to defect Labour -> Conservative ?
ReplyDeleteI can't beat it, but from Cardiff I can offer you this ....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.akserps.net/akscardiff/election/2008LocalElection/LIS.html
The Tory won 79.9% in a 3-way "fight".
Man in a shed,
ReplyDeleteQuentin Davies?
UPDATE... sorry, the URL for the Cardiff ward is
ReplyDeletehttp://www.akserps.net/akscardiff/election/2008LocalElection/LIS.html
BadgerBoy
Actually Iain we can beat that in Rugby. Adrian Warwick our candidate in Wolvey Ward in a staight fight with Labour polled 695 votes out of a total of 759, 91.5% of the vote. Shows the strength of feeling here.
ReplyDeleteCan't quite beat it, but North Tyneside, St Mary's ward, Conservatives got 83% in a straight fight with Labour.
ReplyDeleteAnd on a 55% turnout too!
And what will the Conservative and Unionist party do for the English?
ReplyDeleteGive us our own Parliament? Or even a vote on the issue? No.
Scrap the Barnett Formula? Or even discuss the issue? No.
Useless.
Why do you cut a comment from someone who lives near to Tarleton, Iain?
ReplyDeleteIt's not like I've insulted anyone.
Strange...
I haven't cut any comments from this thread.
ReplyDeleteOkay Iain, I'll put it down to good old Blogger word verification...
ReplyDeleteMy comment about Tarleton was that it shouldn't be grouped into the Preston / South Ribble category.
It's a funny (but very agreeable) village that's grown into a commuter satellite for Southport and Preston.
I'm amazed there was a Labour candidate here at all. What happened to the Lib Dem?
Is this mild enough to pass comment moderation?
If so, can I just add that I think Chris Paul is a complete and utter C***?
I know we're talking Con/Lab fights, but for Con/LD, can anyone beat the 82% by Peter Bloomfield in Darwin ward, L.B.Bromley, in 2002? Darwin also has the distinction of being the only single member ward in Greater London.
ReplyDelete