COUNCIL ELECTIONS: Newport turns red as Labour takes control (From South Wales Argus)
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COUNCIL ELECTIONS: Newport turns red as Labour takes control
10:25pm Friday 4th May 2012 in Election news
A NAIL-BITING third count brought the council elections to a close in Newport this afternoon.
Former Deputy leader, Ed Townsend of the Liberal Democrats survived by a single vote to become the party's sole remaining representative on Newport City Council.
The St Juilans recount secured a seat for Rhys Hutchings, better known as part of GLC.
Before this dramatic finish, it was a night of celebration for Labour in Newport as they reclaimed the city from the Tory-Lib Dem coalition.
Supporters whooped and cheered as seats across the city turned from blue and yellow to red.
Former Conservative strongholds, such as Rogerstone and Stow Hill, were claimed by Labour, along with the former Lib Dem-led ward of Beechwood, which saw several cabinet members lose their seats.
Among them were Tories Peter Davies and William Routley, and Liberal Democrats David Hando and Mike Hamilton.
Lib Dem leader Ed Towns-end only found out his fate late yesterday afternoon after three recounts were held for the St Julians ward amid talk there was only one vote between two candidates.
He scrapped to victory by just one vote to retain his seat as the only Lib Dem councillor after Labour candidates Goldie Lookin Chain rapper Rhys Hutchings and Emma Garland stormed to victory and ousted Carmel Townsend and Gill Ford.
Cllr Hutchings joked he hadn't worked as hard since completing his Duke of Edinburgh award when he was 15.
But, on a serious note, he added his aim was to give something back to Newport and get young people interested in politics.
When asked what his GLC bandmates thought of him standing for election, he said they were "coming round to the idea of politics" and may all decide to stand at the next election.
Labour leader Bob Bright was "too tired" to speak to the Argus on the night and went home before the results of last few wards were declared.
Yesterday, a refreshed Cllr Bright told the Argus he was "unavailable" for comment at the St Julians recount.
Outgoing council leader Matthew Evans said he was "disappointed" the Conser-vatives had lost seven seats, but vowed to continue to work for a better Newport.
He said: "The odds were heavily stacked against us.
"Clearly we are disappointed, but I don't have any regrets. We have got to be positive about the future.
"We have had some young, enthusiastic candidates standing for the first time and they will be back to fight another day."
The Allt-yr-yn councillor said his administration had left a lasting legacy in Newport, citing the £21 million road improvement scheme Project 21 as just one of its successes.
But he said the number-one priority now must be the £100 million Friars Walk development set to transform John Frost Square.
He said: "We (the Conservatives) will do anything to assist to ensure this development progresses."
The current council make up is 35 to Labour, ten to Conservatives and two independents.
Three seats in the St Julians ward, currently held by Lib Dems, will be declared later today.
The turnout was 33.89 per cent.
Comments(22)
james.dyer7@ntlworld.com
says...
5:48am Sat 5 May 12
Málpasboy
says...
8:22am Sat 5 May 12
Well done Labour but must do better...
chris227
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9:21pm Sat 5 May 12
PaulHalliday
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9:49pm Sat 5 May 12
It's true that the town centre is a mess, but it can't be put down to just 4 years of neglect. Let's not forget the state it was in 4 years ago. With a major recession the city centre could have been in a much worse state.
5 years is a long time. Let's hope labour doesn't try and blame all there mistakes on just an administration that was in charge for 4 years.
james.dyer7@ntlworld.com
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11:44pm Sat 5 May 12
chris227
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11:17am Sun 6 May 12
Dai37
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5:40pm Sun 6 May 12
I am in business and I can tell you things have never been so bad around here, without businesses generating the jobs and money to spend, then you can kiss goodbye to the town.
Incredible result, but nobody ever lost a fortune by overestimating the intelligence of the electorate, will the last business leaving please turn out the lights.
james.dyer7@ntlworld.com
says...
5:50pm Sun 6 May 12
Cymru Am Beth
says...
3:50pm Mon 7 May 12
The people of Newport have very short memories.
The 'tax and spend' party have been rewarded after 13 years of messing up the Country.
Unfortunately, the benefits culture is embedded in the psyche of most people in Wales.
They do not accept that we cannot spend what we don't have.
If Labour get into power at the next General Election, it will be back to the madness of mass immigration and non-jobs, leaving us in a bigger mess than we are now.
ebbwdragon
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3:55pm Tue 8 May 12
As for Non-jobs Beth are you watching whats happening right now in our country?
Dee-Gee
says...
4:58pm Tue 8 May 12
The global financial crisis was caused by banks lending money to anyone Tom, Dick or Harry who asked, securing the debt against assets (like houses) that had grossly exaggerated value. Then they packed these loans all together in a bundle, call them "derivatives" and get their pals at the rating agencies to give them an AAA+ rating. Then they swapped them with other banks, thinking that they were getting good assets in return for their rubbish ones. Unfortunately, they were ALL at it.
When this was exposed for the sham it was, the shock nearly caused every major bank on the planet to fail. We were hours away from having no cash in the cash machines on Monday morning.
So governments all over the world gave TRILLIONS to the banks to stop that from happening. That's why we have massive national debt.
Not because "Labour got us into this mess". That's politics, not economics and they bloody well know it, too.
ebbwdragon
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8:05pm Tue 8 May 12
Dai37
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9:28pm Wed 9 May 12
How much borrowed on second mortgages, to fund an affluent lifestyle and to buy yet more property.
How often in conversation in those heady times did you hear about how much their propertys had risen. Now this unsustainable madness has crashed, it is all the bankers fault.
You will find in many of these posts a complete lack of personal responsibility it is always the government/schools /social security/ councils fault.
Litter on the streets! councils fault, not the lazy dirty public. Obesity! health services fault, not the greedy scoffers with no self control.
Unemployment! governments fault. Not the vast numbers of unqualified,uneducat
ed mass of unemployable workers, who believe that life owes them a living, and are unwilling to do any job that does not pay them more than benefits.
Before my computer goes into meltdown with hate mail, I am generalising, however I feel that the only time people are forced to recognise their responsibility is if they appear before a court. Only then do they have to face the reality of their responsibility for their actions.
james.dyer7@ntlworld.com
says...
11:10pm Wed 9 May 12
Dai37
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11:33pm Wed 9 May 12
Dai37
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11:39pm Wed 9 May 12
james.dyer7@ntlworld.com
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1:51am Thu 10 May 12
CM1
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9:58pm Thu 10 May 12
CM1
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10:05pm Thu 10 May 12
james.dyer7@ntlworld.com
says...
12:40am Fri 11 May 12
Dee-Gee
says...
9:59am Fri 11 May 12
CM1 - I'm sorry if I come across as arrogant, but facts are facts, politically inconvenient or not. The only role the British - or any other - government played in the GFC was failure to regulate the banking sector enough. You don't need unquestionable insight for that - it's maths, not philosophy. Money went from A to B via C, etc.
Good article on it below - alternatively, most newspapers and the BBC have a timeline of the crisis. No matter which one you read, you'll see it starts with the collapse of the US housing market and the banks that were dependent on it, and spreads like wildfire from there.
http://cje.oxfordjou
rnals.org/content/33
/4/563.full
Dee-Gee says...
11:53pm Fri 4 May 12
Newport deserves *adults* in charge. Please ensure we get them.