Labour on the march in Southport

Labour on the march in Southport

Veteran Southport journalist Martin Hovden writes: Labour has finally won Sefton Council seats in Southport after decades of being the third party in the resort.

Retired teacher Janis Blackburne (pictured) swept to power in Kew last night, seeing off well-known Liberal Democrat Councillor Fred Weavers, while retired civil servant Mhairi Doyle (with microphone) snatched the Norwood seat, for many years a Lib Dem stronghold whose previous representatives included Lord Ronnie Fearn.

Yesterday I predicted a very close fight in Kew because of a big Labour push in the ward, but in fact Janis Blackburne secured a comfortable 400-plus majority over Fred Weavers. Meanwhile, Mhairi Doyle had a 600-plus majority over Lib Dem rival Peter Blake.

The results will be a huge boost for the town’s Labour parliamentary candidate Liz Savage, who thrust the Lib Dems into an embarrassing third place in last year’s general election.

She can now finally lay to rest the often quoted Lib Dem election slogan that Labour could never win in Southport.

Mike Morris won Cambridge for the Tories, a ward previously represented by the 2017 Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Sue McGuire.

There was some good news last night for the Lib Dems with Iain Brodie-Browne comfortably retaining his Birkdale seat, while Daniel Lewis held onto Meols for the Lib Dems.

Elsewhere in the town, Conservative Sir Ron Watson returned to Sefton Council after being elected in his old Dukes ward, while Tony Brough also returned to the local authority as the Tory representative for Ainsdale.

Expect accusations by the Lib Dems of Labour dirty tricks, especially in Kew where the Lib Dem councillors annoyed some residents by refusing to financially support the play area next to Kew Woods School.

Labour retain overall control of Sefton Council.