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Post by greenchristian on Sept 23, 2022 15:04:13 GMT
Well we do know about the bin dispute, though that was settled a while ago and Labour didn't perform dreadfully in May's elections given it was still going then. They only just held on in this Ward in May however (majority down to 35), with a long-ish serving councillor whose father and brother had both been councillors, so maybe had some personal support that just made the difference. The Tory candidate’s late father was a Freeman of the City, suggesting he had some service that he may have had the name recognition that this time transferred to his daughter; she was also the candidate in May, so presumably had some name recognition of her own. The bin dispute may have been settled, but IIRC only a month ago, and from a Facebook friend in Coventry things still haven’t returned to normal. The Labour candidate being a postie and CWU official in the midst of a series of post strikes might not have been well received either. Name recognition also comes from the fact that the Conservatives had been doing year-round campaigning in the seat in the lead-up to May's elections, and continued it afterwards. In both of this year's Coventry by-elections, Labour had decided to stand a long-established councillor with declining health so that they had name-recognition on their side in May (I'm not sure why they didn't try this strategy against me in Holbrook). Their thinking seems to have been that they would have a better chance of holding the seats with newbies in by-elections where they could bring their larger activist base to bear on a single ward than in the regular elections where they had to actively fight half a dozen other seats at the same time. The bin strike was a surprisingly small issue in May. Once they'd brought in a private company (also owned by the council) as scab labour, services returned to something like normal. I expect that it played a relatively small role in this particular election. Both the forthcoming threat to build houses on Coundon Wedge and the unpopular widening of The Butts/Allesley Old Road is likely to have been a bigger issue in voters' minds, since the council have already felled the trees that local protestors tried to save, started the roadworks, and sealed off the subways under the Butts. And, as I already said, the timing of the suspension of campaigning would have hurt Labour's campaign more than the Conservatives. The relatively low Asian population of the ward means that the postal votes here skew Conservative, and they would have voted before campaigning was suspended. Meanwhile, Labour were denied two weeks of campaigning to persuade their on-the-day vote to turn out. |
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timmullen1
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Post by timmullen1 on Sept 23, 2022 15:09:58 GMT
The Coventry Telegraph are reporting that a local planning/green space/NIMBY issue was a big factor. The Tory was campaigning to “Save Coundon Wedge”, which I’m sure is much more of a beauty spot than its name suggests. Also likely that the gain in 2021 and near miss in 2022 were a factor in giving the winner a boost, given she stood last time. Coundon Wedge is very beautiful, if not wheelchair friendly, it links around to Allsley House/Manor(?) which IIRC had been home for a period to Thomas Telford; when I was at college in Coventry in the early 80’s there were proposals to build a road through part of it, supported by Nellist and his allies on the council; just Googling it appears they were successful in getting it built. I’m slightly surprised it’s hurt Labour though as the Council have denied planning permission for housing development but look like getting overruled by DCLG. |
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Sibboleth
Labour
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Post by Sibboleth on Sept 23, 2022 15:16:13 GMT
You have to love how nine times out of ten when there's a local result that seems surprising given the context the answer to the mystery is 'controversial planning proposals'. I think it splits pretty evenly between 'the incumbent/former incumbent was a thief, thug and/or sex offender', 'minority community politics' and 'other' for the remaining ten per cent.
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Post by minionofmidas on Sept 23, 2022 15:19:08 GMT
Now all we need is some controversial Tory proposals in Stoke and we're done here!
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Post by greenchristian on Sept 23, 2022 16:30:27 GMT
The Coventry Telegraph are reporting that a local planning/green space/NIMBY issue was a big factor. The Tory was campaigning to “Save Coundon Wedge”, which I’m sure is much more of a beauty spot than its name suggests. Also likely that the gain in 2021 and near miss in 2022 were a factor in giving the winner a boost, given she stood last time. Coundon Wedge is very beautiful, if not wheelchair friendly, it links around to Allsley House/Manor(?) which IIRC had been home for a period to Thomas Telford; when I was at college in Coventry in the early 80’s there were proposals to build a road through part of it, supported by Nellist and his allies on the council; just Googling it appears they were successful in getting it built. I’m slightly surprised it’s hurt Labour though as the Council have denied planning permission for housing development but look like getting overruled by DCLG. Coventry Labour have quite the history over the last decade and a bit of managing to paint themselves as the bad guys over building on the greenbelt. Yes, some of this perception is unfair due to the constraints forced on them by national government, but they haven't done much to persuade the general public that they are being forced to allow this development (and others) against their will. |
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Post by greenchristian on Sept 23, 2022 16:33:04 GMT
You have to love how nine times out of ten when there's a local result that seems surprising given the context the answer to the mystery is 'controversial planning proposals'. I think it splits pretty evenly between 'the incumbent/former incumbent was a thief, thug and/or sex offender', 'minority community politics' and 'other' for the remaining ten per cent. That's probably because planning is by far the most significant power that local government still has. If local government still had the powers it had in the 70s there would probably be a bit more variety. |
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Chris from Brum
Lib Dem
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Post by Chris from Brum on Sept 23, 2022 17:52:20 GMT
The Coventry Telegraph are reporting that a local planning/green space/NIMBY issue was a big factor. The Tory was campaigning to “Save Coundon Wedge”, which I’m sure is much more of a beauty spot than its name suggests. Also likely that the gain in 2021 and near miss in 2022 were a factor in giving the winner a boost, given she stood last time. Coundon Wedge Drive is a boundary road to the area; it describes a very unusual golf stroke. |
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Post by greenchristian on Sept 23, 2022 18:13:08 GMT
The Coventry Telegraph are reporting that a local planning/green space/NIMBY issue was a big factor. The Tory was campaigning to “Save Coundon Wedge”, which I’m sure is much more of a beauty spot than its name suggests. Also likely that the gain in 2021 and near miss in 2022 were a factor in giving the winner a boost, given she stood last time. Coundon Wedge Drive is a boundary road to the area; it describes a very unusual golf stroke. That's the controversial road through the middle of Coundon Wedge that timmullen1 was talking about earlier. |
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Post by spirit on Sept 24, 2022 10:39:39 GMT
To clear one mystery up, it appears that Cllr Evans failed to sign his declaration after the May elections due to a serious bout of Covid. That would explain why voters were so forgiving… He managed to attend meetings during the period. |
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Post by gwynthegriff on Sept 24, 2022 11:49:57 GMT
That would explain why voters were so forgiving… He managed to attend meetings during the period. Can you attend (as a councillor, clearly you can physically attend if it's a public meeting) if you haven't signed? I think not. |
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timmullen1
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Post by timmullen1 on Sept 24, 2022 12:24:05 GMT
He managed to attend meetings during the period. Can you attend (as a councillor, clearly you can physically attend if it's a public meeting) if you haven't signed? I think not. I’d imagine he could attend within the two months allowed to return the form. He’s down as attending a hybrid Full Council virtually on 19 May (presumably when he had Covid), then a Zoom meeting of the Full Council on 23 June, but that would be within the two month window for returning the form. Obviously it doesn’t preclude him from asking someone to post the form on his behalf, or even seeing whether they’d accept a scanned copy by email. |
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Post by gwynthegriff on Sept 24, 2022 12:56:47 GMT
Can you attend (as a councillor, clearly you can physically attend if it's a public meeting) if you haven't signed? I think not. I’d imagine he could attend within the two months allowed to return the form. He’s down as attending a hybrid Full Council virtually on 19 May (presumably when he had Covid), then a Zoom meeting of the Full Council on 23 June, but that would be within the two month window for returning the form. Obviously it doesn’t preclude him from asking someone to post the form on his behalf, or even seeing whether they’d accept a scanned copy by email. LGA 1972 83 (4) relates to Parish Councils, but I would assume a similar provision applies to principal area councils, and states "a person elected ... shall ... before or at the first meeting [make] ... a declaration of acceptance of office". Charles Arnold-Baker (the go-to on matters parish, legal) states "councillors may not act until each has executed a declaration of acceptance of office". I think there may be some red faces among Gwynedd Council officers. |
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timmullen1
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Post by timmullen1 on Sept 24, 2022 13:27:19 GMT
I’d imagine he could attend within the two months allowed to return the form. He’s down as attending a hybrid Full Council virtually on 19 May (presumably when he had Covid), then a Zoom meeting of the Full Council on 23 June, but that would be within the two month window for returning the form. Obviously it doesn’t preclude him from asking someone to post the form on his behalf, or even seeing whether they’d accept a scanned copy by email. LGA 1972 83 (4) relates to Parish Councils, but I would assume a similar provision applies to principal area councils, and states "a person elected ... shall ... before or at the first meeting [make] ... a declaration of acceptance of office". Charles Arnold-Baker (the go-to on matters parish, legal) states "councillors may not act until each has executed a declaration of acceptance of office". I think there may be some red faces among Gwynedd Council officers. You’re right, the Electoral Commission guidelines for Wales dated January 2022 state: 1.1 If elected, you may not act as a councillor (this includes attending and voting at meetings) until you have signed the declaration of acceptance of office. 1.2 The declaration must be made within two months from the day of election. 2 If you do not submit your declaration by this deadline, the seat will be declared vacant and a by- election will be held. I didn’t look to see if he’d attended any Committee meetings in that period, but it does raise a question as to whether any decisions taken at the two full council meetings he attended are legally sustainable. |
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peterl
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Post by peterl on Sept 24, 2022 14:41:49 GMT
LGA 1972 83 (4) relates to Parish Councils, but I would assume a similar provision applies to principal area councils, and states "a person elected ... shall ... before or at the first meeting [make] ... a declaration of acceptance of office". Charles Arnold-Baker (the go-to on matters parish, legal) states "councillors may not act until each has executed a declaration of acceptance of office". I think there may be some red faces among Gwynedd Council officers. You’re right, the Electoral Commission guidelines for Wales dated January 2022 state: 1.1 If elected, you may not act as a councillor (this includes attending and voting at meetings) until you have signed the declaration of acceptance of office. 1.2 The declaration must be made within two months from the day of election. 2 If you do not submit your declaration by this deadline, the seat will be declared vacant and a by- election will be held. I didn’t look to see if he’d attended any Committee meetings in that period, but it does raise a question as to whether any decisions taken at the two full council meetings he attended are legally sustainable.Local Government Act 1972 Section 82 The acts and proceedings of any person elected to an office under this Act...and acting in that office shall, notwithstanding his disqualification or want of qualification, be as valid and effectual as if he had been qualified. |
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maxque
Non-Aligned
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Post by maxque on Sept 24, 2022 14:45:43 GMT
LGA 1972 83 (4) relates to Parish Councils, but I would assume a similar provision applies to principal area councils, and states "a person elected ... shall ... before or at the first meeting [make] ... a declaration of acceptance of office". Charles Arnold-Baker (the go-to on matters parish, legal) states "councillors may not act until each has executed a declaration of acceptance of office". I think there may be some red faces among Gwynedd Council officers. You’re right, the Electoral Commission guidelines for Wales dated January 2022 state: 1.1 If elected, you may not act as a councillor (this includes attending and voting at meetings) until you have signed the declaration of acceptance of office. 1.2 The declaration must be made within two months from the day of election. 2 If you do not submit your declaration by this deadline, the seat will be declared vacant and a by- election will be held. I didn’t look to see if he’d attended any Committee meetings in that period, but it does raise a question as to whether any decisions taken at the two full council meetings he attended are legally sustainable. He was to attend 2, the General Licencing Committee and the Language Commttee, but gave apologies to both. |
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timmullen1
Labour
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Post by timmullen1 on Sept 24, 2022 14:47:52 GMT
You’re right, the Electoral Commission guidelines for Wales dated January 2022 state: 1.1 If elected, you may not act as a councillor (this includes attending and voting at meetings) until you have signed the declaration of acceptance of office. 1.2 The declaration must be made within two months from the day of election. 2 If you do not submit your declaration by this deadline, the seat will be declared vacant and a by- election will be held. I didn’t look to see if he’d attended any Committee meetings in that period, but it does raise a question as to whether any decisions taken at the two full council meetings he attended are legally sustainable. He was to attend 2, the General Licencing Committee and the Language Commttee, but gave apologies to both. So just the two Full Council meetings are at issue then as he’s listed as attending both. |
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ColinJ
Labour
Living in the Past
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Post by ColinJ on Sept 24, 2022 16:03:38 GMT
I’d imagine he could attend within the two months allowed to return the form. He’s down as attending a hybrid Full Council virtually on 19 May (presumably when he had Covid), then a Zoom meeting of the Full Council on 23 June, but that would be within the two month window for returning the form. Obviously it doesn’t preclude him from asking someone to post the form on his behalf, or even seeing whether they’d accept a scanned copy by email. LGA 1972 83 (4) relates to Parish Councils, but I would assume a similar provision applies to principal area councils, and states "a person elected ... shall ... before or at the first meeting [make] ... a declaration of acceptance of office". Charles Arnold-Baker (the go-to on matters parish, legal) states "councillors may not act until each has executed a declaration of acceptance of office". I think there may be some red faces among Gwynedd Council officers. There is a (relatively) famous case of this sort of thing from Tower Hamlets in 1964. A certain Barney Borman, a Communist elected for St. Mary's ward at the first elections to the new council, failed to sign a declaration of acceptance of office within two months of the election, and was therefore disqualified. He easily won re-election at the resulting by-election in August 1964: Borman (Com) 709. Duggan (Lab) 297, Dove (Lib) 217. Borman was also re-elected at the 1968 borough election. I don't know details of why he didn't sign his acceptance: I failed to get a 'hit' during my online search of the British Newspaper Archive. At this time Borman was also a member of Stepney Metropolitan Borough Council, again for St. Mary's ward. His membership of that body presumably was uninterrupted until 31 March 1965 when the Metropolitan Councils were abolished. |
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Post by batman on Sept 24, 2022 17:57:26 GMT
looks like one of the other elected Communist candidates was Solly Kaye who frequently stood for the party in what was then Stoke Newington & Hackney North in general elections. Think he was a taxi driver.
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Sept 24, 2022 18:21:22 GMT
looks like one of the other elected Communist candidates was Solly Kaye who frequently stood for the party in what was then Stoke Newington & Hackney North in general elections. Think he was a taxi driver. Solly Kaye has his own wiki entry en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solly_Kaye which however contradicts some of what you describe in your brief biography of him. Marty Goldman was the perennial candidate in Stoke Newington & Hackney north in that period and he also has his own wiki entry en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Goldman and is still with us - perhaps one for the 'not yet resting in peace' thread.. |
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Post by spirit on Sept 24, 2022 18:27:46 GMT
LGA 1972 83 (4) relates to Parish Councils, but I would assume a similar provision applies to principal area councils, and states "a person elected ... shall ... before or at the first meeting [make] ... a declaration of acceptance of office". Charles Arnold-Baker (the go-to on matters parish, legal) states "councillors may not act until each has executed a declaration of acceptance of office". I think there may be some red faces among Gwynedd Council officers. You’re right, the Electoral Commission guidelines for Wales dated January 2022 state: 1.1 If elected, you may not act as a councillor (this includes attending and voting at meetings) until you have signed the declaration of acceptance of office. 1.2 The declaration must be made within two months from the day of election. 2 If you do not submit your declaration by this deadline, the seat will be declared vacant and a by- election will be held. I didn’t look to see if he’d attended any Committee meetings in that period, but it does raise a question as to whether any decisions taken at the two full council meetings he attended are legally sustainable. Added to which, I would be surprised if he went without an allowance for two months. |
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