CITY OF PRESTON LABOUR PARTY

Preston Labour Party maintained its position as the largest party in Preston, retaining the total of 24 seats it has on Preston City Council. There was an impressive gain in Fishwick as hard working campaigner Martyn Rawlinson took the seat off the Liberal Democrats.

The evening was tinged with sadness as Labour unexpectedly lost the seat of Brookfield. Jonathan Saksena had been councillor in that seat for over 20 years, but the effects of the Tory/Lib Dem deal – that they would aid each other by not standing in certain seats – clearly influenced the result.

However, Preston Labour Party showed its ability to buck the national trend and there was clearly resolute support from Labour’s core support.

Speaking on the result, Labour Group Leader John Collins said ‘This is a great result for us. The people of Preston have clearly rejected the policies of the Tories in the urban areas of the city. However, losing Jonathan Saksena is a great blow to us and to the city of Preston. It says a lot that the Tories and Libs Dems had to do a deal with each in order to win anything against us. They didn’t have the courage to fight us fair and square.’

The Labour Party says goodbye to Ken Cole, a Councillor for Town Centre, but welcomes newcomer Salim Desai who faced off a strong challenge in Town Centre ward and overturn a 400 vote deficit.

There were strong returns in St Matthews, St George’s and Ribbleton, where the working class vote clearly turned out to back Labour.

Tulketh saw an excellent result to see Matthew Brown re-elected. The result rounded a successful year for Labour in Tulketh following the by-election victory in February.

Riversway ward saw Jack Davenport relected, showing a firm rejection of the Tory and Lib Dem policies on Riverworks and flooding issues.

There were excellent campaigns in Ashton and Larches, where results were clearly skewed in the favour of Labour's opponents thanks to the Tory/Lib Den deal.

While Labour retains the largest group on Preston City Council, the behaviour of the Lib dems and Tories suggests that they will once again form a coalition.