Lib Dems take strong hold of council (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

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Lib Dems take strong hold of council

1:38am Friday 2nd May 2008

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THE LIB DEMS have taken a firm grip on St Albans District Council following the local elections yesterday.

Lib Dems gained an overall majority after stealing seats in Batchwood, Verulam and Sopwell wards.

Council leader Robert Donald said: "I'm very pleased and it should lead to having a majority so we will now be able to start implementing our manifesto which we have not been able to do before now because we have been tied.

"I'm particularly pleased about winning Batchwood because the Liberal Democrats have not won a district seat there since the 1980's."

Full story to follow later.

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MJ, St Albans says...
7:12am Fri 2 May 08

You don't mention the losses for Libdems though. So they are up only 1 seat which was a 3% gain where the Tories increased share by 16% . Reads a bit different now. Luck of the draw that the LDs got that extra seat.

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BC, St Albans says...
7:19am Fri 2 May 08

Luck? I think you'll find it was down to a count of the votes cast. That's how it works, you see.

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Jenny Hale, St Albans says...
7:59am Fri 2 May 08

Brilliant result for a hard working local group of people who have the ability to consider the needs of their local constitents. They do this to the best of their ability and despite the ever increasing pressure from national policies which are putting pressure on the local area.

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Dave, St Albans says...
8:05am Fri 2 May 08

Lets now see what the LD council does about the gestapo like NCP traffic wardens in St Albans. I will forecast - precisely nothing.

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Cllr Allan Witherick, St Albans says...
8:24am Fri 2 May 08

Dear all,
Can I just say thank you to EVERYONE who voted. Regardless of party.
The turnout shows that people in St Albans want democracy to make a difference, which in todays climate is probably the harder test.
I promise that I will do my best to serve the residents of St Albans and District on the Council.

Regards
Cllr Allan Witherick
Batchwood Councillor

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MJ, St A says...
10:11am Fri 2 May 08

Further to my post. The Libdems increased their vote by 0.1% by voter numbers. and Tories by 16.8%. so as i say it was lucky that the spread of votes worked that way. If you wanted prop. representation (which is what the LDs seem to want) then the seat result would be that they would only have 23 vs Tories 22 so as i say some luck as to who lives where. ;-)

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OutragedOfDaltonSt, St A says...
10:28am Fri 2 May 08

Wonderful - any chance someone can now address the issue of the prolific smell of stale urine that eminates from the tunnel next Tesco Metro on St Peter's Street - this is the 21st Century and we pay through the nose for basic services in St Albans. It's a disgrace

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Steph, St Albans says...
10:37am Fri 2 May 08

Well done to the Lib Dems. And well done to the Review for telling us so early - very impressive. Beat every other local form of media by hours - a valuable local source of information!

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Bob, St Albans says...
10:51am Fri 2 May 08

There's no change, the Lib/Dems were in control before 1st May, the Independent in Redbourn could always be relied on to provide the crucial vote, but with this style of cabinet government the days of tied votes/casting votes have gone. Now all the Lib/Dems have to do is make some decisions, starting with finding the means to redevelop Westminster Lodge, seeing off Tesco (at a cost, think all of those s.106 planning deals), waving in the huge development at Oaklands, dealing with the future of the Jubilee Centre, etc., etc. Oh happy days and nights at City Hall.

By the way, some credit to the SADC website, all the results were posted by 09.30.

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Emm, St. Albans says...
11:08am Fri 2 May 08

Now that we've got a LD councillor in Batchwood does that mean we're gonna get some decent traffic control so residents can get off the estate at harpenden road and batchwwod drive? Or will we still have to queue for ages and then risk life and limb?

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John, St Albans says...
12:09pm Fri 2 May 08

Perhaps now we might (or probably will not) see something done about pavement and verge parking which is totally illegal.

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JAP, St Albans says...
1:18pm Fri 2 May 08

Conservatives and Labour supporters finally screaming for proportional representation. The coffee must have been really strong this morning. Better late than never.

PS: Why don't St Albans get to elect the city's Mayor, just like London.

That way citizens may just give a **** about who s/he is, what they're 'about' and what s/he does?!?

They could even offer a manifesto and be given a remit!

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Bob S, St Albans - the best! says...
2:55pm Fri 2 May 08

Lib Dems take strong hold of council

The St Albans Observer is very good at copying and pasting Press Releases.

How on earth by having a majority of one do you have a "strong hold"??

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Steph, St Albans says...
5:13pm Fri 2 May 08

Bob S wrote:
Lib Dems take strong hold of council The St Albans Observer is very good at copying and pasting Press Releases. How on earth by having a majority of one do you have a "strong hold"??

Broken record Bob and his press release claim. Who would be releasing them? They were all up last night nobody is in to write them - they were too busy celebrating with Clegg. It's a strong grip because they have a majority and can vote anything through...end of.

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Robin Friday, says...
9:54pm Fri 2 May 08

Well done Allan. I don't normally vote Lib Dem but just to give the repulsive Brown a proverbial kick up the **** I did.

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Cllr Julian Daly, says...
12:38pm Sat 3 May 08

The numbers in the exchange are ignoring those of us who live outside the City. The Conservative vote in this election was 43%. The LibDem share was 34%.

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Matt, St Albans says...
5:24pm Sun 4 May 08

So a LD councillor in Batchwood is going to improve highways and traffic control??? This LD bloke has been County Councillor for the area for the past 3 years - the Council that is responsible for highways, traffic - and pavements and verges. You should have already been complaining to him Emm.

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Bob S, St Albans says...
11:27am Tue 6 May 08

The mask slips "steph".

"They were all up last night nobody is in to write them - they were too busy celebrating with Clegg." Ah, so you know that then?

Anyway, back to the point - a "strong hold" indicates a decent sized majority.... not a majoprity of one!

If i were a journalist i would probably define a majority of one council seat as a 'weak hold'. You know, like it was in 2006!

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