Labour hold Fazakerley in by-election, BNP rejected
Twitter is currently alive with the news of Labour holding the Fazakerley by-election in Liverpool.
There had been genuine fears that the BNP might come second, but alas they did worse than in 2008 which is great news.
The campaign got particularly nasty just hours before the polls closed. A mob of about a dozen BNP supporters rocked up outside former Lord Mayor Steve Rotheram's house.
The full story will be in tomorrow's ECHO. Click HERE to read the story.
Clearly both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have worked really hard, so well done.
But it is pleasing to see that the BNP has been so categorically rejected by the good people of Fazakerley.
Result thanks to @cllrpaultwigger LAB HOLD - Lab 1525, Lib Dem 807, BNP 234, Green 84
If you're wondering why there was no Conservative candidate, I'm reliably informed they failed to get their nomination papers in on time.
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David Bartlett
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An excellent result for us (the Lib Dems).
A 30% increase in our vote, and a clear decrease in Labour's support in what is an extremely strong Labour ward.
On a different note, I was truly appaulled to hear about some of the intimidation tactics used by the BNP, particularly directed towards members of the Labour party.
I think a decrease in support for the BNP speaks for itself.
Now after such a loooong day I am off to bed!
I am nearly sure that when Dave Hanratty stood in 2006, same year as me, he only won by about 150 votes over the LibDems, so I would not think of Fazakerley as "an extremely strong Labour ward" particularly Gerard, but perhaps you were not aware of that?
This is a great result, Labour elects a local young Mum, proving once again that the party in Liverpool continues to attract candidates representative of a wider population. The days of councillors tending to be middle-aged men is on the wane now - Labour's benches have 19 women and 20 men. And the average age of our benches improves all the time. Certainly it must be considerably younger than that of the LibDems, it would be interesting to see a comparison some time if such data is collected. We must learn to be become as successful in tackling the ethnicity representation.
Given that Cllr Spriggs had a 1200 majority and had 68% of the vote, I considered this an extremely strong Labour ward. Perhaps I'm wrong, Louise.
I was also basing my calculation on the most recent, 2008 results - when Cllr. Spriggs was last elect, so it seemed wholly appropriate to make a comparison to that result, rather than 2006.
I have to admit, I was wrong about the percentage. It wasn't 30%. It was in fact 34% - but enough pedantry!
The upcoming local elections in May will be facinating - in all parts of the city. It's Cllr. Hanratty who is up for election this year, isn't it?
I totally agree with you about the representation of ethnicity, particularly when you consider the collaged BME figures for the city.
I hope Cllr. Rotheram and family are not too shaken up by the outrageous attack on them. I know only too well what its like to be targeted by the BNP, so we can at least toast the fall in their vote.