Significant Shift

At the start of the day the Wakefield Labour Group comprised 40 members at the end of today they had only 32. The opposition group comprised 22 and now there are 31, 23 of which are Conservatives.

Close but no cigar. The Labour Block vote will still push things through, probably the new Labour Mayor will have to use their casting vote to get things done that we are not in agreement with. However keeping track of who is around for votes suddenly becomes a new challenge for them, made a bit more difficult because of the loss of the Labour Chief Whip. The next chance to change that will be in 2010 or possibly earlier if we get any Labour seats coming up for a by-election.

But for these last hectic days congratulations to Mark Crowther and Phil Thomas who bring the number of Conservative Councillors in Pontefract to four for the first time in 34 years. Also to Richard Molloy who the electorate of Ackworth voted in and the current WMDC Mayor was voted out in the process.

Welcome to Conservatives: Susan Lodge in Crofton, Ryhill and Walton, Graham Jesty in Horbury and South Ossett, Terry Brown in Ossett and Simon Wilson in Stanley and Outwood East.

Not forgetting new colleagues John Colley in Wakefield Rural Ward and Annemarie Glover in Wrenthorpe and Outwood West.

Commiserations to Richard Wakefield, Gordon Tennant, Mellissa Wan,Tom Dixon, Eamonn Mullins and Graham Ridler. Hard and well fought campaigns in each and every case.

Also whilst this may start to seem like an Oscar ceremony speech, heres to the teams of people and the individuals who went out in all weathers to deliver electoral messages and leaflets, you know who you are, wonderfully done, thank you one and all.

For a number of former members of the Labour Group it stops here, some will be missed certainly more than others and the Leader of the Council that the Labour Group Elect at their meeting on Saturday Morning will have to really shuffle things about to replace the lost talent.

On the national scene things are changing and even in this part of the country once very much a Labour Rump we have fresh options to consider and stuff to do.

The results can be found here and here at the Wakefield Express.

Further thanks to all who got involved in this democratic process, the electoral staff who patiently sat for 14 hours at the polling stations to see that people were correctly logged in and got to vote, to the counting Agents and the staff at Thornes Park who hosted the actual count itself and for the people of the district who sent off their postal ballots or walked to their polling stations including the many who went out for the first time and voted.

Finally perhaps a thank you that may not be well received, for Gordon Brown and our local MP's who have so focussed on Gordon's needs and forgotten the needs of their electorate in the process.