Warren Bradley survives leadership challenge to remain as Liverpool Liberal Democrat leader
Liverpool Liberal Democrat leader Warren Bradley and his loyal lieutenant Paul Twigger
Liverpool Liberal Democrat leader Warren Bradley has survived his second leadership challenge in as many years.
Cllr Bradley beat sole challenger Paula Keaveney by just three votes in a knife edge vote at the town hall.
He received 20 votes from Lib-Dem councillors compared to Cllr Keaveney's 17.
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David Bartlett
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The poor poor lib dems
humilated at the polls one week and the utter naked self interest of some of their Cllrs sees Bradley reeelected. Its beyond satire!
Perhaps GB could make a comeback, and he could argue he didnt even lose!
Paula Keaveney would of been a very interesting choice and is a decent sort.
Oh well its not as if almost half his group dont want him....erm
The LibDems must be stark raving bonkers. Paula Keaveney is exactly the Leader they needed to give Joe a hard time. As it stands, they clearly don't get it. The Muppet Tendency dominates in the LibDems as it has done in Labour on occasions. This is Joe's lucky escape! Back to 'yah-boo' politics between two middle-aged blokes, neither in need of a lampshade. Liverpool deserves better. Liverpool NEEDS better!
So Bradley lives to fight another year for the Lib-Dims.
Anderson must be pleased as this can only deliver more seats for Labour.
Warren needs to think further about his pre-election campaigning. Highlighting some parts of the city as "war zones" is not a good vote winner Warren.
This week just gets better and better for Labour in Liverpool! Imagine that - immediately after the elections, you say to the Liv Lab team, 'Now you're in power, I will grant you three wishes'. They'd have said:
1. Colin Hilton to step down.
2. Clegg to go in with Cameron.
3. Liverpool Lib Dems to stick with Bradley.
A bone headed choice, in the literal as well as descriptive sense.
Better for Liverpool Labour? I don't think so.
They wouldn't have won any Council seats at all had it not been for the General Election turnout. Pure luck and nothing more. In fact, the Lib Dems would have actually gained at least two seats overall so best not to brag too much. Hilton's probably decided to go because he knows where the City's heading under a Labour administration. Nowhere.
Scribe
Let me humour you
So for instance in Yewtree ward, where (In non general elections years) your candidates have been soundly beaten in the last two locals. so you are honestly expecting me to believe that you would of held Yewtree this time?
jsut one example, there are countless.
Your statement that the current failed rump of an opposition would have actually gained seats is as risible as its laughable.
I find it shocking that the Liverpool Lib dems are actually complaining about turnout.like 60% of people voting in a local is a bad thing!
Liverpool is Labour- read it and week you Tory loving opportunist losers!
LDW, how do you explain this? In 2008, John Prince got 1370 votes in Yew Tree. This year, Gary Airey got 1788. That's over 500 votes more. You can repeat that across the whole of the City with bigger margins for the Lib Dems. The plain fact is that Labour won control on an "anti-Tory" ticket because of the General Election. Nothing more. In fact, exactly the same thing happened in 1979. This will easily reverse in 12 months time when all those Labour pre-election promises don't actually follow through.
Scribe shows the breathtaking arrogance and stupidity of the Lib Dims. In a nutshell his argument is:
"The Lib dems would have done very well, if, er, people had not voted Labour'.
Its called democracy, stupid. Something which you clearly hold in contempt and which has now rewarded you by chucking you out on your ear.
A great week for Labour. Bradley's re-election is such a gift. He will now stand on the sidelines sniping in his usual bad-tempered and muddle-headed way, without any grace, or having learnt any lessons whatsoever. His behaviour on election night was like that of a spoilt child. The fact that he has literally had to be turfed out of the Leaders office on pain of the police being called, just underlines how unfit for office he is.
He doesnt get it. Never has - and never will.
He may just last another year - unless his personal weaknesses bring him down before.
Give Scribe his due. He follows a long distinguished tradition begun by General Custer. He reckoned the Battle of the Little Bighorn would have been a stroll, were it not for all those Indians.
Good job Tony Concepcion got lots more then isnt it!
Serioulsy Scribe, are you honestly saying in the next local you want less people to vote?
serioulsy?
Scribe, the example you use seems to reveal the size of your delusion. You say that John Prince only got 1370 votes in 2008 yet Gary Airey got 1788 this time (some 500 more). The one statistic you miss is that Tony Conception got 3618 !!
Your argument seems to rest on the idea that in non General Election years the Lib Dems will get their vote out. That is clearly absurd when you consider the results of the last few years. Consider it this way - the Lib Dems knopw that they can only get an extra 1000 votes or so (between 2008 and 2010). Meanwhile Labour has some 2300 votes they can try to turn out.
Your naivety is breathtaking.
Forgive me a moment for what will seem to be an unattractive gloat but in Kensington and Fairfield ward, the local election vote swung 13% towards Labour from LibDem.
It was not merely a case of a bigger turn out. This would of course have resulted in a bigger majority for Labour but the share would have remained the same.
It didn't. Labour's share of the vote in K&F went from 47% or thereabouts to 62%. While the LibDems went from 40something to 29%.
Nothing to do with the General Election turnout and everything to do with a sea-change in what was once David Alton's seat.
Sorry to rain on your parade and am genuinely understanding about your personal loss and pain, Scribe, but it is best to be accurate in comments about the results.
Denial is a powerful human protective force- denial of the world as it actully is- not how someone wants it to be.
Unfortunately for Warren, but fortunately for the Labour party, Warren is in serious denial, and the consequense is to drive him and his supporters further and further away from reality..and all their judgements and behaviours will increasingly distance themselves from reality.A difficulty about denial is that by its very nature someone can't break out of it.
This is why they are no longer relevent to Liverpool and the population. The evidence of this will be more seat losses for them in May next year.
Dear oh dear Louise ! I confidently predict a massive swing to the LibDems in Kenny next May. You are very politically naieve if you believe a word you write !
Of course I believe what I wrote, it was a factual recitation of the result. There was a big swing to Labour from LibDem in the ward, the result cannot be put down only to the increase in turnout. LibDems received less than 30% of the vote, Labour more than 60%. You are a spent force, you may dream of a massive swing to the LibDems but it aint gonna happen.
mrs smith always cheers me up with the relentless lib dem we'll be back spin - sorry darling you havent done your sums
next year The LDs are defending 50 per cent of the wards in Liverpool including such safe seats as Anfield , County, Knotty Ash and CLUBMOOR - you might hold 2 with personal votes and you might possibly win St Michaels but even on your preferred low turn out Clegg and Cables cuts nationally will be front and centre so no recovery there . In 2012 youre defending 12 so little chance there either
No elections in 2013 so 2014 before any possible gains and then as the foreign sec said this week the next General election is going to be on 7 May 2015 - same day as local elections - another pasting for the lib dems there then
and a word for Scribe who correctly mentions that something similar to this year happened in 1979 when locals fell on the same day as a national election- your basis for saying things will unravel in 12 months is false - if your alluding to what happened in 1980 when a lib/con alliance took over in Liverpool and what a miserable 3 year period we endured then it was because in 1980 all the 99 seats in the city were up for grabs on re-drawn boundaries which favoured the Libs and the tories , that wont happen in 2011 - so it cant unravel for the reasons outlined above - never mind scribe opposition isnt always that bad but it does look like 7 years in the wilderness for the Libs - now isnt that a glorious prospect
Lorca - Clubmoor is a Labour ward and returned one of the largest Labour votes in the city this time around.
Interesting to see that lorca fan has taken up clairvoyance now. Labour's honeymoon in Liverpool is, probably, going to very short-lived given the near impossibility of delivering on those pre-election promises. There will be local elections in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. No guarantee there'll be e repeat of having local and general on the same day again, though. The reason why Lib Dems returned to power in 1980 was a public hostile reaction to the disaster of the Militant era and it's bankrupt politics - nothing to do with boundary changes at all. Get your facts right.
Get your facts right? Yes, indeed - start with your own 'facts'. Any 'return to power' by LibDems in 1980 would have had nothing to do with Militant's 'bankrupt politics' because Militant didn't grab power until 1983. They were routed within the Labour Party by 1987, and purged. These are the facts.
thanks for pointing that out Puzzled - youre right Clubmoor is a safe labour seat- i did of course mean Croxteth ward - Councillor Moffatt is still in place last time i checked and that will be a tough one to defend in 2011.
as for our Lib friend look up 1980 - it was down to re- drawing of boundaries and a ridiculous rate rise - given that cant happen on both scores - see the rates freeze announcement by Clegg this week and you can see there will be little to attack Labour about this year and you clearly arent keeping up On Election dates - the foreign secretary clearly stated the next election will be on 7 may 2015 - its part of the plan for fixed term parliaments-again fully supported by his political friends Clegg and Cable
I am, of course, totally confident that Labour is now on the downturn. Revelations about its gross abuse of human rights, financial fiddles, and attempts to grasp Big Brother powers will condemn Labour for many generations to come. Labour is finished, it is a party of the past - there's no way back for Labour. The times they are a changing