New Boston Eye

4 days since the election

The pollsters predicted a neck-and-neck race for control of the country at the general election – but when the votes were in they were proved hopelessly wrong ... and the Conservatives romped home by a country mile.

So much for opinion polls.

And not for the first time, Boston Borough Council bucked the trend when it came to local voting, sending politicians of all stripes packing, and opting instead for a neck-and-neck result all their own – a tie between the Conservatives and the United Kingdom Independence Party.

The outcome?
After successive administrations which saw the Boston Bypass Independents and the Conservatives ruling the roost – Boston has reverted to its traditional state of being under No Overall Control.

We went into election day having had 32 local councillors – knowing that we would end it with 30, due to government ward changes.

And of the 83 hats in the ring, 26 were Tory, 19 Labour, 18 UKIP, 14 Independent, 4 Green, 1 Liberal Democrat, and 1 unaligned.

Before the election, Boston had 16 Conservative councillors, three Labour, 12 assorted independents and an English Democrat.

Now, the state of the parties stands at: Tories and UKIP on 13 apiece, plus Labour and independents with two each.

Or does it?

Scarcely had the polls been announced than we heard rumours of a UKIP defection to the Conservatives – which appeared to be confirmed by unsuccessful parliamentary candidate Robin Hunter-Clarke

If true, it not only gives the Conservatives a majority – but also roundly gives the lie to the one big pledge by the party’s late leader, Nigel Farage – “If you vote UKIP - You get UKIP.”

True, we have had defections in the past – and UKIP has been the most prominent among them.

But we can’t remember one taking place on election day – with one well-informed reader going so far as to suggest that a deal was struck ahead of polling day.

Before the election, former leader Pete Bedford optimistically expressed the wish that he would continue in the role.

If he does, it will have less to do with his leadership skills and more with his luck at survival – as he inherits a party with many of its big names absent ... which might well affect the loyalty he might receive.

The Tory survivors are: Michael Brookes – who was also Bedford’s deputy – and councillors Colin Brotherton, Maureen Dennis, Judith Skinner, Aaron Spencer and Stephen Woodliffe.

Between them, they comprise seven of the ten survivors of Thursday's political slaughter.

Just enough to form a cabinet unless you admit tyros.

The others are Labour’s Paul Gleeson, and Independents Alison and Richard Austin.

With nine new members, the path to the top could well be a rocky road for Councillor Bedford’s ambitions – much like Napoleon asking to be Defence Secretary following the Battle of Waterloo.

It may well be that the Tory newcomers feel that a new broom is required, and even if re-elected, Councillor Bedford may well turn out to be a toothless tiger.

Defections are one thing – evictions are another ... and some well-known local political names bit the dust at Thursday’s X Fight at the Ballot Box Corral.

Yvonne Gunter – self-styled dignitary and cabinet member for cemeteries – lost her seat in Staniland Ward ... ironically to one of her major one time critics.

The former BBI/Better Boston Group councillor Brian Rush, who previously stood down for health reasons, re-emerged as the victorious UKIP candidate this time around ... along with a newcomer to the Tory ranks who was clearly preferred over the incumbent.

Another loser in Staniland was former Tory councillor Gloria Smith, who stood as an independent. A great loss.

Veteran councillor and octogenarian Mary Wright - a former mayor and chairman of Boston’s planning committee was another casualty.

Two other veterans - independents Richard Leggott and Ossy Snell lost their seats in Swineshead and Holland Fen and Fishtoft respectively.

Also in Fishtoft, Helen Staples – who would have been Boston’s next mayor – was defeated.

The ward saw Conservative Paul Skinner – a former Lincolnshire County Councillor join his wife Judith at West Street.

In that same ward, one of our two belt-and-braces candidates, Jonathan Noble, was elected for UKIP ... whilst failing for the same party in East Lindsey District Council’s Sibsey and Stickney ward.

A fellow runner in that ward, Tom Ashton, was elected for the Conservatives. But Mr Ashton, the local party’s Deputy Chairman for Policy and Campaigning failed in his bid to join ex-leader Bedford in Boston’s Coastal Ward.

Given the outcome, this may be just as well as Councillor Bedford might think that Mr Ashton has much to answer for!

***

We turn now to UKIP – and once again the name of clan Ransome was prominent in the list.

Felicity Ransome won a seat in Coastal Ward, whilst Elizabeth succeeded in Swineshead and Holland Fen.

Jodie Ransome failed to buck the Tory trend in Five Villages Ward, and patriarch Don Ransome – who also masterminded the unsuccessful but impressive UKIP general election campaign – was out of luck in West Ward.

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Labour lost two councillors.

Their biggest casualty was Paul Kenny who came third in the General Election vote for the Boston seat and locally lost his seat in Skirbeck Ward.

Paul Goodale – who had switched wards from Staniland to Skirbeck – saw Ukipper Stephen Ball score more votes.

One small consolation – Labour can at least still sign letters to our local “newspapers” with the sobriquet “Boston Labour Councillors”...

Somehow, “Boston Labour Councillor” wouldn’t have the same ring.

***

Amid the casualties, there were some councillors whom we had got to know quite well over the past nine years – and we are sad that those among them who put service to the voters first on their agenda are no longer able to continue.

But there were also those who were more concerned with self-service – and to see them vanish from the council is a piece of poetic justice.

When David Cameron was re-elected, he promised to “govern in the interests of all people.”

A similar promise needs to be made to the voters of Boston

It is not enough for Peter Bedford to gather the tattered remnants of his political crinoline around him, cajole his new councillors into putting him in charge yet again, and trying to posture on as if the election never happened.

That isn’t what people voted for.

With half the council from another party, it will not be enough to try to impose the mixture as before – it is simply not what the voters want ... as they made clear at the ballot box.

***

UKIP will of course, have problems of its own.

It is reasonable to expect that many of those who voted for the party in Boston did so with its immigration policies in mind – without realising that at a local level any action is above the pay grade of a district councillor.

Effectively, UKIP councillors are not whipped – which means they can vote as they please, and not follow a party line – but again, some of the promises that we saw in the run-up to the election extended to areas over which they had no control.

Hopefully, the new UKIP group will not go the way of predecessors at Worst Street, who deserted their party after petty fallings-out and skirmishes.

The party must surely have learned a lesson after its success on Lincolnshire County Council after which internal wrangling led to the party ceding its role as the official opposition.

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A major question now will be the one of who is really running Boston Borough Council? There have been mutterings for some years to the effect that the officers are the real power behind the throne.

If that is the case – and if they are looking to extend their power base – then the time couldn’t be better.

So many councillors brand new to the business are sitting ducks for anyone who sees himself as an éminence grise.

New councillors – be on your guard.

***

After last week’s local election debacle there is always the question of apportioning blame.

But whoever would have thought of Boston Eye being among the culprits.

One failed Tory candidate went so far as to do exactly that.

Addressing the Eye and two other regular commentators on Twitter, he declared: “Thanks for giving us hell for the last six months. Now Boston has a UKIP borough council – well done.”

It was interesting that he thought that voters could be so easily swayed – and not that an incompetent leadership group might have contributed more to the Tory rout.

***

We have no doubt that Boston will be watched closely in the months ahead to see what sort of a fist the politicians make of their new look authority.

At a time when the powers that be are looking for economies, it might be worth bearing in mind that Boston is one of the country’s smallest councils by population – it ranks 306th of 326 – which could make it a prime candidate for a merger with a neighbour.

Small is no longer beautiful – it is also expensive.

***

Meanwhile, we have to wait to find out during the week ahead what the plotters and schemers have come up with, and hopefully get a clearer picture of what’s going to happen in Worst Street

But at least one local politician has not had to wait long since Thursday’s general election