Public and Commercial Services Union

Make Your Vote Count 2011

 

Report on the 2011 Campaign

The PCS NW Regional Committee selected the Borough of Sefton, Merseyside for target activity in the 2011 English Local Elections.

The two Lib Dem held marginal Wards from 2010 were Victoria in the town of Crosby and Sudell in Maghull.  We selected the Sudell Ward for our Sefton Question Time event.  After a discussion with Sefton Unison comrades, rather than invite the local candidates, we invited the Leaders from Conservative, Green, Labour, Lib Dem and UKIP – the four largest parties in the Borough.  Green, Labour and UKIP readily agreed to attend, the Conservatives were a little more reticent but eventually agreed (albeit the Party Leader sent a substitute) and the Liberal Democrats flatly refused to participate.  This was slightly surprising because their Leader is an active PCS member and the Lib Dems were very eager participants in the 2010 MYVC campaign in Sefton Central.

The QT event was held at Maghull Town Hall on Thursday 28th April. Thirty-five local people attended.  Many were local PCS members from a single Branch and a handful were members of other unions including Unison, POA and NUT. I would estimate that between 12 and 15 members of the public attended who learnt of the event through our public distribution of 600 leaflets at the local railway station and shopping area and/or from a classified advertisement in the local newspaper, the Maghull and Aintree Star.

The standard of debate at the QT was quite positive.  Although we were unable to cover all aspects of the PCS pledges, the discussion largely centred around the ideology of the cuts, the PCS alternative and the importance of public sector employment to the Borough. 

Frank Doran from the Regional Committee (Bootle Taxes Branch) chaired the event effectively and skilfully despite one candidate causing a few difficult moments.  Nineteen questions were submitted but owing to the limited time, only eight were asked.  Other than the economic and industrial issues, we allowed questions on local issues including a controversial road building proposal and local caring services.

A report of the event was uploaded to the front page of the PCS NW website 48 hours before Polling Day with hyperlinks e-mailed to Merseyside Branches and Tweeted.

Party Leaders in the remaining 33 north west Local Authorities were emailed for a response to the PCS pledges on 31st March with a follow up reminder on 19th April.  A total of fourteen responses from twelve Authorities were received and published on the website at least seven days before Polling Day.  Reminders to visit the MYVC pages of the PCS NW website were regularly circulated by email and Twitter throughout April and early May.

The breakdown of responses was as follows:

Conservative     No replies from 31 requests
Green                 No replies  from 2 requests
Independent      1 reply  from 6 requests
Labour               8 replies  from 30 requests
Lib Dems           5 replies  from 39 requests

Lib Dem responses were largely standard replies based on the reply of Cllr Richard Kemp, Chair of the Lib Dem Group on the LGA to the General Secretary.  Labour and Independent responses were generally more candid and helpful.

The results from Sudell Ward were as follows, with the 2010 results provided for context.

Sudell Ward results 2011

Election Candidate               Party              Votes % 
Patrick Anthony McKinley      Labour              2314 53% Elected
Cllr Mrs Sylvia Mainey         Lib Dems             1169 27% Not elected
Wendy Moore                   Conservative          713 16% Not elected
Andrew David Rossall      Green Party            143 3% Not elected

Turnout 43%    

    
Sudell Ward results 2010 for comparison

Election Candidate                  Party                         Votes % 
Bruce Lock Hubbard              Lib Dems                2636 38% Elected
John Inskip                             Labour                  2506 36% Not elected
Wendy Moore                      Conservative           1393 20% Not elected
Linda Elizabeth Harper             UKIP                     380 5% Not elected
Andrew David Rossall          Green Party               100 1% Not elected

Turnout 71%

The overall share of the vote in the Borough of Sefton was as follows:

Election results by Party
Party name                      Seats elected                     % of votes
The Labour Party                    12                                        45%
Conservative                            5                                         25%
Liberal Democrats                     5                                         20%
UKIP                                          0                                           5%
The Southport Party                  0                                           3%
The Green Party                        0                                           1%
British National Party                0                                        < 1%
Trade Unionist and Socialists Against Cuts                                          0                                        < 1%
English Democrats 'Putting England First'                                          0                                       < 1% 

                                   

BNP and far-right candidates were defeated wherever they stood and were placed last in most Wards.  Their best showing was in the Burnley ward of Hapton with Park where they polled 23.5% and finished second to Labour despite having current Councillors.  Most of our anti-fascist material was used by Branches in East Lancashire with instructions to distribute to members.  Full far-right results here: http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/2011/elections/?link=North_West

We supported both UAF and Hope Not Hate initiatives including the days of Action on 16th and 30th April.  The Hope Not Hate tabloid newspapers and Stop the Hate leaflets  were concentrated in Areas where the far-right had previous electoral success.  In a report to Branches of the NW TUC AGM we emphasised the contribution from Nick Lowles of Searchlight and emailed Branches with links to local anti-fascist groups and websites.

Overall, the PCS campaign achieved a reasonably high profile in the target Borough however, this was largely via Twitter, email and the website rather than direct inter-action with the community (other than the leafleting mentioned). 

There must be some concern about the extent to which the majority of Branches engaged with the campaign.  Branch Co-ordinators did not appear to take a pro-active approach to their role – even among their own members.  If repeating future events, outside of General Election years and pending 2011 ADC decisions, I would suggest redoubling efforts to hold them in conjunction with other unions and community groups.

 

Peter Middleman

NW Regional Secretary