Labour crushed in Bexley

As jubilant Tories celebrated victory on a massive scale, Cllr Ball was left to survey the tatters of a ruling Labour group of 32, reduced to just nine councillors.

Sixteen sitting Labour councillors lost their seats including cabinet members Trevor Perrin (education), John Browning (corporate resources), Manny Blake (housing and social inclusion), and Geoff Hacker (leisure and arts).

Mayor John Shepheard lost his Crayford seat after representing the ward for 26 years. But he will continue as mayor until a new one is chosen at the annual council meeting later this month.

The Conservatives took their triumph right into the Labour heartlands, picking up seats in Belvedere, Colyers, Crayford, Erith and Lesnes Abbey.

And they took back Cray Meadows, Northumberland Heath, St Michael's, and East Wickham.

The Liberal Democrats also suffered from the Tory tide sweeping the borough. Their candidates came last in 13 of the 18 wards they contested.

But the Tories were not the only ones celebrating at the Crook Log leisure centre in Brampton Road, Bexleyheath, where the count was held.

The UK Independence Party, with eight candidates was claiming the largest percentage rise in its vote and it took second place to the Tories in Blackfen and Lamorbey ward.

It was also a good night for independent candidates.

Former Sidcup Town Partnership chairman and local barber Mike Lowe was jubilant after snatching second place to the Tories in Longlands ward.

In Sidcup, the independent trio of Graham Holland, Bob Griffiths and John Gorton also came runners-up to the Tories.

The Thamesmead Community Party scooped second place in Thamesmead East and former tenants' leader Simon Goding came third, beating one of the Tories into fourth place.

The far right British National Party did disappointingly well, taking second place in Falconwood and Welling with just over 1,000 votes. It also took third place in Crayford.

The results leave the council with 54 Tories and just nine Labour councillors - a loss for Labour of a massive 23 seats.

Worst fears are realised

AS THE night began, former Labour council leader Councillor Chris Ball may have feared the worst.

But with a turnout of voters up from 33.9 in 2002, to 42.3 last week, he was still hopeful that the outcome would be tight, even if Labour lost control.

It became clear soon after the first results were declared, that his hopes would not be realised.

He told News Shopper: "My surprise is that some of Labour's traditional seats have suffered a split vote. I am flattered at the size of my own vote." (He topped the poll in Erith ward).

Asked if he blamed Labour's bad press nationally for Bexley's result, he said: "In any local election people have got one eye on the national picture and the other locally. In a good year you can win on that situation and in a bad year, you lose."

He said he felt there was no one oustanding local issue which lost Labour votes. He added: "Crime and disorder is a big issue locally, but I think we have a good record on that.

"I don't think the Thames Gateway Bridge was a major issue and there was nothing which stood out when talking to people on the doorstep."

Cllr Ball was planning to stand for leader when his group of nine met on Monday night as News Shopper went to press. Only two other of his cabinet colleagues remain, Daniel Francis and Margaret O'Neill.

He said: "I have been in opposition before, and I don't like it. We are going to have to regroup. It is going to be an interesting four years."

He said he was hoping to be able to devote more time over the next four years to his career in primary school teaching.

We will not let people down

"What a night!" Tory group leader Councillor Ian Clement told his jubilant Tory candidates and supporters.

He told News Shopper that the scale of the Tories' victory had been "beyond my wildest dreams, but it is a good challenge to have".

He said his group's first task would be to review the financial position of the council and the burden of the council tax on council taxpayers next year.

An ex-pupil of the former Picardy School in Belvedere Cllr Clement, 41, is a Post Office delivery manager and says he plans to continue in his job. He lives in Crayford with his partner Kelly and their son, seven.

He thanked the other candidates for a "fair, honest and decent campaign" and said: "We will try to carry on the policies and issues which matter to the people of Bexley."

To cheers, he declared: "This result was a rejection of Tony Blair, the Labour Government and the Labour council, by the people of Bexley. We will not let the people of Bexley down. We listened to them, and now we will work for them."

Cllr Clement, who was re-elected group leader and will now lead the council, said: "We have been working hard for the last three years, building up to this. The whole group has worked as a team."

Then he left to celebrate his victory with a slap-up early morning double egg, sausage, beans and bubble-and-squeak, breakfast at a Crayford cafe.

The only way is up

CHAIRMAN of Bexley's LIberal Democrats, Chris Eady, confessed it had been "a depressing night". But he added: "We didn't have any seats to lose."

He claimed the scale of the Tories victory was because the Conservative Party nationally had targeted the borough and poured money and resources into it.

"The big losers have been Labour which has been caught up in the swing to the Tories and the rise of the BNP. And that did for us as well."

He said although the Liberal Democrats had fielded 38 candidates it did not have the resources to target more than East Wickham and Danson wards.

"We are very much a small party in Bexley, but we are continuing to grow. We have nowhere to go but onwards and upwards. We will continue to consolidate and grow - and we will be back."

• See our gallery of pictures which tell the story of election night in Bexley as the drama unfolded - click here