Top 5 Labour wards, 2001 to 2016

Following on from my previous post, here (below) is a table showing those wards that got the highest Labour vote in the local elections (2001 – 2016) in Southend-on-Sea.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
2001	St Luke’s	Victoria	Shoeburyness	Kursaal	Milton
2002	Victoria	St Luke’s	Milton	Kursaal	West Shoebury
2003	Victoria	Kursaal	St Luke’s	Shoeburyness	Milton
2004	Victoria	St Luke’s	Kursaal	Milton	Shoeburyness
2006	St Luke’s	Victoria	Shoeburyness	Kursaal	Milton
2007	St Luke’s	Victoria	Kursaal	Milton	Shoeburyness
2008	Kursaal	Victoria	St Luke’s	Milton	Chalkwell
2010	Victoria	St Luke’s	Kursaal	Milton	Westborough
2011	Victoria	Kursaal	Milton	St Luke’s	Westborough
2012	Victoria	Milton	Kursaal	St Luke’s	Westborough
2014	Milton	Victoria	Westborough	St Luke’s	Kursaal
2015	Milton	Victoria	Westborough	Kursaal	Prittlewell
2016	Milton	Victoria	Kursaal	Westborough	Prittlewell

                                            

Kursaal, Milton  and Victoria are ever present in the sixteen years shown here.

Victoria is either first or second in every election.

St Luke’s feature in the first eleven elections, then drop out of the top five.

Nine wards have appeared in the top five, meaning that eight have yet to make an appearance.

Achieving a first does not necessarily equate to a victory. Milton was not won in 2015, Kursaal was not won in 2008, St Luke’s was not won in 2007.

Westborough was won in 2001, yet is not in that year’s top five for Labour; and the same again in 2002.

Milton, digging in the garden of earthly delights

One of the nicer things about canvassing is the unearthing of Labour supporters, ones that we were previously unaware of. This is a frequent and regular experience in Milton ward where the support for our candidates has steadily grown. Milton was once a safe Conservative ward, and now through years of campaigning is a ward that holds good prospects for Labour. It is true that where Labour works in Southend-on-Sea we usually see success. Our best wards are those where we have put in the most effort.

In 2008 Milton had the fourth largest Labour vote in the borough, a position repeated in 2010. A year later, in 2011, the ward moved up to third place, and 2012 saw second spot achieved. In 2014 Milton ward was the number one Labour ward in Southend-on-Sea, a position they have held ever since.

In the same period Labour have ousted two Tory councillors and were unlucky not to have achieved the clean sweep in 2015.

The Green Party had not stood a candidate in Milton since 2007 when they re-appeared in 2015. Their appearance on the ballot paper certainly gave comfort to the defending Conservative councillor whose 51-vote majority was dwarfed by the 476 the Green candidate acquired.

Labour's glass ceiling

Jeremy Corbyn is the nineteenth substantive leader of the Labour Party, and all nineteen have been male. On three occasions Labour has been led by a female, and each time was temporary, a short interregnum whilst a new leader was being elected. Thus, Margaret Becket and Harriet Harman (twice) have had the reins of power, but only as a short-term solution to either the death or resignation of a male leader.

We have our second female Prime Minister at the moment, and regardless of the merits of their leadership, the Conservatives have been more progressive than Labour in this aspect; two female Prime Ministers, both Conservative.

The argument about choosing the best person for the role not only belittles the ability of woman MPs, it also misunderstands how our democracy works. We have a representative democracy, where our representatives are meant to be like us, the electorate. Yet, over the half the electorate is female. Labour only having women leading in a caretaker capacity just is not good enough.

Don’t get me wrong, Labour’s record in getting more women elected is admirable; but without doubt there is a glass ceiling. I hope I live to see that change.

Locally, in Southend-on-Sea, the situation is not much better. I do not know all the leaders of the local Labour Group on Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, but here is a list of the most recent (please correct me if there are errors or omissions here):

Ian Gilbert

David Norman

Kevin Robinson

Stephen George (acting leader for three months owing to the ill health of the substantive leader)

Chris Dandridge

Nigel Smith

Alan Hurst

Bert Dunn

This, as you will have noticed, is an all-male list. I hope our next leader is a woman, because it is time that Labour, both nationally and locally, was led by a woman, was able to demonstrate a commitment to equality at levels within the party.