Good night all round!

The local elections took place last week and there were elections in 312 councils across England, as well as elections for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.

Although I have to admit it was a little disappointing that we did not make greater gains in Bolton it is worth noting that the Conservatives won over 800 council seats in England and we now have our highest number of councillors since 1978.

The Conservatives made an incredible breakthrough in the North.  We now control 20 councils in the North, more councils than Labour.

If people were to have voted in Bolton in a General Election as they did at the local elections, we would have won two out of the three Parliamentary seats needed to win a General Election i.e. Bolton North East and Bolton West, Ruth Kelly's seat.

Nationally, Conservatives were predicted to gain over 40 per cent of the vote.  They have now gained over 800 seats and now control 23 more councils.  They control 205 councils - more than three times Labour (46) and the Lib Dems (27) combined. Labour have been wiped off the map - in 80 councils (and rising) they have no councillors at all.  And the Lib Dems are heading for their worst loss of councillors for a decade.

Like I said we are disappointed not to gain more seats locally but we are regrouping under a new leader (Cllr John Walsh) ready for the battles ahead and we will be looking to take more seats next year and hopefully we will be in a position to turn "Bolton Blue".

On behalf of all the candidates who stood in Bolton South East we would like to thank you the voters for showing us your support and for re-electing Cllr Phil Ashcroft in Hulton and for allowing us to challenge and come so close in the other wards.  The work does not stop here and we will continue to work on your behalf until next year when we will be seeking your support again! 

Don't forget, unlike the other party's, we work for you all year round, not just at election time.

Posted by:  Andy Morgan