Counting The Votes

The election was yesterday and there is now the count to look forward to, that is if you are a Conservative! Why do I say that, well I am writing this piece at almost 1.00am in the early hours of Friday morning and the first of the results are in.

All across the Country the Conservatives are polling well. They are picking seats up and they are winning local Councils.

Nuneaton & Bedworth 36 years a Labour Council has gone blue!

Birmingham a little closer to home is also showing 6 Conservative gains at the moment. So come later this morning I think every Labour Councillor will approach the count with some trepidation.

So where do I stand and how do I think it will go? Well Wednesfield will be unlikely to withstand the sort of swings that the Conservatives have been generating right across the West Midlands.

I am not suggesting for one minute that I am conceding the election far from it, but there is no doubt Labour is receiving a very bloody nose from our opponents.

It is a bit perverse but I have thoroughly enjoyed the campaign, it has been a campaign that has been fully energised and has captured the interest of others beyond the boundaries of Wednesfield.

If there is a bright spot in the election campaign it has to be the way that the Party has been able to martial support, and fight the sort of campaign that we have. My wife Mary has been a rock, has as my immediate family. All of put a great deal of time into helping Labour prepare to fight Wednesfield North.

We have to remember that this seat has been won by the Conservatives in the last two elections. It has been a target seat for the Tories for some time. They have pumped huge resources into their target, aligned with a 14% national swing, it was always going to be tough for us to hold in these sort of circumstances.

I am a Labour loyalist but even I have felt some anxiety with regard to the way that our Party has performed nationally of late. So come mid –morning and it is inevitable that Labour will be looking a little worn!

But now is the time for bed, hopefully some sleep and perhaps even a few sweet dreams! Elections are great days, it is no wonder that people go to war for the right to vote and have a say in their democracy………even on days that look more than a little blue!