Hastings and Rye Labour Party

After the disappointment of losing the parliamentary seat to the Tories, the council elections produced a rather different result. Labour re-took control of the council, taking a seat from the Tories in Baird Ward, and seats from the Liberal Democrats in Castle and Old Hastings wards. The final result was: Labour 16, Tories 14, Liberal Democrats 1. The election for one more seat, in Ore Ward, has been postponed until June 17th following the death of the Conservative candidate.

This means that Labour will determine the composition of the council’s cabinet, which makes all the important policy decisions. This will comprise five Labour and four Tory councillors, and will be chaired by the council leader, Jeremy Birch, with Jay Kramer as deputy leader.

The victory in taking back control of the Council from the Tories was achieved through sheer hard work, by party members and by others, supporters who helped out by delivering leaflets, knocking on doors and sitting at polling stations. Active support for Labour in Hastings is as good as it is anywhere in the country, and we couldn’t achieve Labour control in a town like Hastings without it.

But now we control the council, the hard work begins. We’re going to be facing tough times, with inevitable massive cuts forced on us by the new ConDem government. But we’ll be doing all we can to protect the most vulnerable members of our community, and to keep the regeneration of Hastings going. Above all, we’ll be open and transparent in what we do, and involve local people at every step. Together, we can make sure our town just gets better and better, pushing ahead with the big, strategic projects while not losing sight of the little things your doorstep, the things that matter. Hastings is a beautiful town, which some of us were born to, and others of us have adopted as our own. But all of us are committed to making it even better. With a Labour council, we can do that.

Right now though, we have the Ore Ward election to win. Winning Ore Ward is not essential to Labour retaining control of the Council, but it would make our majority more secure. And of course, we always want more able and committed Labour councillors in Hastings. If you can join in with many other local people who support Labour in Hastings, contact us to see how you can help with the election campaign.