The South Glos Post

South Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats fired the opening shots in the 2011 Local Election campaign when they launched their ‘Action for our Area’ manifesto in Bradley Stoke last weekend.

Local MPs Steve Webb and Don Foster joined local candidates and activists to promote the document that promises to “create a Council that works for you … not for the Government”.

Voters will go to the the polls on Thursday 5th May to elect representatives to South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) and Parish/Town Councils.

SGC has been controlled since May 2007 by a minority Conservative administration. In looking to regain overall control of SGC, the Lib Dems say in their manifesto:

“When we ran South Gloucestershire – and when no party had complete control – things were better. Residents had a real say in things. Now, the local Conservatives are simply doing what they want, irrespective of whether you want it.”

“If you give us power in 2011 we will work with you to help you create the sort of green, clean, fair and safe communities you have told us you want to live in, with a Council that listens to you and gives you real power over your own lives and communities.”

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All eyes were on South Gloucestershire during election night on May 6 and the council certainly didn’t fail to deliver!

In fact, the three counts at Kingswood, Filton and Bradley Stoke and Thornbury and Yate, ran so smoothly, leader of South Gloucestershire Council, Cllr John Calway has praised all the staff and volunteers involved.

Cllr Calway said: “I was delighted to see South Gloucestershire declare all three counts in the district just over three hours after the polling stations closed, which was down to the tremendous hard work and professionalism of the staff and volunteers involved. Their efforts ensured we were one of the quickest in the country.”

Kingswood was identified from the outset as a ‘seat to watch’, with a swing indicative of the national picture. A long night was predicted, however, not only was a result declared shortly before 1am, but the hordes of local, regional and national media were there to witness the first seat in the country swing from Labour to Conservative.

While stories were flooding in of residents left stranded outside polling stations, counts stretching to 4am and possible recounts, all of the counts in South Gloucestershire were declared by 1.15am – a fantastic achievement to announce all the results just over three hours after the polling stations had closed.

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Source: South Gloucestershire Council

Voting in the three parliamentary constituencies in South Gloucestershire has seen two Conservative and one Liberal Democrat candidates selected to represent the area in the House of Commons.

The biggest surprise came in Kingswood where the sitting MP Roger Berry (Labour) was ousted by Chris Skidmore (Conservative) thanks to a 9.4% swing from Labour to Conservative.

Incumbent Steve Webb (Liberal Democrats) retained his seat in Thornbury and Yate by a comfortable margin despite a 4.3% swing from Lib Dem to Conservative.

The new constituency of Filton and Bradley Stoke was won by Jack Lopresti (Conservative), who had almost 7,000 votes to spare over his Labour rival, Ian Boulton.

South Gloucestershire General Election 2010 results:

• Kingswood
• Thornbury and Yate
• Filton and Bradley Stoke

Election statistics from the BBC:

• Kingswood
• Thornbury and Yate
• Filton and Bradley Stoke