Labour have increased their control of Sefton Council, increasing their number of seats from 48 to 49 of the 766 available after voting in the Local Elections yesterday (Thursday 2nd May 2024).
It was a great result for new Sefton Council Leader Cllr Marion Atkinson, who was fighting her first Local Election having taken up the position earlier this year.
Labour won 54% of the votes cast, with 17% for the Lib Dems, 15% for the Conservatives and 6% for the Greens.
Speaking last night, Cllr Atkinson said: “It was hard work. We worked for every single vote, we tried our hardest.
“Lots of things were coming up on the doorstep. The cost of living crisis, all the challenges in local government in relation to the cuts that Sefton Council has had – over 52% of our money has gone – so people are well aware that we need to get rid of the Tories.”
A third of Sefton’s seats were being contested.
Sefton Council is currently leading on a number of Sefton-wide regeneration projects, including building the new Marine Lake Events Centre in Southport, the new Southport Enterprise Arcade, creating the new Salt and Tar events space in Bootle and remodelling The Strand shopping area in Bootle.
The ruling Labour party got off to a flying start, gaining the Park ward, which had previously been held by an independent councillor. Labour’s Chloe Parker landed a hefty majority to take the seat.
Labour made some huge wins in the Bootle and Sefton Central parts of the borough, which saw them take Harington Ward in Formby from Conservative Joe Riley. Karen Cavanagh won the seat by more than 600 votes.
Conservative Leader Mike Prendergast retained his seat in Dukes Ward, which leaves the party with four seats on Sefton Council.
It was an historic night for the Green Party, which saw its first Sefton councillor elected as Neil Doolin won Church Ward from long-term Labour councillor Paul Cummins with 1,412 votes to Labour’s 1,307.
Speaking after the surprise win, Cllr Doolin said the result had been a “long time coming” and thanked those that had voted for him.
The Liberal Democrats performed well in Southport, winning three seats and regaining Cambridge Ward thanks to Mike Sammon, while Cllr Lynne Thompson held Ainsdale.
The Lib Dems earned the most votes across Southport, with 8,466. (37.3%) against Labour 7,916 (34.9 %), Conservatives 4,911 (21.6%) and Green 1,410 (6.2%).
It suggests the Liberal Democrats will make a serious bid to try and regain Southport as a Parliamentary seat which was previously held by Lib Dem MPs including John Pugh and Ronnie Fearn.
“This is a vote of confidence in the Lib Dems at local level,” said Cllr John Pugh, opposition leader on Sefton Council, “and shows that the real contest for the forthcoming General Election in Southport is between Liberal Democrats and Labour.
“To make it more remarkable our campaign has been plagued with injuries. Constituency agent Cllr Lloyd-Johnson was laid out throughout the campaign with complications following a burst appendix, one candidate ended up in A&E, another ended up on crutches and I destroyed my front tooth falling on concrete. Makes you wonder if we hadn’t been so accident prone how much better we could have done!
“Our message that Southport has lost its voice and is losing its heritage clearly has an audience and that is reflected in the voting – particularly in Kew where Dan Lewis’ campaign for the restoration and re-opening of Southport Pier almost doubled the Lib Dem vote and nearly won the seat.”
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