An analysis of the total votes cast in the recent South Gloucestershire Council election shows that Labour came a clear second in the popular vote behind the Conservatives, but despite this ended up with six fewer councillors than the third-placed Liberal Democrats.
All three of the main parties fielded a full slate of 70 candidates across the district. The Conservatives polled most, with 80,047 votes (42%) and Labour received 56,858 votes (29.8%), over 8,000 more than the 48,571 received by Lib Dem candidates (25.5%).
In terms of seats won, the election result leaves the Conservatives with 34 (+1 over 2007), the Liberal Democrats with 21 (-7) and Labour with just 15 (+6).
According to the South Gloucestershire Labour Group, one reason for the discrepancy is the dramatic rise in Labour votes in a number of Conservative-held wards.
Labour says it is now the clear main challenger to the Conservatives in most of Bradley Stoke, and in Emersons Green, Winterbourne, Frenchay and Stoke Park.
Commenting on the election results, Labour leader Cllr Roger Hutchinson (Lab, Filton) said:
“Obviously we cannot change the number of seats each party won, but the fact we came second in terms of votes will further strengthen our resolve to play a leading role in the council and speak out on behalf of the thousands who backed us. We will demand the respect that our number of voters are due. We are not the small third party in South Gloucestershire but the short-changed second party.”
[Ed: It seems that the figures caculated by Labour don’t take into account the number of seats in each ward. The results therefore give more weight to votes cast in wards with multiple seats.]
Source: Labour Councillors on South Gloucestershire Council
Each of the three parties fielded a full slate of 70 candidates so had the same potential for achieving votes. The figures are a direct like-for-like comparison. Adding up the total number of votes cast for candidates is the traditional way of judging who has won an election!