The results from the Cilycwm by-election were;
Dafydd Tomos - Plaid Cymru - 201
Arwel Davies - Independent - 151
Maria Carroll - Labour - 123
Matthew Paul - Independent - 106
Jacqui Thompson - People First - 64
Catherine Nakielny - Libdem - 62
Stephen Holmes - Conservative - 15
Turnout was 61%
As you can see Plaid Cymru took the seat but with such a wide field it was always a difficult one to predict. Well done all.
Many thanks to Sian Caiach and People First, and all who have supported me from the Cilycwm ward, and from everywhere else...it's been a very interesting few weeks!
And there's always next May...
Dafydd Tomos - Plaid Cymru - 201
Arwel Davies - Independent - 151
Maria Carroll - Labour - 123
Matthew Paul - Independent - 106
Jacqui Thompson - People First - 64
Catherine Nakielny - Libdem - 62
Stephen Holmes - Conservative - 15
Turnout was 61%
As you can see Plaid Cymru took the seat but with such a wide field it was always a difficult one to predict. Well done all.
Many thanks to Sian Caiach and People First, and all who have supported me from the Cilycwm ward, and from everywhere else...it's been a very interesting few weeks!
And there's always next May...
11 comments:
Hmm - that is a shame. I wonder why your vote has gone down from previous attempts. Could it be involvement of "People First". I know they portray themselves as an alternative sort of party - but a party they are ? Maybe next time stand as an independent.
#I can only presume there could have been outrageous vote rigging.
Anon 08:12
With seven candidates I don't think it would have made much difference, even if I stood as an independent there would have been three of us to split the vote...and knowing the demographics of this very rural ward, in the end, the result wasn't really surprising.
Anon 08.12
Previous election result votes
Tom Theophilus Ind Elected 307 votes
Matthew Paul Cons 136 votes
Jacqui Thompson Ind 264 votes.
So sorry, Jacqui - but it's their (and our) loss. People like you are desperately needed as councillors - don't give up.
Had there been only one Independent he/she would have won as between the two they had 256 votes which would have beaten Plaid by 55. Jacqui had 264 last time despite the winning candidate being an Independent/Plaid endorsed and she lost by only 43. Many voters distrust the party candidates as they can sometimes put party before the interests of their constituents or the need to speak up when the County Council acts against the public interest. We saw that with Labour and now with Plaid. Yet who is the constant in power, who thrives on it's toxic culture, no other than the Independents & CEO Mark James. The public will never be able to change CCC's culture until a few properly independent candidates can win seats. I'd like to think the 2 Independents, had one of them won, would have put the public interest first and not be cajoled with “carrots” to turn a blind eye and not rock the boat. We can be sure Plaid has no intention of rocking the boat so we have another Cllr in situ who'll see, hear and say nothing! Jacqui you and People First tried to open the constituents eyes, as did some of the other candidates, to the horrors a toxic, unaccountable County Council can inflict on members of the public, employees and service users, but without the help of the media the message does not get through. Too few people have computers to access Public Interest Blogs or buy our only local paper (Carmarthenshire Herald) willing to speak up against the CCC's dirty deeds! I hope the Cilycwm constituents read your leaflets Jacqui, take an interest and find out what you and People First stand for. Can I say “Good Luck for next time”? Glad to see your still blogging and keeping us informed. I endorse what Lesley commented!
Jennifer, your comment is a bit naive in making the key assumption that every single vote cast for each of the two independent candidates is transferable to the other. I suspect you made this assumption on the related assumption that people only vote based on a candidate's label, rather than the candidate and their suitability for office.
As for the first comment, wondering why Jacqui's vote share went down substantially since the 2012 election...obviously this time there was much more choice for the voters, but her High Court libel loss since that time is bound to have knocked her credibility.
I would have thought Jacquie's high court loss would have improved her credibility.
The judgement which was purchased ( for want of a better description ) was a gross
miscarriage of justice,
In local elections people tend to vote for the person with some standing in the community, who is respected and has done good work over years in the community. Hence why Tom Theophilus kept his seat for as long as he did and why Dafydd Tomos was elected. Dafydd's leaflet stood out from all other candidates.
Shame Dafydd Tomos didn't attend the hustings to answer questions from the public. Leaflets mean nothing if the party in shared power forget what they promised before sitting at high table when suddenly all bets are off. Plaid knows what can happen should they start to question actions; had labour not started showing some backbone they would have stayed on as the CEO's and the Indies' lap dogs. I have seen none of the leaflets so cannot compare but the proof of the pudding is in the eating so we'll see whether the public interest is put before self and party interest as time goes on. Jacqui gives the powerless a voice through her blog and has done more than most to try and open up this toxic Council to scrutiny. Y Cneifiwr has also given us a voice and publicised the Councils wrongdoing against members of the public and he is a Plaid stalwart; so it's even more of a shame that his decency is let down by the actions of Plaid now it holds executive power. We can but hope that Dafydd Tomos breaks the mold.
I am interested to know why Matthew Paul has stood as an Independent and not a Conservative... :(
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