leahortez86: Elections 2011: Majority voted against Labour in city poll

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Elections 2011: Majority voted against Labour in city poll

LABOUR'S election rout in Stoke-on-Trent saw the party secure just shy of 30,000 votes across the city.

But despite winning 34 of 44 seats on the city council, a total of 60 per cent of the total votes cast actually went against the winning party.

Analysis of the votes cast in Thursday's all-out ballots underlines the changing face of the city's politics.

The BNP, which lost all five of its seats, failed to poll more than 483 votes for any single candidate.

A total of 2,528 votes were cast for the party's 10 hopefuls, including 93 for Stephen Issard in Boothen and Oakhill.

Michael Coleman's group held nine seats on the council in 2008/09, but it collected fewer than 3.5 per cent of the votes cast on Thursday.

Pooled with anti-immigration England First party, which registered 1,243 votes for eight candidates, the far-right gained just five per cent of the votes cast.

Independent candidates again provided Labour's biggest challenge for city dominance, registering 15,893 of the city's votes, 21.4 per cent of the total, and returning seven councillors.

The Liberal Democrats fought 43 of 44 seats but polled just 6,489; averaging just 151 votes per seat.

National coalition partners the Conservatives got 11,429 votes for its 24 candidates, 15.3 per cent of the total vote, but won only two council seats.

Community Voice got 3,607 votes.

Turnout for the referendum on Alternative Vote in Stoke-on-Trent was 31.8 per cent, higher than the overall turnout for the local election at 30.9 per cent.

For the city council elections around 74,326 valid votes were cast from 58,164 ballot papers.

Turnouts varied significantly across the city with Lightwood North and Normacot, won by Labour's Bagh Ali, attracting 49.1 per cent of the electorate.

By contrast, the lowest turnout was 20.1 per cent in Springfields and Trent Vale, won by Labour's Sarah Hill.