Election preview: Wirral set to remain a hung council

Apr 22 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

As our election countdown continues, Liam Murphy looks at the main election issues affecting Wirral

NO SINGLE party has control of Wirral Council and, despite a third of the seats due to be re-elected next week, few expect this to change on current form.

For more than five years, Wirral has been a hung council and although this looks likely to remain, the power balance within the authority could face some upheaval.

The numbers look like this: at present, Labour is the largest party with 25 seats, the Conservatives have 20 and the Liberal Democrats 19.

Both Conservatives and Lib-Dems have had councillors resign their whip, meaning there is currently one Independent Liberal Democrat councillor, Isabel Moon, and one Independent Conservative, David Kirwan.

The election will be a big test for the Labour/Lib-Dem power sharing arrangement after they came together to kick their Conservative colleagues off the ruling cabinet following last year’s elections.

Until then, all three parties had held seats on the cabinet in an uneasy alliance which broke up amid accusations from Labour and the Liberal Democrats that the Conservatives were acting as though in opposition – a charge hotly denied by Tory leader Jeff Green.

Labour will be looking next week to shore up their position in the face of the Government’s current unpopularity, and focusing people’s minds on key local issues where they feel confident.

While the Conservatives will be aiming to become the borough’s largest party, this year the Liberal Democrats will be aiming to unseat the Conservatives by becoming Wirral’s second largest party on the council.

Their relative chances of success in these ambitions may well lie in the hands of Labour, and their ability to defend some key Labour seats from a determined Conservative campaign.

The Wallasey area is being seen as one of the most significant battlegrounds in this year’s election in Wirral, with the Conservatives hoping to pick up potentially three extra seats on the council.

Although Wallasey ward itself was easily held by the Tories last year, traditionally Labour ward Leasowe and Moreton East ward was held by Labour by just 18 votes last year.

Labour’s Don Prout, a longstanding councillor and member of the Fire Authority, would be a prized scalp for his hard-campaigning opponent in the blue corner, Ian Lewis.

The Conservatives are also campaigning hard in Liscard, which already has two Tories in situ, with Labour chief whip Dave Hawkins battling to retain his place on the council, although the Tory efforts may be made more difficult with UKIP also standing in that ward.

In a similar position in New Brighton is Cllr Pat Hackett, who won the highest number of votes in that ward four years ago, but was elected alongside two Conservatives.

A long-standing member of the council’s ruling cabinet, it is thought Cllr Hackett will still be difficult to unseat for his Conservative rival, where, despite no UKIP candidate to distract potential Tory voters, it is a ward where the Green vote could be significant.

WHILE the potential is there in Wallasey for the Conservatives to pick up three extra seats, elsewhere in the borough they face tough battles to retain council members.

Bebington has two Labour councillors and Conservative Sheila Clarke, who is up for election this year, faces a difficult campaign to stop Labour, who are working hard in the area, from taking the ward.

In Pensby and Thingwall ward, Liberal Democrats are also hoping to win an extra seat from the Conservatives.

Cllr Isabel Moon is stepping down from the council this year, and the Liberal Democrats are hopeful of regaining that seat.

In the longer term, Conservative success in Wallasey could also have implications for the balance of power within the party, as well as it chances for regaining power – or at least power-sharing – on the council.

On the face of it, Wirral voted Conservative last year – as it did in the previous two local elections – with the Tories garnering 34,081 votes across the borough in 2007, but the numbers did not translate into any major improvement with them losing one and gaining another ward.

Labour gained the second highest number of votes, with 25,399 across Wirral, but actually lost out, going down from 26 to 25 councillors.

The Lib-Dems were not far behind on 22,259 votes and gained a seat – although this was later wiped out by the resignation of Isabel Moon, who became an independent.

The Greens attracted 4,809 votes across Wirral and will hope to improve on that next week, and with UKIP fielding almost double the number of candidates, they will also be hoping to improve on their 1,475 votes across six wards last year.

This year, there are seven Conservatives seats up for election, nine Labour and five Liberal Democrat and one Independent Liberal Democrat – although Isabel Moon is standing down.

In total, there are 104 candidates standing for 22 seats (a third of the 66 council seats) with Labour, Conservatives and Lib-Dems all putting candidates in all 22 wards.

There are also 11 UKIP candidates, one Liberal, one Independent and two BNP hopefuls standing on May 1.

Notes from the main parties > > >