The Labour leader of Cambridge City Council said he was “obviously delighted” with the results of the election count announced today that saw his party maintain its majority.
Cllr Mike Davey, who held his own seat in Petersfield ward, added that the party had enjoyed a “good day” because “we managed to achieve our target, which was to hold on to all the seats we had from our already high base”
The only “disappointment”, he said, was that Anna Smith had lost her bid to become Police and Crime Commissioner standing against Conservative Darryl Preston, who will now hold the post for another four years.
Cllr Davey said: “The last 48 hours have been quite a challenge and we just tried to make sure we got our message out over that period of time to as many people as possible, but I’m obviously delighted.
“I think clearly Labour have done well nationally and it demonstrates that I think people are fed up with the current government. But there were local issues, I think that came out particularly in the Coleridge Ward, where there was a real fight we had with the Greens to demonstrate what we were trying to achieve and they pushed us hard. So I think the result is down to a mixture of things, but I wouldn’t want to deny there’s a national picture in this. It’s not just about what we’ve done as a council, of which I’m very proud.”
Labour continues to dominate Cambridge City Council with 25 seats. Some 14 of the 42 seats were up for election. Following today’s results, the Greens - for whom Naomi Bennett held on to Abbey ward, with an increased majority - now have five seats on the city council, compared to the Lib Dems’ 10. There remains one independent and one Conservative.
Green party leader, Cllr Naomi Bennet said that on the doorstep voters had expressed concerns about trusting Labour and Lib Dem candidates and were turning to the Greens after feeling let down by other parties over the divisive congestion charge issue.
The proposal by the Greater Cambridge Partnership for a congestion charge in the city has now been set aside but Cllr Bennett, who held her seat in Abbey today, said it has had a lasting impact on voters.
She said: “People told me they didn’t feel listened to when they said how the congestion charge would affect their lives, in fact they felt gaslighted by the other parties. They thought that Labour and Lib Dems would have their back but they didn’t. Instead they were dismissed as anti vaxxers and petrol heads. But many of these people were very eco conscious and they felt very let down by people not listening to them. I think it will take a long time for other parties to win that trust back.
“People are also concerned about the future of Cambridge City Council. They fear it might not even be here any more if Mr Gove takes control of the city with his development group.
“It feels very lonely being Green at the moment. We seem to be the only party that isn’t swallowing the ‘growth is good mantra’. I think our opposite numbers are busy cosying up to NGO minions to see what money they can get out of them before this collapses in the pre election chaos.”
The proposal by housing Minister Michael Gove to build an extra 150,000 homes in Cambridge has frightened a lot of people, she said. He has appointed Peter Freeman to run the Cambridge Development Group, which has been set up to oversee the city’s growth.
Cllr Bennett explained: “People are worried about running out of water, about being overrun with sewage, about people who provide essential services - like bus drivers - being priced out of living in the city, about not being able to get access to doctor’s appointments if the population grows to such an extent”.
The Liberal Democrat group lost one seat today in Newnham ward to the Green party, unseating Lucy Nethsingha, who is currently Lib Dem leader of Cambridgeshire County Council. The newly elected Green Party councillor Hugh Clough, won the seat with 925 votes, with Lib Dem Lucy Nethsingha coming third with just 306 votes. Although Lucy has lost her Cambridge Cit Council seat, she remains the leader of the county council.
Cllr Hugh Clough said a couple of significant local issues in Newnham had swung the vote his way and away from the Lib Dems.
He explained: “There’s been a lot of concern about the Barton Road greenway and also the failure of the redoing of the Lammas Field corner junction. People feel that there are serious safety issues that need to be addressed there, and it’s impacting the older people in our community and stopping them actually getting across that road.”
The new junction, at the end of Barton Road, was implemented to coincide with the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s new greenway along Barton Road, which is a cycleway and footpath designed to bring commuters into the city through active travel.
Cllr Hough said; “It’s all had a big impact. People are saying to me, ‘who are the Greater Cambridge Partnership and how are they constructed and why are they doing all this to us?’.
“The real point is residents need to be properly consulted and involved in plans before you start doing work on something like that, so that you actually design a junction that is going to work. They just arrived and started working on the junction, which upset a lot of people.”
He added that having lived in the community for a long time, and through his work with the local social club, he was a well known face in the ward.
“I’m looking forward to serving the Newnham community, where I’ve lived for over 40 years,” he said.
Lib Dem party leader Tim Bick expressed his disappointment that Lucy Nethsingha had lost her seat in Newnham. He said: “I’m obviously sorry that I’m not going back to the council with Lucy as well. She she was suffering I think from the fact that the Liberal Democrats came third in Newnham last year and I think her vote was squeezed this year. And obviously, the result speaks for itself. So we’re very sad about that.
“Newnham has had a number of controversies. I think that a lot of people have been looking for no change. It’s a very small c conservative kind of attitude towards the world in general. And it’s one which I have a lot of sympathy with, but I do see the world as it is requiring change. And what’s really surprising is that a party like the Greens which are pointing to the challenges of climate change, are amongst the most conservative about doing anything about it.
“I’m talking about the greenway I’m talking about trying to improve water quality and talking on a wider picture about retrofitting homes and those sorts of issues, which a lot of people would think they might be getting positive constructive attitudes from their elected representatives if they were called Green, but I think they’re probably not and obviously that is something that will come out in the course of time, and we will see. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to working with people who’ve just got elected whatever party they were from.”
He added that the Lib Dems would “continue holding the Labour council to account” ad that they would “still be fighting away on all the local issues that are really important for the future of Cambridge”.
Cllr Bick said: “I am pleased to be returned to the council along with Immy Blackburn-Horgan (Queen Edith’s) and our newest councillor, Nadya Lokhmotova (Trumpington), an émigrée from Ukraine - showing how good Cambridge is at welcoming people who make this their home.”
Anna Smith, who was the Labour candidate for the police and Crime Commissioner election that also took place on Thursday, was disappointed to lose, especially as the race had been so close.
She said: “Clearly this is not the result I wanted but to finish just 2 percent behind the Conservative is an amazing result for Labour.
“Thank you to everyone who put their faith in me and backed my promise of a fresh start for policing here.
“In Peterborough Labour is now the largest party and in the more rural areas the swings to Labour mean many of the constituencies are now three-way marginals. It’s clear that Labour is the challenger here.
“I will be out campaigning hard for a Labour Government and for more Labour MPs in our region, so we can deliver a Labour Government that will get Britain’s future back.”
