Results
This was the result in Manor Castle Ward.
Pat Midgeley (Labour) 1621 53%
David Croft (Lib Dem) 687 22%
Christina Stark (Con) 400 13%
Graham Wroe (Green) 357 12%
Thank you to those of you who supported me in any way- leafleting- putting up posters, and especially voting. I was very disappointed to come last- but my vote didn’t go down very much (I was 13% last time)but the other two parties managed to take votes from Labour. What’s most upsetting is that the Conservative candidate beat me without doing anything- there wasn’t even a poster in her window! So the Conservative vote was purely on media coverage- the “David Cameron” effect. The Lib Dem vote again increased and their leaflet wrongly insinuated that the Greens always support Labour.
It was very clear that the postal vote was not Green. Postal votes favour the 3 main parties as people often vote before the election leaflets are distributed and are much more influenced by the national media. Despite our excellent election broadcast the Greens have struggled to get a fair representation in the national media. The Question Time debate not giving the Green mayoral candidate, Sian Berry, a platform is a a prime example of this.
In Central Ward our hard work paid dividends and we now have a third Councillor, Rob Murphy. Result
Rob Murphy Green Party 1611 40%
Mohammad Maroof Labour 1563 39%
Mohammad Azam Lib Dem 522 13%
June Ledbury Conservative 311 8%
It was nail bitingly close, but we have now managed to complete the team of 3 councillors in Central.
Throughout the city Lib Dems swept to power and how have 45 seats, Labour 36 and Green 3. The Independent lost in Stocksbridge and Anne Smith lost the only Tory seat in Dore & Totley. We now have an important role to play as the third council group with a clear alternative agenda to Labour and the Lib Dems. Other noteable Green results include
Rob Cole came second in Broomhill, 756 votes 27%
Gareth Roberts beat the Tories in Gleadless Valley 781 15%
Chris Sissons beat the Tories in Burngreave 638, 14%
Julian Briggs beat Labour in Crookes 698, 14%
Mervyn Smith came 3rd beating Con/UKIP in Nether Edge 780 13%
James Wilson came 3rd in Walkley beating Cons.540 12%
Jason Leman beat Labour in Ecclesall 615 9%
The full results are on the Council website
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/elections/election-results/election-results-2008
Hi GrahamBad luck on the result but fantastic news that there are now 3 councillors in Sheffield.It seems that people jump from voting Labour to voting Tory, just to punish the government. I find it sad that the Green Party is often unnoticed or labelled as “tree-huggers” but people generally don’t understand that what goes on in the local elections isn’t going to directly affect the current government. I don’t think many people understand or care about the political process and don’t seem to link the process to what happens to them and their country every day.Change will take a long time, I think.CheersJoey