Local Council by-elections 14th November 2024

[Tony Otim]

DERBYSHIRE DALES DC; Calver & Longstone (Grn resigned)
Candidates:
ASHLEY, Pam (Labour)
FROGGATT, Helen Margaret (Conservative)
HANDY, Sheelagh Catherine (Green)

2023: Grn 441; Con 367

Helen Froggatt was the defeated Conservative here in 2023. She was previously cllr for the old Calver ward on previous boundaries from 2019-23. Catherine Handy (I assume the same candidate) stood for the Greens in Hartington & Taddington.

Current Council: LD 12; Con 10; Lab 7; Grn 3; No Party 1; 1 vacancy



EAST AYRSHIRE UA; Doon Valley (Lab resigned following election as MP for Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock)
Candidates:
CLARK, Tracey (Conservative)
GRANT, Trevor Gordon (Liberal Democrat)
IRELAND, Jim (Independent)
KYLE, Jim (Labour)
McNAMARA, Stef
POLLOCK, Lorraine (SNP)
VALLANCE, Korin Matthew (Green)

2022: Ind 1077, 311, 137; Lab 894; SNP 803; Con 644
2017: Lab 801, 496; SNP 583, 375; Ind 590, 207; Con 698; Grn 53; Lbtn 4

Korin Vallance was the Green candidate for Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock. The second indy here in 2022 was the incumbent elected as SNP in 2017. Trevor Grant (LD) stood in Kilmarnock East & Hurlford in 2022.


EAST AYRSHIRE UA; Kilmarnock West & Crosshouse (Lab resigned following election as MP for Kilmarnock & Loudon)
Candidates:
MacDONALD, Allan (Conservative)
MANLEY, Lee (Liberal Democrat)
McNAMARA, Stephen
ROBERTSON, Marie (SNP)
SANGSTER, Jayne (Labour)

2022: SNP 1168, 1093; Lab 1662; Con 1297; Ind 369; Grn 228; Alba 71
2017: SNP 1171, 1152; Con 1789; Lab 1344; Grn 220; Lbtn 45

Stephen MacNamara stood as an Independent in Kilmarnock & Loudon at the General election. Allan MacDonald (Con) stood in Kilmarnock North in 2022.

Current Council: SNP 14; Lab 8; Con 4; Ind 3; Rubbish Party 1; 2 vacancies



EDINBURGH UA; Colinton/Fairmilehead (Lab resigned following election as MP for Edinburgh South West)
Candidates:
BOB, Bonnie Prince
BROWN, Mev (Independent)
CLYDE, Mairianna (SNP)
CUTHBERT, Neil (Conservative)
GILMORE, Sheila (Labour)
HENRY, David Ian (Independent)
LAIRD, Tam (Scottish Libertarian)
LIDSTER, Grant (Reform UK)
LUCAS, Richard Crewe (Scottish Family Party)
MILLIGAN, Daniel Aleksanteri (Green)
SPENCE, Louise Watson (Liberal Democrat)
WILKINSON, Marc

2022: Lab 3812; Con 2317, 1100; SNP 1969; LD 1416; Grn 621; SFP 179
2017: Con 3783, 1879; SNP 2359; Lab 2343; LD 528; Grn 487

Polling card through the door for this one on Saturday morning. You’ll forgive me if I go into a wee bit more detail here given this line-up. The ward is split roughly 1/3 in Edinburgh South and 2/3 in Edinburgh South West. So the candidates:
Bonnie Prince Bob (ND) – stood in City Centre Ward in 2022 and Edinburgh Central for the Scottish parliament in 2021. Seems very worked up about Gaza at the moment.
Mev Brown (Ind) – stood on the Reform list for the Lothians in 2021 and in Edinburgh SW for the SDP in 2019.
Mairianna Clyde (SNP) – stood in Morningside ward in 2022.
Neil Cuthbert (Con) – the unsuccessful Tory here in 2022.
Sheila Gilmore (Lab) – MP for Edinburgh East 2010-15 and unsuccessful candidate there in 2015 and 2019. Before that was councillor for the old Moredun ward (now part of Liberton Gilmerton).
David Henry (Ind) – stood in Edinburgh West as an Independent at the General and in Sighthill/Gorgie ward for Alba in 2022.
Tam Laird (Libertarian) – perennial candidate, including Edinburgh West at the general, Inverleith ward in 2022 and 2017, Edinburgh Central for Holyrood in 2021 and 2016, and the Craigentinny/Duddingston and Leith Walk by-elections.
Grant Lidster (Reform) – seems to be a first time candidate
Richard Lucas (SFP) - stood here in 2022, Contested Edinburgh SW at the General election and Pentlands for Holyrood. Stood in Ross, Skye and Lochaber in 2019 and in Edinburgh SW for UKIP back in 2015.
Daniel Milligan (Green) – another first time candidate
Louise Spence (Lib Dem) – was the candidate here in 2022.
Marc Richard Wilkinson (No Desc) – actually the candidate for the as yet unregistered Edinburgh People’s Party. Stood in Edinburgh SW at the General Election. One of the only candidates I’ve actually heard from so far – a ridiculous amount of text on the leaflet that even I couldn’t be bothered to read. Seem to be basing the campaign around opposition to a 5G mast in a completely different ward.

12 candidates and I’d still struggle to get much beyond my first preference without gritting my teeth.

Current Council: SNP 18; LD 13; Lab 11; Grn 10; Con 9; Ind 1; 1 vacancy



GREENWICH LBC; Shooters Hill (Lab resigned)
Candidates:
AYDIN, Ezra (Conservative)
CECIL, Alan (Reform UK)
RHYMES, Tamasin (Green)
SHEDDEN, Kirstie (Liberal Democrat)
ZEESHAN, Raja (Labour)

2022: Lab 1878, 1757; Grn 475; Con 440, 413; LD 275; RefUK 89

Tamasin Rhymes (Grn) and Kirstie Shedden (LD) were the candidates for their respective parties in 2022. Raja Zeeshan stood for Labour in Eltham Town & Avery Hill

Current Council: Lab 49; Con 4; LD 1; 1 vacancy



MILTON KEYNES UA; Bradwell (Lib Dem died)
Candidates:
BRADBURN, Kerrie (Liberal Democrat)
DINGSDALE, Chrissy (Reform UK)
DURUGO, Christian (Labour)
FRANCIS, Alan (Green)
PANTHULA, Krishna Murthy (Conservative)

2024: LD 1532; Lab 709; Con 392; Grn 213
2023: LD 1652; Lab 755; Con 476
2022: LD 1769; Lab 761; Con 535
2021: LD 1813; Lab 740; Con 722; Grn 218
2019: LD 1670; Lab 854; Con 350; Grn 196
2018: LD 1666; Lab 1214; Con 529; Grn 97
2016: LD 1852; Lab 1362; Con 462
2015: LD 2032; Lab 1779; Con 1262; UKIP 801; Grn 253; TUSC 64
2014: LD 1259, 1071, 1061; Lab 1253, 1081, 950; UKIP 737, 690; Con 561, 545, 534; Ind 225; TUSC 124

Vacancy is for 2023-27. Kerrie Bradburn (LD) is the daughter of the deceased cllr. She was sitting cllr for Broughton ward (see below) but has resigned that seat to contest this one. Krishna Panthula was the Conservative candidate here in May and at every election since 2018. In May, Christian Durugo (Lab) stood in Tattenhoe and Alan Francis (Grn) in Wolverton. Francis was also the Green candidate for Milton Keynes North (which contains this ward) at the General Election


MILTON KEYNES UA; Broughton (Lib Dem resigned)
Candidates:
ARCHER, Ellis (Labour)
LLOYD, Gary Nicholas (Green)
SAINT-CLAIR, Alfred (Heritage)
SHARDA, Rishi (Conservative)
TEVLIN, Clare Hannah (Liberal Democrat)

2024: LD 1652; Con 938; Lab 767; Grn 174; Heritage 64
2023: LD 2093; Con 818; Lab 561; Heritage 87
2022: LD 1971; Con 1269; Lab 615
2021: LD 1688; Con 1578; Lab 673
2019: LD 1624; Con 1131; Lab 396; Grn 173
2018: LD 1398; Con 1202; Lab 620; Grn 171
2016: Con 1208; LD 1003; Lab 397
2015: Con 2497; LD 1652; Lab 993; Grn 296
2014: LD 1276, 931, 890; Con 1206, 1009, 956; UKIP 469; Lab 442, 369, 331

Vacancy is for 2023-27 term. Rishi Sharda (Con) was the candidate here in May and Alfred Saint-Clair (Heritage) stood here in May and last year, he also contested the recent Bletchley East by-election and Milton Keynes Central (which contains this ward) at the General Election. In May, Gary Lloyd (Grn) stood in Stantonbury. Clare Tevlin was the Lib Dem candidate for Milton Keynes North at the General Election and I believe is still a sitting councillor for Fenstanton ward on Huntingdonshire DC, so expect a by-election there if she wins here.

Current Council: Lab 30; LD 16; Con 9; 2 vacancies



REDBRIDGE LBC; Wanstead Park (Lab resigned following election as MP for Southend East & Rochford).
Candidates:
FORHAD, Raj Masud (Reform UK)
HEPWORTH, Neil (Liberal Democrat)
KANGLE, Sharula (Ilford Independent)
MORARU, Daniel (Conservative)
SHEPHERD-MALLINSON, Emma Selina (Labour)
SIDDIQI, Syed Eyamen (Green)

2022: Lab 1541, 1463; Con 560, 490; Grn 548; LD 296, 200
2018: Lab 1766, 1641; Con 976, 919; LD 322

Syed Siddiqi (Grn) and Raj Forhad (Reform) both contested Ilford South at the General Election (this ward is in Leyton & Wanstead). Forhad also contested Barnet & Camden at the London Assembly elections. In 2022, Forhad stood in Chadwell for the Conservatives, Neil Hepworth (LD) in Wanstead Village and Daniel Moraru (Con) in Barkingside.

Current Council: Lab 54; Con 5; Ind 3; 1 vacancy



TELFORD & WREKIN UA; Hadley & Leegomery (Lab resigned)
Candidates:
AUJLA, Tarlochan Singh (Liberal Democrat)
KAUR, Julie (Labour)
LEAH, Robert Andrew (Reform UK)
PARR, Stuart (Conservative)
WEBSTER, Mark (Green)

2023: Lab 1337, 1305, 1242; Ind 487, 402, 384; Con 343, 328, 298; Grn 175

Julie Kaur (Lab) was the top independent candidate here last year. Stuart Parr (Con) stood in Haygate & Park last year and Mark Webster (Grn) in Overdale & The Rock.


TELFORD & WREKIN UA; The Nedge (Lab died)
Candidates:
ADAMS, John (Green)
PAGE, Nathalie Catherine Veronique (Labour)
SINCLAIR, Greg (Reform UK)
THAKUR, Milan (Liberal Democrat)
VAUGHAN-HODKINSON, Sophia Louise (Independent)
WUST, Tom (Conservative)

Jun 24by: Lab 971; Con 464; LD 175; Ind 175
2022: Lab 1375, 1280, 1224; Con 532, 513, 423; Ind 318, 286, 270, 147; Grn 224; LD 215

John Adams was the Green candidate for Telford (which contains this ward) at the General Election and stood in Dawley & Aqueduct last May. Sophia Vaughan-Hodkinson was the indy from the by-election and the 4th independent here last year. Greg Sinclair (Ref) stood in Brookside as an independent last May and stood in this ward on previous boundaries in 2019, also as an independent. Tom Wust (Con) also stood here back in 2019.

Current Council: Lab 36; Con 7; LD 6; Ind 3; 2 vacancies.



WEST LOTHIAN UA; Whitburn & Blackburn (Lab resigned following election as MP for Bathgate & Linlithgow)
Candidates:
BROWN, Aileen (SNP)
BUTLER, Douglas Thomas (Liberal Democrat)
GLASGOW, Cameron (Green)
KENNEDY, Charles (Conservative)
LYNCH, Thomas Robert (Independent)
McLENNAN, David (Reform UK)
RUSSELL, David Blackie (Labour)

2022: SNP 1734, 636; Lab 1237, 1056; Con 1135; Grn 190; LD 148
2017: SNP 1586, 503, 420; Lab 1822, 557; Con 1427; LD 174
2012: Lab 1896, 696; SNP 1610, 562; Save St Johns Hosp 619; Con 271; NF 95; LD 68
2007: Lab 1528, 1367; SNP 1981, 507; Save St Johns 851; Con 435; Ind 309; LD 222; SSP 98

Cameron Glasgow (Grn) and David McLennan (Ref) both contested Livingston at the General Election (this ward is in Bathgate & Linlithgow). McLennan also contested the recent Armadale & Blackridge by-election, as did Douglas Butler (LD). Glasgow stood in Livingston South in 2022, Charles Kennedy (Con) is former cllr for Bathgate 2017-22 who lost his seat last time out, and has previously stood in Livingston for both Holyrood and Westminster.

Current Council: SNP 15; Lab 11; Con 4; Ind 1; LD 1; 1 vacancy



WEST OXFORDSHIRE DC; Chipping Norton (Lab resigned)
Candidates:
BAGGALEY, Mike (Liberal Democrat)
ENGLAND, Kate (Labour)
LASKO, Claire Eliane (Green)
MORRIS, Caspar Simeon (Conservative)

2024: Lab 1071; Con 362; Grn 197; LD 116.
2023: Lab 672; Con 393; Ind 370; Grn 181; LD 113
2022: Lab 1237; Con 607; LD 185
2021: Lab 1201; Con 616; Grn 263; LD 113
2019: Lab 766; Con 631; LD 495
2018: Lab 1116; Con 490; LD 284
2016: Lab 1008; Con 856; UKIP 109; Grn 59; LD 58
2015: Con 1782; Lab 807; UKIP 309; Grn 273; LD 181
2014: Lab 927; Con 836; UKIP 287
Nov 13by: Lab 810; Con 500; Grn 58; LD 53
2012: Lab 966; Con 644
2011: Lab 881; Con 833; Ind 537; Grn 94; LD 59
2010: Con 1673; Lab 1394; LD 467
2008: Con 1005; Lab 620; Ind 304; Grn 105
2007: Lab 958; Con 795; Ind 272
2006: Con 1198; Lab 533; LD 138; Grn 94
2004: Con 964; Lab 478; LD 363; Grn 163
2003: Lab 744; Con 631; LD 223
2002: Ind 1000; Con 813, 608; Lab 797, 610, 547; LD 209, 197

Vacancy is for the 2022-26 term. In May, Kate England (Lab) stood in Stonesfield & Tackley and Caspar Morris (Con) in Chadlington & Churchill. The independent candidate in 2023 was the incumbent elected as Labour. Claire Lasko (Grn) contested Chipping Norton at county level back in 2017 and also stood in Witney in the 2017 General Election.

Current Council: LD 21; Con 13; Lab 10; Grn 4; 1 vacancy

[doktorb🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️]

Another big big thanks and appreciation Tony Otim. These have been mammoth weeks and you've done a great job with the threads each week.

[lackeroftalent]

Oct 21, 2024 19:45:10 GMT Tony Otim said:

DERBYSHIRE DALES DC; Calver & Longstone (Grn resigned)
Candidates:
ASHLEY, Pam (Labour)
FROGGATT, Helen Margaret (Conservative)
HANDY, Sheelagh Catherine (Green)

2023: Grn 441; Con 367

Helen Froggatt was the defeated Conservative here in 2023. She was previously cllr for the old Calver ward on previous boundaries from 2019-23. Catherine Handy (I assume the same candidate) stood for the Greens in Hartington & Taddington.

Current Council: LD 12; Con 10; Lab 7; Grn 3; No Party 1; 1 vacancy

Pamela Ashley was a councillor for Hallam Fields in Erewash from 2019-2023 whilst also stating in her pitch to having been a resident of Derbyshire Dales for the last four years.

Confirm that Sheelagh Handy is the same person as Catherine Handy.

[iang]

As the Lib Dems are the largest party on the council and aren't standing, I presume this is a local arrangement with the Greens?

[sonofkrautrock]

Oct 21, 2024 19:45:10 GMT Tony Otim said:

WEST OXFORDSHIRE DC; Chipping Norton (Lab resigned)
Candidates:
BAGGALEY, Mike (Liberal Democrat)
ENGLAND, Kate (Labour)
LASKO, Claire Eliane (Green)
MORRIS, Caspar Simeon (Conservative)

2024: Lab 1071; Con 362; Grn 197; LD 116.
2023: Lab 672; Con 393; Ind 370; Grn 181; LD 113
2022: Lab 1237; Con 607; LD 185
2021: Lab 1201; Con 616; Grn 263; LD 113
2019: Lab 766; Con 631; LD 495
2018: Lab 1116; Con 490; LD 284
2016: Lab 1008; Con 856; UKIP 109; Grn 59; LD 58
2015: Con 1782; Lab 807; UKIP 309; Grn 273; LD 181
2014: Lab 927; Con 836; UKIP 287
Nov 13by: Lab 810; Con 500; Grn 58; LD 53
2012: Lab 966; Con 644
2011: Lab 881; Con 833; Ind 537; Grn 94; LD 59
2010: Con 1673; Lab 1394; LD 467
2008: Con 1005; Lab 620; Ind 304; Grn 105
2007: Lab 958; Con 795; Ind 272
2006: Con 1198; Lab 533; LD 138; Grn 94
2004: Con 964; Lab 478; LD 363; Grn 163
2003: Lab 744; Con 631; LD 223
2002: Ind 1000; Con 813, 608; Lab 797, 610, 547; LD 209, 197

Vacancy is for the 2022-26 term. In May, Kate England (Lab) stood in Stonesfield & Tackley and Caspar Morris (Con) in Chadlington & Churchill. The independent candidate in 2023 was the incumbent elected as Labour. Claire Lasko (Grn) contested Chipping Norton at county level back in 2017 and also stood in Witney in the 2019 General Election.

Current Council: LD 21; Con 13; Lab 10; Grn 4; 1 vacancy

One very minor correction to this mighty piece of research: Claire Lasko stood at the 2017 General Election, not 2019.

[lackeroftalent]

Oct 22, 2024 17:01:00 GMT iang said:

As the Lib Dems are the largest party on the council and aren't standing, I presume this is a local arrangement with the Greens?

Derbyshire Dales has seen a large amount of co-operation between Labour, Lib Dems and the Greens over the last decade.

I understand the Lib Dems not standing is a continuation of that and also that a number of local Labour people were strongly opposed to Labour standing a candidate.

[sanders]

Leanne Mohamad, who came within a few hundred votes of ousting Wes Streeting as an independent in Ilford North, endorsing the Green candidate. The Green here is pretty outspoken on basically everything - I wonder how that will play on the doorsteps - this area does have some Green potential as it is fairly leafy suburbia which was Tory inclined until recently, but I wonder if the Green is a good fit here.

[Johncrane]

Nov 4, 2024 10:43:02 GMT sanders said:

Leanne Mohamad, who came within a few hundred votes of ousting Wes Streeting as an independent in Ilford North, endorsing the Green candidate. The Green here is pretty outspoken on basically everything - I wonder how that will play on the doorsteps - this area does have some Green potential as it is fairly leafy suburbia which was Tory inclined until recently, but I wonder if the Green is a good fit here.

They did get 20% in 2022 and when you add in labour's electoral struggles recently it's definitely possible. Although it does seem like in the by elections labour's vote share in london does seem to be holding up better. 

[andrewp]

I hadn’t picked up on the unusual, on paper, moves amongst the LDs in Milton Keynes. One sitting councillor resigns her seat to fight a by election in another ward ( caused by the death of her father) and the candidate to succeed her is already a councillor on a different council. Both wards look pretty safe, although perhaps Broughton ( the ward where the candidate is already a councillor in Huntingdon) isn’t absolutely bullet proof on paper.

[John Chanin]

I find it odd that Wanstead Park should be an apparently safe Labour ward. It shows how the borough and politics have changed since I was growing up. About a third of the ward is part of Wanstead proper - fairly up market property east of the Green. Two thirds consists of the curiously isolated area of Aldersbrook, completely surrounded by open space, where my grandmother used to live. There is a small council estate there, but as a quasi-rural enclave it is (or was) also pretty up market.

[batman]

Aren't there a couple of upmarket roads around Aldersbrook which were transferred from Newham to Redbridge not many years ago?

[Pete Whitehead]

I think the demographic changes in Wanstead though are different the rest of the borough, where largely inter-war suburbia has been heavily colonised by South Asians. Wanstead has slightly older housing and while the ethnic minority population has obviously grown, it is still predominantly white but has attracted a woke and Guardian reading element, of the type we heard too much from recently in Walthamstow. I know someone who moved there (originally from Romford but who had previously been living around Manor House) who is a far-left member of the Green party (but a TERF) and a pro-Palestinian fanatic (though Jewish in origin). I think she is quite typical of the type living there now. It's a long time since I visited, but when I did I was struck that one felt surrounded by grim areas in Newham, Walthamstow, Ilford etc and I found that proximity disconcerting. I think it would therefore only appeal to those kind of people who don't.

[YL]

Oct 21, 2024 19:45:10 GMT Tony Otim said:

DERBYSHIRE DALES DC; Calver & Longstone (Grn resigned)
Candidates:
ASHLEY, Pam (Labour)
FROGGATT, Helen Margaret (Conservative)
HANDY, Sheelagh Catherine (Green)

2023: Grn 441; Con 367

Helen Froggatt was the defeated Conservative here in 2023. She was previously cllr for the old Calver ward on previous boundaries from 2019-23.

She also shares her surname with one of the villages in the ward, not that it helped her in 2023.

The Tories have had trouble in this part of the world recently, including now managing to lose the Parliamentary seat to Labour. Before the 2023 ward review there were two wards, Litton & Longstone, which included the Longstones, Rowland (which is tiny) and Hassop, and Calver, which included Calver, Curbar and Froggatt (the last two known to climbers for their Edges). Both, and their predecessors, had generally been safe Tory, indeed often unopposed, and both Calver and Ashford & Longstone were held in 1995. In 2019, though, the Lib Dems won Litton & Longstone, though the councillor didn't remain in the party and as can be seen they didn't defend the seat in 2023, leaving the challenge to the Greens, who won it, but by less than the Tories lost in some nearby wards.

I'm tending towards thinking the Tories will take it back, but a Green hold wouldn't surprise me. I doubt there will be many Labour votes; they did get a respectable share in Calver in 2015, but that was with no other non-Tory option and the ward included Stoney Middleton, now in Hathersage ward.

[phil156]

All Scottish ones are counting on Friday along with the following English ones. Derbyshire Dales, Milton Keynes & West Oxfordshire

So we have more declarations on Friday morning (8) then Thursday night (4) which is unusual

[John Chanin]

Nov 12, 2024 16:36:52 GMT batman said:

Aren't there a couple of upmarket roads around Aldersbrook which were transferred from Newham to Redbridge not many years ago?

Yes. Curiously 3 Newham councillors lived in this tiny area. It was the early 1990s so really quite a long time ago.

[sanders]

A lot more terraced housing than I expected in Wanstead Park ward. I can't find the Wanstead Flats I've heard so much about. In all seriousness, one can see how this was a smart-looking Tory suburb until a few years ago, and the party's increased emphasis on Brexit probably alienated a lot fo voters here. Greens have a decent chance. Their candidate ran in Ilford South in the general election and seems fairly energetic. 

[wallington]

Nov 13, 2024 5:50:48 GMT sanders said:

A lot more terraced housing than I expected in Wanstead Park ward. I can't find the Wanstead Flats I've heard so much about. In all seriousness, one can see how this was a smart-looking Tory suburb until a few years ago, and the party's increased emphasis on Brexit probably alienated a lot fo voters here. Greens have a decent chance. Their candidate ran in Ilford South in the general election and seems fairly energetic. 

It's the type of area which has demographically trended heavily away from the Conservatives over the past twenty years, being there reminds me a lot of the Crystal Palace area in South London, Upper Norwood (Croydon), Crystal Palace/Anerley (Bromley) & Gipsy Hill (Lambeth). Perhaps winning Wanstead Park is a bridge too far in a short space of time, but it is the type of ward where the Greens need to be challenging in if they're to pick up more Councillors in London in 2026.  London has always been a region the Greens have failed to make significant inroads at local government level.

[evergreenadam]

Nov 12, 2024 17:22:39 GMT Pete Whitehead said:

I think the demographic changes in Wanstead though are different the rest of the borough, where largely inter-war suburbia has been heavily colonised by South Asians. Wanstead has slightly older housing and while the ethnic minority population has obviously grown, it is still predominantly white but has attracted a woke and Guardian reading element, of the type we heard too much from recently in Walthamstow. I know someone who moved there (originally from Romford but who had previously been living around Manor House) who is a far-left member of the Green party (but a TERF) and a pro-Palestinian fanatic (though Jewish in origin). I think she is quite typical of the type living there now. It's a long time since I visited, but when I did I was struck that one felt surrounded by grim areas in Newham, Walthamstow, Ilford etc and I found that proximity disconcerting. I think it would therefore only appeal to those kind of people who don't.

Interestingly M&S announced that they are opening a new food store in nearby Leytonstone. I was quite surprised as I would not have thought that Leytonstone would have fitted the demographic whereas Wanstead does and already has one.

[greenman]

I used to live in Wanstead 1950-1964 when it was Winston Churchill's seat. In the 2024 UK election Green came second with 15.8% support, Labour won with 47.5%, down 15.6%, the Conservatives were third on 11.1%, down 8.8%, an Independent was 4th with 9.5%, then the Liberal Democrats on 6.4%, down 4.3%, the Reform on 5.7% up 4% and others 4.3%. I expect that Green will come second with between 20% to 25% of the vote.

[sanders]

Nov 13, 2024 9:48:02 GMT wallington said:

Nov 13, 2024 5:50:48 GMT sanders said:

A lot more terraced housing than I expected in Wanstead Park ward. I can't find the Wanstead Flats I've heard so much about. In all seriousness, one can see how this was a smart-looking Tory suburb until a few years ago, and the party's increased emphasis on Brexit probably alienated a lot fo voters here. Greens have a decent chance. Their candidate ran in Ilford South in the general election and seems fairly energetic. 

It's the type of area which has demographically trended heavily away from the Conservatives over the past twenty years, being there reminds me a lot of the Crystal Palace area in South London, Upper Norwood (Croydon), Crystal Palace/Anerley (Bromley) & Gipsy Hill (Lambeth). Perhaps winning Wanstead Park is a bridge too far in a short space of time, but it is the type of ward where the Greens need to be challenging in if they're to pick up more Councillors in London in 2026.  London has always been a region the Greens have failed to make significant inroads at local government level.

It's interesting what you say about that. The Greens have won seats in Gipsy Hill, and while they haven't won the Crystal Palace & Upper Norwood ward in Croydon, Labour did lose that ward to the Lib Dems. There does seem to be some crossover in the people who vote for both parties. The Greens have always had a bit of strength in Wanstead (polling 17% there in 2006) as well as their recent results. It'll be interesting to see what happens today because it does seem the Greens' most likely ward in Redbridge.