Labour lost three seats in Wirral Council’s elections on Thursday, putting the council on even more of a knife-edge than it was already on.
However, the party gained two seats, picking one up from a councillor who defected from Labour after being elected in Rock Ferry in 2018 before standing down, as well as a seat in Leasowe and Moreton East which was previously vacant, meaning it is still the largest party in Wirral, two seats ahead of the Conservatives. After a tense night, in which Labour boosted its vote share compared to 2021 and 2019 but lost key seats, all sides were trying to claim the night was a success for them.
Labour and the Tories passed a controversial £20m cuts package in February, something the Greens and the Lib Dems opposed. Thursday’s vote gave electors a chance to cast their verdict on this and national issues such as ‘Partygate’ and the cost of living crisis.
READ MORE: Local elections 2022: Labour clinging on in Wirral after another bruising night
While some progress was made by the Conservatives, who gained a seat from Labour, and the Greens, who gained two seats from Labour, working out what the verdict of the electorate was can be a tough task in Wirral. After last night, no party has a majority. Labour is the largest group on 26 seats, followed by the Conservatives on 24, the Greens on nine and the Lib Dems on six.
While Labour will point to its increased vote share as evidence its message is getting across in Wirral, the party will have to negotiate even more with other parties to get its plans through and both the Conservatives and the Greens will claim a renewed mandate to argue more strongly for their policies. Next year, all 66 of Wirral’s seats will be contested as the council moves to so-called ‘all out elections’.
Here is what each group made of yesterday’s results.
Labour
Cllr Janette Williamson, leader of Wirral Council, said losing seats was disappointing for her party, but that Labour gained Rock Ferry from an Independent. She thought the story of the night was the "collapse" in the Conservative vote and the close races between Labour and the Conservatives in places such as Greasby, Frankby and Irby and Wallasey.
The council leader said the party had a huge opportunity to take Conservative seats such as the above next year. Cllr Williamson also criticised the Greens. She said that while campaigning against council cuts was an easy sell on the doorstep it was not the right thing to be doing, saying the Greens did not take part in the budget setting process.
Conservatives
Cllr Tom Anderson, leader of the council’s Conservative group, said: “Last night saw encouraging results for Conservatives across the borough, we held all our seats and took the key marginal ward of Pensby and Thingwall, slashing Labour’s majority on the council to just two seats. This was a bad night for the Labour Party who have yet again lost more seats and have only just clung on to being the largest party.
“I want to thank voters for putting their trust in our candidates. They know Conservative councillors work hard all year round to deliver what residents tell us is important to them. They want a clean, green and pleasant environment.
“They want Wirral’s precious green belt protected and their roads and pavements maintained and repaired. But there is no doubt challenges remain.
“After years and years of Labour’s financial mismanagement and appalling governance, we are rightly under close scrutiny from the government. We now have to deliver a Local Plan that does protect our green belt from developers.”
Green Party
Cllr Pat Cleary, leader of the Wirral Green Party, said: “I’m over the moon, really pleased, this is a fantastic set of results. Almost one in five people (19%) voted Green across the borough.
“That shows Wirral Council needs to do more to support people in the borough, the budget (featuring the £20m worth of cuts) only makes things worse. We will continue to work hard to make Wirral a great place to live for local people.”
Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dem group leader, Cllr Phil Gilchrist, said: “We now have a solid base to build on for next year. Our year round work puts us in a good position. We easily held our strongholds.
Both Allan Brame and Chris Carubia secured increased majorities. Lucy Johnson stormed into second place in Heswall, just 299 votes short of victory. The Tories used to have huge majorities there, often thousands of votes ahead of us.
“The tables have been turned. Wirral is in a financial straitjacket, bound by the budget set by the Labour and Conservatives this year. Yes, Wirral is even more finely balanced but must be run fairly.
“We are in uncharted waters but we have the experience to steer a course through the rocks ahead. We’ll be constructive. Even so we have a mandate to oppose measures that are not in the best interests of Wirral’s people.”
