On the Local Elections, pt. 2: The Regional Picture

At the local elections, while Reform U.K. painted the national map turquoise, the picture in Wessex was one of greys and yellows. This was because of the second success story of results day: the Liberal Democrats’ (Lib. Dem.) resurgence in the South West, and the partial success of Ed Davey’s plans to replace the Conservatives as the ‘party of middle England.’

‘Middle England’ should not be confused with the Midlands; nor should it be confused with ‘Mid-Anglia’ – though it is to be noted that Liberal Democrats paralleled their success in Wessex in that latter region, winning a majority of seats in Cambridgeshire, and replacing the Tories as the largest party in neighbouring Hertfordshire. While the Tory vote fell nationally – and rightly so, if the failures of the old Tory administration in my local council are anything to go by – it would seem that in Wessex and Mid-Anglia, the spoils went mainly to the Liberal Democrats, whereas in other regions, such as the South East and the Midlands, Reform UK won outright majorities or pluralities.

Indeed, in every council (that voted in this year’s locals) within the borders of Wessex – according to the Party’s adopted definition – the Liberal Democrats were either the largest party or had an outright majority. Oxfordshire in particular has proven itself to be a Lib. Dem. stronghold, with Reform U.K. only picking up a single councillor in contrast to their successes elsewhere in England. Local Greens also doubled their seat count from four to seven – an encouraging sign given the local Greens’ enthusiasm and interest in the Wessex Regionalists (WR) when I attended to counter-protest violence against asylum seekers there last summer. Members there were receptive to the idea of forming a local electoral pact, and WR could profit from a productive relationship with the Greens there, just as the Greens in Cornwall have benefited from an informal electoral pact with Mebyon Kernow.

While Wessex Regionalists did not stand this time, our endorsed pro-regionalist candidates had varying degrees of success, with Jon Hubbard (Independent) retaining his seat in Melksham South, Wiltshire, and Matthew Dean (Independent) losing out to Reform U.K. in a respectable second place in Westbury West. Alan Charles Spencer came fourth in Ivybridge, beating the Greens, Labour, and TUSC – but lost out to the Liberal Democrat candidate ultimately. For independents across the region, results were a story of tentative gains, with the exception of one council. Nonetheless, the weathering of the Reform storm by independents, and the concurrent gains of Liberal Democrats and Greens, could be read as an overall positive result for regionalism, with all these groups in general support of devolution.

The picture, though, was less enheartening in other regions, and for the nationalists in Cornwall. Mebyon Kernow lost two seats to retain three on Cornwall Council, though I was glad to see that Loveday Jenkin kept her seat in Crowan, Sithney and Wendron, as this was one of the wards I helped leaflet when I visited the Duchy in the run-up to the locals. The Yorkshire Party’s share in the Hull & East Yorkshire Mayoral election (3.2%) would be a good result if for a parliamentary election, but is disappointing in comparison with their other mayoral votes, where figures are much closer to double figures, if not above 10%. In Doncaster, the picture was worse: losing 4.8 points to 1.6%, with the only gaining Party being Reform UK. The North East Party was unfortunately wiped out in County Durham, down from a high of 4 seats.

Thus, while, in Wessex, Liberal Democrats could be said to have mounted an opposition to the two-party system that wasn’t Reform UK, voters stuck with the latter in most of the other regions. The result is understandable in that these regionalist and nationalist parties no longer hold a monopoly over voting against the status quo, though whether Reform UK will really put power back into the hands of the British people, remains to be seen. Reform UK’s culture-warring and racist elements don’t exactly paint a picture of full inclusion at the level of individual rights; moreover, its complete lack of mentioning of devolution suggests little will to empower the individual by bringing centres of power closer to home. From the name, you might guess that Reform UK’s main objective would be democratic reform, but neither devolution, nor electoral reform, is listed as one of the party’s objectives in its official constitution.

A silver lining for regionalism in the locals may be that our cause seem more and more reasonable if a Reform UK government fails to deliver the enfranchisement it promises. Regional parties like WR may stand to gain where voters turn away from the mirage of Farage’s false or faulty reform.

Liberal Democrats, while more consistent in supporting electoral reform, would do well to collaborate with the Wessex Regionalists in future. Indeed, as I will argue in a third post, WR’s involvement in Wiltshire, helping Jon Hubbard win by a narrow margin of 22 votes, will have helped to just tip the balance of seats in favour of a Lib. Dem.-Independent coalition (- the option were mathematically impossible had a few votes gone the other way). Since the weak proposition of the Alternative Vote referendum and the lack of focus on devolution in favour of pro-European rhetoric, the nominally-devolutionist Liberal Democrats could find themselves increasingly dependent on independents and Wessex Regionalists – true proponents of meaningful reform.