Labour deals blow in election

Sep 14 2007 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

LABOUR last night won a Liverpool City Council by-election in a major blow to the ruling Liberal Democrats.

The Labour candidate, Richard McLinden, took the Warbreck ward from the Lib-Dems in the by-election caused by the death of 80-year-old Joan Lang, who was last year’s Lord Mayor of Liverpool.

The Lib-Dems’ overall control of the city council will not be affected by the result, which follows a string of embarrassments such as the cancellation of this year’s Mathew Street festival.

Labour group leader, Cllr Joe Anderson, said: “We won by a landslide and this is a great result for us. People feel that the Lib- Dems have mismanaged not just the economy of the city, but its services.

“This was a referendum on their leadership of the city and on all those issues they have been heavily criticised for, such as Mathew Street and Capital of Culture finances.”

A total of eight candidates stood in the by-election. Full results were: Richard McLinden (Lab) 1,796; Ritchie Roberts (Lib-Dem) 1,024; Peter Stafford (BNP) 136; Michael Paul Langan (Ind) 131; Joseph Moran (UKIP) 52; Kim Graham (Green) 45; Mark Rea (Cons) 40; Alfie Hincks (L’pool Labour Community Party) 32.