‘Tough’ election for Labour as Lib Dems ‘gutted’ after Tory gains

Labour have won 36 seats on the council, Tories 11, Liberal Democrats eight and independents three.

Labour retains control of the council, but the party lost seven seats at the Town Hall.

The Conservatives gained 10 seats, while the Lib Dems are down three seats.

Cllr Bowden is ready to get back to work as council leader following the elections.

The Labour politician retained his seat in the Birchwood ward.

He said: “I think my initial response is we knew this was going to be a tough election.

“This election came off the back of lockdown and the Covid crisis that we’ve had over the last 12 months plus.

“Clearly, it was always going to be tough for us to get on the doorstep to get our message out there to the voters of Warrington.

“My first reaction is once again it’s the Labour Party that’s got a mandate to deliver for the people of Warrington and we’ll always do that.

Labour's Cllr Karen Mundry and Cllr Hans Mundry retained their seats in Latchford East

“We’ll always get back to the day job, which is doing the absolute best for our town, the absolute best for its residents and the absolute best for our communities.

“We’ve gone into this election seeking the support of the Warrington people – we’ve got a mandate now to run the council and to administer the town in the best way we possibly can, and I’m absolutely committed to that.”

The Tories made big gains in the town and are determined to make an instant impact.

Tory Cllr Kath Buckley – who kept her Lymm South seat – said: “I would just like to thank all the people in Warrington who voted for us.

“Although we’ve got 11 in so far, the actual results are very close in lots of areas, so that will stand us very good in three years’ time hopefully.

“I’d just like to thank every member of our party who worked so hard and all the background people, all those people who worked so hard to get this result – so I’m really, really pleased and I’m looking forward to basically being the Opposition.”

The Conservatives made big gains in the town

Warrington South Tory MP Andy Carter added: “I think we’re seeing a really significant swing in local election results, not just in Warrington, but right across the country.

“The success that we had in Hartlepool the other night is really testament to the hard work of the Government, in terms of delivering the Brexit result and delivering the vaccination programme, but also tremendous hard work in our local council candidates, they worked incredibly hard to represent their area and our Conservative councillors will work very hard for their area to ensure that local people are really getting a strong message into this Labour council.”

However, there is major disappointment among the Liberal Democrats.

Leader Cllr Bob Barr retained his seat in Lymm North and Thelwall.

But the party lost its three seats in Appleton to the Conservatives.

Cllr Barr said: “I feel completely gutted about Appleton, I think the size of the Conservative majorities were larger than we thought.

“We know there was a massive Conservative campaign backed by Conservative central office, backed by the MP, they were desperate to get Appleton – and by throwing all of their resources at it they got it.

Cllr Bob Barr

“Where I feel really upset is I think that the Conservates’ local campaign was fairly disgraceful really and they are now going to have to stand up in the chamber and explain how those polices can possibly work, because it’s no good saying you’re going to provide better services if you want to cut funding for the council by possibly over £20 million by getting rid of investments and another £5 million by stopping the council tax increase.

"So they can't care about the vulnerable in the town at all – and the idea that they can do it that much efficiently is just stupid."

Former Warrington North parliamentary candidate Wendy Maisey was among the Tories to win in Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft as the party gained three seats from Labour.

She said she was delighted after winning following a ‘really, really clean campaign’ which put residents at the heart of it – and she hailed volunteers for their efforts.

Wendy Maisey won a seat on the council

Labour’s Cllr Tony Higgins, cabinet member for leisure and community, retained his seat in Fairfield and Howley as the party held onto its three seats in the ward.

He said: “I feel elated and I just want to take this opportunity to thank all my Labour colleagues who have been out working hard, campaigning hard, door knocking, leafletting and getting out the Labour message and in particular those who supported me in Fairfield and Howley, with Jean and Sagheer.”

Labour's Jean Flaherty, Tony Higgins and Sagheer Zaman won the three seats in Fairfield and Howley

Lyndsay McAteer, leader of Warrington and Halton Green Party, also responded to the results after the party failed to win its first seat on the council.

She said: “I am disappointed that we didn’t do better, obviously.

“I think we’ve made some fantastic gains, in places like for instance in Chapelford and in Poulton North.

“This is just the beginning – I have got colleagues around me saying that we’ve won so much because I’ve encouraged people to stand and get involved and get active. That’s what it’s about.”

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer will now set their sights on rebuilding following a disastrous set of council results across the country for the party, along with the defeat in the Hartlepool by-election.

Sir Keir Star has said he takes ‘full responsibility’ for the party’s by-election defeat.

Cllr Bowden says the party’s job is to get ‘fully behind’ the leader in order to ensure ‘we can have a Labour government’ here in the UK.

He said: “Sir Keir Starmer was elected with due process as the leader of the Labour Party.

“It has been tough, the national picture has been incredibly tough.

“We’ve had a poor by-election result in Hartlepool.

“But councils up and down the country have faced the same challenges that we have here in Warrington.

“The real issue for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party is getting to the next general election and demonstrating that he’s a statesman, that he is a leader and he is the right man to lead the country going into that general election.
“I’m absolutely sure that he’s got the skills and experience to take the fight to Boris Johnson and this shambolic Government and ensure that we’ve got a credible alternative to give to the people of Britain and we can have a Labour government.”