Lessons from a one-of-a-kind Sefton Council election
Labour hold on, Lib Dems take Southport, Reform continue to confuse, and a Holocaust denier is elected
Hello and welcome to The Southport Lead.
On Thursday, I was among the many who spend around eight hours at an equestrian centre as a very unusual local election count took place.
Labour has retained control of Sefton Council and the Liberal Democrats enjoyed big wins in Southport, while the Conservatives have reduced to zero. Meanwhile, having promised to take over the council, Reform UK’s total number of elected councillors could share a taxi to council meetings - not counting the one who has already been abandoned by the party.
Today’s edition goes beyond the headlines as we dig deep into what can be learnt from Thursday’s election.
Southport briefing
🚓 A man banned hit with a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) after repeatedly offending has been accused of stealing from a shop he is banned from entering. John Durnin, of London Street, was issued with the CBO in March which banned him from entering the Tesco Express on Chapel Street. However, he is accused of stealing from the store in recent weeks and has now been charged with breaking the CBO and three counts of theft. The 42-year-old has been remanded in custody and will appear at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday 4 June. Sefton Area Commander: Karl Baldwin said: “Retail Crime and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order are serious crimes. They have a huge impact on businesses and feelings of safety within our neighbourhoods. Through the work of the Merseyside Anti-Social Behaviour Partnership, Neighbourhood Policing Teams and the Preventative Orders Team we are securing more of these orders against those that commit anti-social behaviour and crime.”
🙏 The yoga teacher who was injured in the Southport Attack shared updates on her campaign to reduce knife harm with hundreds of legal professionals and with members of the Royal family. Leanne Lucas launched her Let’s Be Blunt campaign in a bid to save lives after the attack and is working to promote the adoption of kitchen knives with rounded ends instead of pointed tips. She recently spoke at the second annual Journey to Justice summit in Liverpool before meeting with the Prince and Princess of Wales at a Buckingham Palace garden party.
🫶 The family which runs Funland, the carousel and its nearby fish and chip shop thanked the community for its support as on-site work finally begun on the repair and restoration of Southport Pier. Contractors AE Yates were on site last week carrying out further assessments ahead of 16 months of work which will finally see the landmark reopen. Serena Silcock-Prince, Silcock Leisure Group Head of Operations, said: “The whole community came together and has been really united on this cause. Southport Pier is such a much-loved landmark for not just Southport but also the whole of the Liverpool City Region, and beyond. It attracts so many families to Southport who love its health and wellbeing benefits – we’ve all missed walking along it[…] I can’t wait to walk along Southport Pier again, and so many people are saying the same!”
Elections lessons as Labour hold Sefton, Lib Dems take Southport, Reform continue to confuse and a Holocaust denier wins the vote
By Jamie Lopez and Mia Hadjigeorgiou
Labour lost 15 seats including a cabinet member as the party narrowly regained control of Sefton Council at Thursday’s local election.
Boundary changes meant that for the first time in more than 20 years, every single seat on the council was being contested and with that came the rare opportunity for major change at the local authority.
Labour has controlled the council for 14 years but amid a collapse in support for the national party, and with it the rise of Reform UK and the Green Party, local figures were seriously concerned that role could be lost in Thursday’s vote.
Indeed, early on at the count as rumours spread that Labour could lose its majority, some feared it may not even end as the biggest party and that its leader and multiple cabinet members could lose their seats.
In the end, this didn’t materialise and the party won 36 seats - two more than the 34 needed for a majority. That represented the loss of 15 seats and saw the departure of former Birkdale ward councillor Sonya Kelly, who is among the more highly regarded councillors and whose departure sparked compassion and disappointment across multiple parties.
It also saw defeat for Mhari Doyle, the cabinet member for Public Health and Wellbeing who had represented Norwood ward in Southport and instead stood in Bootle West, seemingly in the hope of securing a safer seat to continue her role. Instead, she was defeated by Reform candidate Jay Leslie Cooper, a man who was exposed for anti-Semitic and conspiracy theory posts but is now an elected councillor - more on that later.
Cllr Marion Atkinson, the council leader, said she was delighted to have retained control of the council while acknowledging the disappointment of her lost colleagues. One of the frequent criticisms the group has faced is an apparent sense of secrecy and unwillingness to engage with other parties but when questioned about this Cllr Atkinson dismissed the concern and said she would discuss the suggestion.
In Southport, the story was one of success for the Liberal Democrats. The party had hoped to strengthen its position as the official opposition with an increase on its previous nine seats. One councillor told The Southport Lead the party expected to win between 12 and 18 seats and in the end it reached 17 - all but four of those available in Southport.
Those remaining four were taken by Reform UK, a result which fell well below its expectation but also belied the fact that the party earned a significant share of the vote and should not have its popularity dismissed.
Here are some of the key lessons from Thursday’s elections:
Labour cling on - just
For Labour, there was only one aim which was to retain control of the party. It previously held 51 seats and there was no hope of achieving anything close to that. Indeed, in the early stages of the count multiple sources told The Southport Lead they feared Labour would not even be the largest party, with one describing the expected result as a “shitshow”.
In the end, the pessimism was overstated and Labour was bruised but not beaten and still has twice as many seats as any other party. Cllr Atkinson is expected to continue as leader and told us that it was a case of business as usual.
She said: “Thank you to the people of Sefton who voted Labour. We will keep going with our adult social care, where we’ve got a CQC strong ‘good’; our OFSTED with Children’s Services; we have been shortlisted for the most improved council across the country; so yes thank you to everybody, we can keep on doing that.”
One thing which remains to be seen is whether the reduced majority will mean the controlling party makes more effort to have cordial relations with its opposition.
Resurgent Liberal Democrats enjoy big Southport wins
The mood about Southport’s Liberal Democrat could simply be described as euphoric. Having seen Labour make gains in Southport at recent elections and then a threat to the right from Reform UK, people could be forgiven for thinking the Libs Dems were becoming a spent force locally. The reality was far from that.
Across Southport’s 21 seats, the party claimed 17 and beat the Conservative group leader and the supposedly senior figures of Reform while Labour languished in the distance. The target now is to continue that growth and topple Labour’s majority.
Cllr John Pugh, the town’s former MP and now Lib Dem group leader, said the results meant the Libs Dems are now the voice of ‘Progressive Southport’.
He continued: “We set out as being people who want to get things done, recognise that things were difficult and issues were complex and we contrasted that with Reform who basically said ‘just get rid of one set of fellas or girls and you get another set in’ and that actually is not the way to problem solve in this world. There’s no magic to any political party or individuals in it, it does require application and so on.
