Curly's Corner Shop, the blog!

Tory scalp in Cleadon and East Boldon is biggest prize

I’m still pretty tired after yesterday’s elections and a fairly long night attending the count at the Temple Park Centre in South Shields, which although it was hard on the legs for the gathered politicos was well organised by Val Stephenson on behalf of the Returning Officer, I hear that similar praise is also due for the officials at Jarrow Community Centre. They were never in any sort of race to beat Sunderland into declaring results but at least the counting was all but over at the time they predicted it ought to have started!

It would be churlish of me NOT to congratulate the Labour Party in South Tyneside for some good results last night so I’ll do it now, well done boys and girls, you have a well oiled election machine which some of the rest of us sneakily admire and envy. Biggest prize of the night went to Joan Atkinson, who after years of hard graft chipping away at the Conservative majority in Cleadon and East Boldon ousted Donald Wood. It was not a shock to some of us but there was some surprise at the size of the Labour majority and the fact that they took over 50% share of the vote on a very healthy turnout of over 55%, I felt terribly sorry for Don Wood who is a real gent and really did not deserve to be the victim of the “Potts factor”, I had predicted a tough uphill fight for the Tories in Cleadon but expected them to hold with a slim margin. One veteran Conservative (and former councillor) who I spoke to put the blame for the loss firmly on Jarrow Conservative Association for the failure to “sort out Potts” when the had the chance prior to his last reselection, he too saw the writing on the wall.

I was right too in predicting victory for Ian Harkus for Labour in Hebburn North as Lib-Dem John McKie was ousted on a night which has so far seen 295 of his colleagues lose their seats. South Tyneside now has just one Liberal Democrat councillor within its ranks. Labour’s other gain came in South Shields where “long legs” Joyce Welsh romped home with a health majority over the sitting Progressive Marjorie Robinson, the result was not as close as I predicted. Speaking to Joyce after her victory I realise she doesn’t mind being called “long legs” at all and thinks it may be an easy way to distinguish her from the similar named Cllr. Walsh!

Elsewhere former Mayor’s Secretary Fay Cunningham returns to South Shields town hall this time as a Labour councillor having held off the challenge of Tom Defty in Bede ward, we see a new “independent” in Fellgate and Hedworth in the form of Linda Hemmer who beat Labour’s Moira Smith by just over 100 votes, and already rumours are circulating that Ms Hemmer may shortly defect to the Labour benches. Real Independent George Elsom held his seat in Cleadon Park but with a reduced majority against Labour, but perhaps he would have polled better without the intervention of Colin Campbell who also took a reasonable handful of independent votes. As a side note George is convinced he was the real media star of the Shields Gazette’s videos!

The Independent Alliance candidates had a miserable night, they arrived en masse for the count (someone even suggested they marched in singing “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees” but I took that with a pinch of salt, they just didn’t look in singing mood) Jim Hodgson failed for the second year running to take Beacon and Bents ward where débutante Conservative Ali Hayder put in a strong showing holding the Conservative vote up to last year’s general election levels, the result was a comfortable win for Labour’s Audrey McMillan, although she had a nervous disposition early in the counting. Independent Alliance leader Jane Branley who probably had what most people would consider a rock solid majority in Westoe, must have been taken aback and shocked to see it wither away to around 200, and her party failed to make any real impact or improvement in other wards, perhaps the writing may be on the wall for the “Indies” who remain the largest opposition grouping on the council. Having spent a small fortune on literature and having produced and delivered more leaflets than anyone else in South Tyneside, I wonder if they feel happy with the yield on their investment?

The Conservatives surprised with a reasonable return of votes at about the same level as last year’s big turnout general election and in many places improved from fourth to third place finishes so they shouldn’t be massively dismayed with their performance other than losing one key seat – and they may well fear what may happen next year in Cleadon Village, the Liberal Democrats will be seriously worried that their presence in the council chamber may soon be gone altogether as Nick Clegg’s leadership took real punishment in England, and the Progressives will also be ruminating on their long term future as traditional independent alternative to Labour in these parts, Lawrence Nolan garnered a fairly healthy bucket of votes in Harton but it was nowhere near good enough to threaten Labour’s Rob Dix. The Progressives are now down to two seats in South Tyneside, which is not good news for a party which had previously controlled the old South Shields council.

As the dust settles I wonder what negotiations will take place amongst the fractured opposition parties and what manoeuvres we will see as they try to determine who will be seen as the “official” opposition, there are many who do not wish the six Independent Alliance councillors to dominate, the nine others may wish to upset the applecart in one form or another.

So Labour’s position is once more cemented and strengthened in South Tyneside, the people have made their choices and the turnout was pretty good for a local government election at just under 40%, so they will feel very confident that they have a strong mandate. Their policies will be tempered by the amount of available cash from central resources and the main opposition to any contentious proposals will come from within their own group or from within the community. I expect them to continue treading that line which is fairly closely linked to the Blairite tendency to mirror centre right attitudes towards acceptability and financial restraint and responsibility, they know it works and they won’t wish to throw away the gains they have made. We must now wait and see just how they display that level of responsibility in the manner that they set about spending our cash.

Sadly, ALL of our opposition councillors and parties have some serious thinking to do regarding how they approach the coming years and avoid becoming totally eclipsed.

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Parish notice

Unlike some other years I will NOT be live blogging the election results in South Tyneside, it is nigh on impossible to achieve from within the counting hall, the council are offering a good results service (for those of you who cannot sleep) click here.

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Gazette videos show lack of preparation by some

Well we cannot really expect South Tyneside’s group of politicians to behave like well trained media stars, but it was interesting to watch this batch of videos put together by the Shields Gazette as various party groups put their case before Thursday’s elections. It was painfully obvious that some had not prepared for this rare chance to speak to a wider audience, some had prepared a little, and some had prepared a little bit more………oh well, they all have their hearts in the right place!

Oh hang on a minute, where are the BNP and the South Tyneside Independent Alliance?

Iain Malcolm and Labour want to work more with neighbouring councils, the voluntary sector, and productive partnerships – nice to know he’s following good Conservative principles!

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How do I contact a campaign if the “imprint” on a leaflet refers to a shuttered empty shop?

I’ve seen some election material for some candidates in the local government elections in South Tyneside which causes me some concern, and I’d love some further guidance from those more knowledgeable. As a starting point I went to the Electoral Commission website and downloaded this .pdf guide for candidates and agents. I was looking for information about the “imprint” normally found at the foot of a leaflet telling us where we can contact a campaign if we have any concerns about the content, veracity, or authenticity of it.

I found this:

3.20 All election publicity must carry an imprint with details of the full name and
full postal address of the printer and promoter of the material. There is no
longer a requirement to include the details of a publisher; however, if the material
includes the publisher’s details in addition to that of the printer and promoter, this
will be acceptable. The name and address of any person on whose behalf the
material is being published must also be included, if this person is not the
promoter.91
3.21 The intention of imprint requirements is to enable anyone to contact or trace
the source of the material, for example, in case of any complaint or query about its
content. There is no requirement for an imprint address to be a home address, as
long as it is somewhere the person can be contacted.
3.22 In the view of the Commission, an email address would not be acceptable as
an imprint address because an email address is not a physical address, and it is
possible to create one using false or fictitious details.
3.23 There is no specific legislation regarding the use of a Post Office (PO) Box for
the purpose of imprints. Due to the importance of imprints in enabling parties or
candidates to be contacted during the election period, the Commission’s view is that
as good practice, wherever possible, a PO Box should not be used. This is because
they do not allow the originator of the material to be quickly contacted to request
further information or in the event of a complaint, nor aid transparency

The leaflet  that I am looking at has an address which on investigation turns out to be a shop which has stood empty for years, shuttered, locked, and with no access to a letterbox or letterflap. How could one conceivably say hand deliver a letter to this address to quickly contact the originator?

Additionally the Electoral Commission gives guidance on the use of an imprint for websites and electronic media:

3.29 Any website that refers to an election or candidate(s) should have an imprint
as a matter of good practice. Further, any posters that are available for download
from such a website should also carry an imprint, such as ‘printed and promoted on
behalf of…’.

I know of at least one local candidate in South Shields who has used a social networking site specifically to ask voters in a particular ward to vote for him/her, yet there is no sign of an imprint on the site. Another in South Tyneside displays an imprint on a blog but not on a social networking site which also encourages people to vote for the candidate.

In this modern digital age communication facilities have moved miles ahead of the relevant legislation, I’d appreciate any input from those with greater legal knowledge, I think that the Electoral Commission cannot regulate these things but can only offer guidance. Anybody know the exact legal status of imprints?

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South Shields really shines in the sun

I’ve had a great weekend, and hope you all did too, the early spring sunshine has helped to show South Shields at its very best with thousands of visitors enjoying our coast, beaches, parks, and restaurants. Friday’s Royal Wedding was a joy to watch whether at home in front of the TV or in the South Marine Park where I reckon about 1000 people were sitting on the grass with their picnics in front of a giant screen erected in front of the restored bandstand, it would be churlish NOT to congratulate the people at South Tyneside Council for arranging this. The picture quality was first class even in the strong sunlight, just a pity that a sharp shower temporarily got in the way, but it didn’t force people to leave, it really was quite festive.

We managed to do some supermarket shopping in the morning and it was the easiest experience you could find, the place was near deserted and we were finished in less than twenty minutes, I had a chat with some of the staff and discovered that they had all volunteered to work on Friday  and rewarded with overtime and a day off in lieu. It was also interesting to note that each year they nominate two of the available eight Bank Holidays to work and rotas are arranged on that basis, a pretty good way of satisfying almost all of the staff and ensuring that they get a good amount of Bank Holidays to themselves to enjoy with their families.

Saturday also found huge crowds in the parks enjoying the weather and I can see in future years that the cafe available inside the new swimming pool will be well used, certainly if we fall victim to the odd shower. Just disappointed that the afternoon was marred by a pretty inept display from Sunderland who surrendered without a fight to Fulham.

Yesterday saw me delivering leaflets in the Harton ward of South Shields in delightful warm sunshine, which made the task that much more rewarding, even had a very friendly chat with a congenial Labour councillor, as well as adding to some sterling work being done in the Beacon and Bents ward. Met many prominent members of our Bengali community yesterday evening on a full tour of every one of our restaurants in the town centre and Ocean Road, it was pretty cheerful and the reception was great, once again it was apparent that South Shields was the place to be as just about every establishment was busy with queues forming at two or three of the most popular, but boy the aromas of the spices were inviting. Just wish I could have sat down and joined in the feasting, but it was a bit early in the evening for me.

I have to say that I’ve been very encouraged by the responses we’ve received whilst campaigning for Mr. Hayder in the Beacon and Bents ward, no hostility at all, and I think people welcome the additional choice and a return to the days of more activity from the local Conservative candidate, far better than the days when a name was offered as a choice but no effective campaigning took place. This is far, far different to recent years.

We may be taking a trip out today if the kids can decide to agree, then it’s back to normal from tomorrow, hope you all enjoyed this great Bank Holiday weekend.

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