Lancaster City Council elections: Greens celebrate big wins but talks needed on next administration

The Green Party celebrated gaining 21 councillors at last week’s local election for the city council, their biggest ever number of city councillors.

However, Labour gained 24 seats, making them the largest individual political group.

But they also lost their group leader, who is also a former Lancaster City Council leader, in the election twists and turns.

The Conservatives saw their numbers slashed to five while the Lib Dems enjoyed some success and now have seven councillors.

Elsewhere, the Morecambe Bay Independents suffered losses and now have just three councillors.

And there is one other Independent, re-elected in Heysham North.

DEFEAT FOR LABOUR LEADER BUT GROUP GAINS

One big blow was suffered by Labour’s Erica Lewis. The former city council leader and Labour group leader was beaten by the Greens.

Before the result was formally declared, the signs appeared to suggest defeat. For a while, she sat alone on the balcony above the hustle and bustle of vote counting at Lancaster Town Hall. She appeared to be contemplating the defeat.

Erica Lewis remains a Lancashire county councillor and said she intends to stay active in public life in other ways too, such as her academic and education work. Community wealth-building, economic and health issues are among her interests.

She said: “While I personally have not had a successful day, the Labour group has. We have gained another eight councillors. There is some really good new talent although we have also lost some good people who were not re-elected.

“Labour always knew we faced hard campaign in urban Lancaster. The ward boundaries were changed and we were aware that would probably benefit the Greens in Lancaster. A number were solid Green wards and some have return three Green councillors in the latest election. Some Labour wards were diluted.

“But I’m proud of the Labour campaign. It was positive and clean. We put forward a vision for Lancaster that we really need, regarding the climate emergency, a stable local economy, the community, and fundamentals of people’s health and well-being.

“But not all the other parties responded in kind. We thought we had worked in partnership with them, so that was a disappointing part of the campaign.”

She added: “Lancaster and Morecambe is a complicated district for politics. There are seven parties. Over the 29 wards we have seen 17 change political representation, I think. People vote differently on the north and side south of the River Lune. We see this at general elections, the referendum and at city council elections. It’s a complicated political space,

“We have seen a lot of independents lose their seats this week. We see that happening when the electorate want a two-way fight leading towards a general election. The Conservative vote has collapsed. They’ve not got only five councillors.

GREEN DELIGHT AT ‘FANTASTIC RESULTS’

Green councillor Caroline Jackson remains the current leader of the council until formalities are agreed for the next administration.

Speaking after all the latest results were declared on Friday evening, she said: “We’ve had some fantastic results but there’s no clear outcome at this point. We’ve gone from ten to 21 Green councillors in a short period of time. There have been some great results this time with some Greens gaining over 1,000 votes each. Those are big numbers.

“We’ve also gained some rural seats in what were previously Conservative areas, such as Ellel and Halton. That’s an interesting development. These are new types of wards for us. We want to be working in those types of areas too.

“We need a few days for discussions to see what is the best way for the district. We want a stable, skilled administration which will last. We’ll be looking at who share our values and outlook.”

Coun Gina Dowding, another leading Green, said: “We’ll look at the political groups we have worked with before. The Lib Dems have some rural seats. Labour has done well in Morecambe. We’ve all increased our support. It would make sense to work together and have that broad scope.”

Speaking before all the results were declared, Green candidate Jack Lenox said: “Our campaign seemed to go as well as we hoped. We had a full slate of candidates – 61 – standing for all 61 council seats. The Greens were the most active in the campaign. I think we are the most ambitious political party in the district.

“I think there’s a lot of public goodwill and enthusiasm for us. With having a Green city council leader in the past two years, that has further raised our profile more. We hope we can build on that to do all the things we have wanted to do.

“The South Lancaster Housing Infrastructure Fund has not been popular from the onset. I don’t think there was one single letter in support of it but there were 350 objections. I don’t think people have forgotten about this issue. I think Labour perhaps ignored correspondence on that, which may have hurt them?

“There’s no shortage of suburban family homes. We need affordable homes in Lancaster city centre and that’s what we want with the Canal Quarter. That’s become a different project thanks to the Greens.

“I’ll be honest. We got some feedback about the arts budget cuts and museums. But I think people also understand it’s not what we want to do. However, I’m proud that we are trying to make the best of a difficult situation.”

MORECAMBE POLITICS

Cary Matthews stood as an independent for the city council and as a Together For Morecambe candidate for the town council.

She said: “I have literally had two people who were annoyed about the Morecambe Town Council precept. I believe it’s the right thing to do. When I explain what we are trying to achieve, people understood it. If we want to achieve things then we need the resources to do it.

“If we didn’t have an income through the precept, people would complain that the town council does nothing.

“I believe in true collaboration between parish and town councils, the city council and the county. The town council successfully bid to get the weeding contract from the county council. It has won a gold status award. It puts on iconic events that have benefited Morecambe.

“I think Morecambe Town Council deserves some credit. It should not be belittled by the MP, David Morris. I think he should look at the facts again before he decries the town councillors and staff.”

She added: “The Eden Project is, of course, important and is a catalyst. But there is still plenty of regeneration work to be done in Morecambe. We are also delighted with the Winter Garden’s refurbishment. We are all about doing things together, across the district, with everyone doing their part. ”

Later, Conservative councillor Keith Budden, who was re-elected for Bolton & Slyne, praised MP David Morris, saying he and the Conservatives were bringing huge amounts of funding to the district.

Independent councillor Roger Cleet was re-elected in Heysham North. He has raised concerns about Morecambe Town Council and also its precept rise.

He said: “The big issue I heard in the election campaign was the Morecambe precept. I hope the MP, David Morris, is good with his word and there will be a thorough investigation into the town council’s finances.

“I left Morecambe Town Council in the past because I had concerns about its finances. It’s difficult for me being the only Independent councillor now. Previously we had a small Independent group which gave us a seat on some committees. But I won’t be entitled to that as a lone Independent.

“But I live in Heysham. People know me and said they’d vote for me, which I appreciate. I think I’m a hard working councillor.”

CONSERVATIVE BLUES

Conservative councillor Andrew Gardiner was re-elected, but his group is now reduced in size.

He said: “The Conservatives aimed to run a positive campaign on local issues. The Eden Project is a massive boost for the district and people feel good about it.

“However, there are also other important issues, not least the state of roads with potholes. Also people were talking about the Morecambe town precept. They want to know how and why the town council might buy Frontierland when it’s already owned [by the city council]?

“Some people asked about the South Lancaster Housing Infrastructure Fund. We think more needs to be done after the election with messages about the positives aspects of that and also some of the myths that some parties are putting forward, to protect their areas. In fact, they are doing the opposite by allowing developers to take-over because we are not keeping to our plans.

“We said we want to keep The Platform open and put in plans about working with a private business which has specialisms in that industry. However, it did not come up as a big issue, in our experience. Neither did topics like GPs and dentists. Yes, national issues come into local discussions, but we focused on local matters. We cannot ask for any more from national government. They have given many millions of pounds to the district.”

LIB DEMS

Peter Jackson is chairman of Lancaster and Morecambe Lib Dems and was a candidate for the Lower Lune Valley ward.

He said: “In the villages, Lib Dems focused on planning, the quality of roads, sustainable development and national issues.

“In Morecambe, we focused on topics like the public realm, the former Frontierland site, Morecambe Town Council and the precept rise. We actively support the precept rise and hope there will be a balance on Morecambe Town Council to continue that work.

Asked about the potential for new cross-party co-operation following the latest election, he said: As Lib-Dems, we believe in co-operation. Politics in Morecambe is rather adversarial ad aggressive. In the villages, politics is a bit more civil."