Local elections result in dismay :: Wessex Scene Online

Local elections result in dismay

6th June 2006
Peter Lamb

Rate this story

More by Peter Lamb

May 07 - Anything the French can do...
Jun 06 - Cabinet ins and outs
May 06 - From Union Council to City Council
Apr 06 - Shorthand Politics
Jan 06 - Make your own Society

Despite student candidates running for council positions and a high-profile SUSU campaign, the student turnout in the Southampton 4 May local elections was disappointingly low.

Student candidates ran for each of the three main parties, along with an Alliance for Green Socialism Party candidate. None of the candidates succeeded in winning their ward which, when combined with the low student vote, has raised fears that the Council’s current trend of ignoring students will continue into the near future.

Overall, Southampton City Council has been thrown into deadlock; with the Labour Party gaining one seat from the Liberal Democrats all three parties now hold sixteen representatives on the Council. This goes against predictions that the Conservatives were going to retake the city.

Across the country, however, the Conservatives did make gains taking over three hundred wards and almost seventy councils. David Cameron’s policies have resounded with an electorate tired of what is increasingly seen as Labour rhetoric. The Labour party are quick to point out that similar losses were made in the local elections just a year before they won a third term. Commentators have also noted that in the wake of what many have termed ‘Labour’s Black Wednesday’, the result is not as bad as it might have been. The Liberal Democrats made gains of only two seats, and lost control of several of their strongholds, resulting in speculation that they may have reached the peak of their success. Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Lib Dems, said that the poor election result was a consequence of the problems with Charles Kennedy’s acrimonious resignation as leader earlier in the year rather then a test of his own leadership ability.

Perhaps the most alarming result of the election was the gains made by the BNP, who now hold 32 council seats across the country. Blame has been directed at Margaret Hodge, a Labour MP, for giving the party extra publicity; some think, however, that the trend represents a deeper disillusionment with the perceived similarities of the main three parties. In Southampton the BNP candidate in Bitterne polled almost the same number of votes as the Lib Dem candidate. In other wards some voters wrote BNP on their ballots even though no BNP candidate was standing.

Whatever the effects on national politics, in Southampton the result will have changed little; the balance between the parties now prevents any real changes being made. Students have missed out on an opportunity to have their say in the body which affects them directly, but not for long. The unitary nature of the Council means that next year another third of the seats will be up for re-election, with the possibility of more students standing, and another chance to vote. In the meantime, students can influence the Council by getting involved in local politics and campaigning for what matters to them. Only then will student matters get the level of attention they deserve.