Vote for Love

Last Thursday was a local council Election Day in Britain - each year a third of local councillors have to be re-elected.  The Shipley area, which includes Saltaire, has elected councillors from the Green Party for several years now.  In this country that's still quite unusual, as the Green Party doesn't yet have a huge following here.  They are the only Green councillors in Bradford.  (Jenny Jones, the Green Party candidate in the elections for the London Mayor did very well to come third).  I think in local politics, more than at national level, people are more likely to vote for the person rather than the party.  If councillors are perceived to be effective - which our three Green councillors certainly are - then they are likely to be able to hang on to their seats. Thankfully Martin Love was re-elected with a sizeable majority, getting 2323 votes.  The nearest rival, the Labour candidate, polled 862.  Bradford Council still doesn't have one party with a majority and has been 'hung' for many years, which perhaps means that things tend to get a bit bogged down.  But our Green councillors seem to do a sterling job for Shipley, understanding the local issues very well, and they have a good influence overall on the local council, I think.