Tom re-elected as Lib Dems make gains
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by Lib Dem team on 21 May, 2021
Despite losing the election and no longer being the largest group, Labour have clung on to power in at Stockport Town Hall thanks to the votes of the 8 Conservative Councillors.
In recent years both Conservatives and Labour have said that the largest group on the council should run the administration, but they changed their minds when the Lib Dems ended up with the most seats.
Thanks to the deal Labour/Tory , Labour will continue running the council for the next year. The Lib Dems will be the main opposition, despite having 26 seats to Labour’s 25.
Other details about who fills each role will be decided at a meeting next week.
“The Lib Dems finished the elections as the largest party, with a clear programme for Stockport. It is disappointing that the Conservatives and Labour chose to do a deal to keep Labour in power. As the main opposition, we will continue to work for local people and hold Labour and Conservatives to account,” said Cllr Iain Roberts.
13 Comments
It’ll be interesting to see what the Tories hope to get out of this support. And what they actually get.
Or maybe, just denying the Lib Dems the running of the Council is enough for them.
John – definitely last comment
Difference between us is that you believe that the MK coalition is OK but Stockport’s isn’t. I believe both are wrong.
As Jeremy says MK’s is progressive but Stockport’s is grubby.
Bruce – You’re absolutely wrong. You are, again, trying to read something into what you hoped I might have posted, rather than what I actually posted.
I do not know enough about the MK situation to be completely sure of the politics. But, from what I do know of what’s in the public domain, I would not agree with the coalition.
The difference between their situation and the Stockport situation is the MK councillors are being open what what they have agreed and why. When Stockport’s Labour and Tory groups do likewise, they will warrant something other than derision.
Iain – would you you like to inform your constituents what your party’s councillors did in Milton Keynes where the Conservatives were the largest party?
Hi Bruce and Iain
I think you’re missing the point Bruce. What’s happening elsewhere is irrelevant to the issue here in Stockport (elsewhere you’ll find all the different ways power is negotiated and shared or denied). The issue here is about the breach of an agreed convention, that goes back years in Stockport, including as demonstrated by the LibDems here in 2016 when they ceded power to Labour when they ‘just’ became the largest party. What is lacking here is the transparency on what the deal is that sees Tories propping up Labour in the absence of a formal coalition. It will continue to feel like a “grubby little deal” without further clarity.
Jeremy – it doesn’t matter what euphemisms you use, or how you spin it, the group with the largest number of councillors have been denied control in both councils.
Oh, what’s happened in Milton Keynes is very open and well reported. The second and third parties (Labour and Lib Dems) have agreed to run the council as the “Progressive Alliance” in a formal coalition. I suppose a coalition such as the one that we had in central government between the Tories and the Lib Dems from 2010 to 2015.
All a bit different to what’s gone on in Stockport where we have no idea what the Tories hope to get out of keeping Labour in control. Let’s hope that Bramhall’s six Tory councillors (and their other two) are telling their electorate what they’ve been up to and why.
Here’s a link to the local Milton Keynes Labour Party explaining what they’ve agreed:-
https://www.mklabour.org.uk/news/2021/05/14/people-above-politics-new-progressive-alliance-to-run-mk-council/
John
For once, please remove your orange tinted spectacles.
As I replied to Jeremy it doesn’t matter what euphemisms you use, or how you spin it, the group with the largest number of councillors have been denied control in both councils.
My comments are pure fact – you cant argue with that.
Bruce – as you know I wear Green tinted specs. I got rid of the orange ones years back when I could see that they were becoming quite blue.
But you havent actually properly read my posts to this thread. Or, at least, you reading what you hoped I’d written instead of what i had actually written.
Nowhere do I say I generally approve of coalitions – when you get into bed with someone, you often get screwed. Nor do I approve of conventions being ignored for petty reasons. I simply point out the practical differences between what seems to be an open process in Milton Keynes between Labour and the Lib Dems and what may prove to be a grubby little deal here in Stockport between Labour and the Tories. You can try and spin that as much as you like – but what your party is doing here is plain to see by everyone.
John – I don’t agree with them either and I believe the lib Dems should have control.
You are biased against the Torres and when was the last time you voted Green?
As I said – my comments are fact – yours are opinions and spin .
Of course, I’m biased against the Tories – I doubt whether anyone who has read this blog for even a short time would be in any doubt of that. They are almost at the opposite end of the political spectrum to my own views. Generally I detest their policies and, certainly, the guiding principles of the current government. People like that have never done anything positive for people like me.
Why are you interested in when I last voted Green? It’s an impertinent question. You have previously asked me why I wasnt voting Green at the last local elections and I gave you a very specific answer. As for general elections, the Greens have not had a candidate here since we moved to the area in the early 1980s, so a vote for them here would have been impossible. As I said to you on the earlier occasion, if they have a candidate next time, s/he will have my vote.
I see you accept that the Lib Dems should be in control of the council. I think that means all of the current contributors to the thread are of the same mind. That’s a rare achievement.
As a socialist I’m ashamed that Labour would ever side with this lot even at a local level. Even more so that they have chosen to do it via a breach in accepted convention.
Alan – I don’t necessarily agree with your politics but I respect you for not trying to spin it.