Labour retains control of Ealing

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Anti-tram vote not enough to force change

Labour have managed to hold onto Ealing Council but with a much reduced majority. The loss of the 'bellwether' borough of Ealing would have been a huge psychological blow to the Labour party. The borough traditionally has been won by the party that goes on to triumph at the next general election.

The Council's popularity had been severely dented by its support for the controversial West London Tram project. Earlier in its term Ealing had been rated 'weak' by the Audit Commission and had experienced a huge turnover of senior staff. An ambitious communications called 'Response' had put huge pressure on the budget but has yet to deliver anything like the promised returns. Despite this the party's support held up well in the west of the borough and the opposition failed to win some of their key target seats.

A number of factors may have contributed to the swing of voters away from Labour:

• recent high profile controversies at national level in a number of government Ministries plus questions over Tony Blair's centralised leadership style has led voters to register their discontent at the local level
• a vocal anti-tram lobby has challenged all parties and candidates to declare their position over the costly West London Transit Scheme with a highly visible grass-roots campaign
• re-vitalised Conservatives swung several wards where Labour only held a narrow majority from the last election
• increasing concerns over global warming and environmental issues has increased the popularity of the Green party and Lib Dems, drawing votes from the left
• active campaigning on local issues has strengthened the Lib Dem presence in certain key wards.

Labour loses Ealing

In a stunning result which is likely to have national repurcussions, Labour have suffered a shock defeat in Ealing . After 12 years of Labour rule their is no single party with an overall majority in the Council.

The loss of the 'bellwether' borough is a huge psychological blow to the Labour party. The borough traditionally has been won by the party that goes on to triumph at the next general election.

The Council's popularity had been severely dented by its support for the controversial West London Tram project. Earlier in its term Ealing had been rated 'weak' by the Audit Commission and had experienced a huge turnover of senior staff. An ambitious communications called 'Response' had put huge pressure on the budget but has yet to deliver anything like the promised returns. At the local level issues such as the plans to build over open space in South Acton cost them critical votes in a ward which would normally have been seen as a safe Labour area.

It is likely now that the Council will be run by a coalition of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

 

May 5, 2006