Interesting set of results last night which are widely being reported by the national media as no change. This translates into the Corbyn bandwagon running out of steam and the Tories not being as badly affected as they might be by their recent bad press over the Windrush generation.
From a coastal Essex town I would say the results are more revealing of the widening political and economic divide behind the haves and have nots in the UK.
The wards that have crept towards more Labour councillors are also those more likely to have properties being converted to flats or houses of multiple occupation (HMOs). This is creating increased pressure on schools, GP surgeries, transport and other public services in these areas that central and local government are slow to respond to. The sort of working class voters UKIP might also have gone after.
The wards that are creeping towards more Independent, Green or Liberal Democrat councillors are those going through the now familiar "gentrification" process. This is related to young professionals, commuting to and from inner City areas, with good credit histories, large deposits, and assured shorthold tenancies and landlords with large portfolios investing in property hotspots altogether stimulating a flourishing high street of small independent taders and artisans.
The wards that are creeping back towards Conservative from a flirtation with UKIP or Labour are generally populated by properties that have bought by tenants from landlords in the last 50 years. This would be "Thatchers Generation" of "Basildon Man" - those that bought their council houses at knock down prices as a way out of 'the ghetto'. The same people that Blair tried to appeal to as the aspirational working and left-leaning middle class homeowners. The reason that "Jerusalem" replaced "the Red Flag" as the Labour Party's anthem for a while.
It is no lie to say that there is a homeless person in nearly every shop doorway when I walk through town to get my sandwich at lunchtime. The white beggars seem to be drinking more and chasing the European homeless out of town. 1 in 3 shopfronts is boarded up. The high rise office blocks have been empty for 10 years now. The Tory council have finally agreed for their conversion to residential property. They are being reclad Grenfell style and marketed to young professionals and property investors. There is a policy to disrupt any large public gathering where political descent could become contagious. Car parks are closing in favour of more residential developments. There is a clear political agenda quietly being developed under May's regime.
So this is the future of, what shall we call it, "Fortress Britain" would suit. There is a very British feeling to it: quietly determined and gentile; but ultimately, utterly ruthless. "Doing what we have to do to get the business done. This is what we do. No need to ask why." Chances are you wouldn't get an answer anyway.
From a coastal Essex town I would say the results are more revealing of the widening political and economic divide behind the haves and have nots in the UK.
The wards that have crept towards more Labour councillors are also those more likely to have properties being converted to flats or houses of multiple occupation (HMOs). This is creating increased pressure on schools, GP surgeries, transport and other public services in these areas that central and local government are slow to respond to. The sort of working class voters UKIP might also have gone after.
The wards that are creeping towards more Independent, Green or Liberal Democrat councillors are those going through the now familiar "gentrification" process. This is related to young professionals, commuting to and from inner City areas, with good credit histories, large deposits, and assured shorthold tenancies and landlords with large portfolios investing in property hotspots altogether stimulating a flourishing high street of small independent taders and artisans.
The wards that are creeping back towards Conservative from a flirtation with UKIP or Labour are generally populated by properties that have bought by tenants from landlords in the last 50 years. This would be "Thatchers Generation" of "Basildon Man" - those that bought their council houses at knock down prices as a way out of 'the ghetto'. The same people that Blair tried to appeal to as the aspirational working and left-leaning middle class homeowners. The reason that "Jerusalem" replaced "the Red Flag" as the Labour Party's anthem for a while.
It is no lie to say that there is a homeless person in nearly every shop doorway when I walk through town to get my sandwich at lunchtime. The white beggars seem to be drinking more and chasing the European homeless out of town. 1 in 3 shopfronts is boarded up. The high rise office blocks have been empty for 10 years now. The Tory council have finally agreed for their conversion to residential property. They are being reclad Grenfell style and marketed to young professionals and property investors. There is a policy to disrupt any large public gathering where political descent could become contagious. Car parks are closing in favour of more residential developments. There is a clear political agenda quietly being developed under May's regime.
So this is the future of, what shall we call it, "Fortress Britain" would suit. There is a very British feeling to it: quietly determined and gentile; but ultimately, utterly ruthless. "Doing what we have to do to get the business done. This is what we do. No need to ask why." Chances are you wouldn't get an answer anyway.
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