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The Conservatives have retained a seat on Lichfield District Council at a by-election.
Richard Cross won in the Armitage with Handsacre ward after receiving 458 votes.
Labour rival Mark Pritchard lost out after securing 301 votes.
The by-election had been called due to the resignation of Nick Binney, who stepped down following a decision to move out of the area.
More of the same.
It really beggars belief that people are still voting in Tories after all that has happened locally and nationally. I despair.
@John Griffin… Sadly so. Party loyalty is always a prerequisite over local considerations by the Tories. They somehow coerce their followers by clever presentation. As we see too often the actual delivery is far short of the promises.
Party politics should be for Westminster. Local needs should be more autonomous and not driven by government dictates.
Look at the ward profile – no big surprise it stayed Conservative – and locally the opposition parties talk a good fight but rarely deliver.
The Shropshire North result is far more significant – more of a reflection of national feeling and the fact a seemingly rock solid Conservative stronghold (20k majority and held for 200 years by the party) could be over-turned for a 6k winning margin.
I agree that a lot of national issues are mirrored locally. But this result and Shropshire North needs to act as a wake up call for local opposition parties. They need to be smarter and more co-ordinated in their opposition and the way they communicate with us.
Arguably – aside from the LDC leader and usual suspects like Sue Woodward – the local councillor with the highest profile and “approval rating” is an independent who it seems looks at individual issues without a particular party slant and invariably gets a lot of support for what she says and calls for. What does that tell you?
Tory party was set up as the party of aristocracy that is the party of the wealthy few to keep the rest in their place. The word Tory is from old Irish and means Robber,says it all
what percentage of the village population even bothered to vote
Boo hoo for Labour.