Cllr Sue Woodward
Cllr Sue Woodward

Lichfield and Burntwood Labour councillors felt the force of a national backlash at the local elections, according to the new leader of the local group.

Cllr Sue Woodward is one of just four Labour representatives in the 47-seat chamber at Lichfield District Council.

A number of prominent figures – including Don Isaacs and former leader Steve Norman – all missed out on a seat as the Conservatives made their mark in Burntwood – a traditional safe area for Labour.

Cllr Sue Woodward
Cllr Sue Woodward

But Cllr Woodward believes the bigger picture hampered her party at a local level.

“Because of the big national swing to the Conservatives and the emergence of UKIP, people were going out and making a point nationally and we got caught up in that backlash.

“We have to take it on the chin, accept it as a democratic mandate and move on from there.”

Cllr Woodward’s Chase Terrace ward was one of the few highlights for Labour in the elections as she and colleague Eric Drinkwater were elected.

But she admitted the fight had been a tough one – and said the party must regroup and work hard to make sure voters recognise the efforts of their councillors.

Eric Drinkwater
Eric Drinkwater

“It wasn’t easy for us,” she said. “Even myself and Eric only had a very slender majority.

“Both of us have been active councillors. We’ve delivered regular newsletters, street surgeries and advice surgeries every month since first elected.

“We’ve done our work as councillors well and made some waves on behalf of the residents of Chase Terrace. But even so, it was a very slender majority.

“There can be no room for complacency.

“As a local party, we’ve made decisions and set out our stall amongst ourselves which will emerge over the next few months.

“We want to be as effective an opposition as we can be.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.