Let’s get on with getting the Tories out

The average voter turnout was about 30% -incredibly low. So geographically as well as in absolute numbers, the results are hardly representative of voting intentions in the General Election.

While the Tories may have gained a big number of councillors, the majority of those councils were already in overall Tory control, so there hasn’t really been any real shift in local power.

Labour smashed it in Mayoral elections, winning 4 Mayoral elections all on the first round. 2 (of 4) of Tory mayoral wins were won in the second round and propped up by the Lib Dem vote. Once again making the case as clear as day that a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote for the Tories. So please give the tactical voting and progressive alliance nonsense a rest.

Labour did very well in northern England. UKIP have been decimated, losing 109 out of 110 council seats. Put that into your Brexit analysis *cough*.

Local councillors are elected significantly more on a personal basis over Party politics. 648 “other” (Independents, Greens etc) councillors were elected – 15% of the seats. In the 2015 General Election, the Other vote (which also included UKIP) represented 0.02% of seats won. That should give you an idea of the scale of difference between local and national elections.

Note to Blairite Labour councillors: I understand not setting illegal budgets, but if you put through cuts without protest and package them as you making a brave decision, don’t be surprised that people don’t vote for you.

Finally, let’s be real about the media response. If Labour had made gains it wouldn’t have been enough. So don’t buy the line, the headlines would have been criticising Jeremy Corbyn today whatever the result.

All in all, this changes nothing in the run-up to the General Election. If anything, the latest voting intention projections on the back of the local elections puts Labour only 11% behind the Tories and brings the Tories under the 40% mark. So let’s get on with it and get the #ToriesOut.

#VoteLabour #JC4PM