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York election: Labour triumph in a day of drama – where two party leaders and a mayor were voted out

Fri 5 May 2023 @ 9:16pm - News, Politics
YorkMix

Labour leader Claire Douglas after winning the 2023 City of York Council election

Some elections come and go and the balance of power barely shifts.

This was not one of those elections.

In a dramatic day, the milestones kept coming. First, the Lord Mayor of York David Carr lost his seat. Mr Carr, a former Tory leader of the council who had turned Independent, was defeated by another former Tory leader of the council, the returning Chris Steward.

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As it happened – York council elections 2023

Then, Green Party leader Andy D’Agorne was voted out. The Greens started the day with three seats – and ended with none.

Later York lost its second party leader, when the Conservatives’ Paul Doughty was ousted in the ward where a former deputy leader of the York Tories turned Lib Dem, Paul Healey, won back a place on the council.

And finally, Labour confirmed they had won the election outright when the last ward was declared and they held all three Holgate seats.



It meant York had gained full control of the council by a majority of one, winning 24 out of the 47 seats.

It meant the end of eight years of coalition rule, which had seen the Conservatives rule with the Lib Dems after 2015 and the Lib Dems run the council with junior partners the Greens in 2019.

And it meant City of York Council had its first woman leader – Cllr Claire Douglas.

In her victory speech, Cllr Douglas described winning that accolade as "a really proud moment for me".

"These results send a defining message – people have voted for a Labour council and a fresh start for our great city," she said, to great cheers from her supporters.

What did she think made the difference? She pointed to the decision by the outgoing council to ban disabled Blue Badge holders from parking in the footstreets.

Her priorities were "reversing the blue badge ban, going to put free school meals on the plates of primary school children in York – starting with the most disadvantaged schools – and we are going to deliver 100% affordable housing on council-owned land to try and arrest some of the house price increases and rent increases in the city".

She will replace Liberal Democrat Keith Aspden as leader of the city council. He stepped down shortly before the election and Nigel Ayre took his place as Lib Dem Group leader.

But his hope to run York slipped away with each Labour gain – although the Lib Dems only lost two seats, going from 21 in 2019 to 19 today.

"All but one of our standing councillors has been returned, which is obviously a huge vote of confidence in the communities of the work that they've been doing there," Cllr Ayre told YorkMix.

He said the surge for Labour reflected a national anti-Conservative trend. And he had this to say on the issue of the Blue Badge ban: "It's a shame that the issue was politicised in the way that it was."

As leader of the opposition he would hold Labour to account. And he speculated how long they might stay in power.

"Reflecting back on my time in politics, the last time Labour had a majority, it was significantly higher than the one that we'll have today.

"And they lost that within three years. So it'd be interesting to see how they hold up together this time."

After 20 years serving on the council, Green Party leader and former deputy council leader Andy D'Agorne was voted out.

He said the Blue Badge campaign "may have played a part".

And he added: "I have to say that I'm very disappointed in the negative campaigning that Labour have been doing. And I think it's a sad reflection on politics as a whole."

The negative campaigning was from Labour on a national level with its attack ads targeted at Rishi Sunak – but also on a local level, he said.

This had included York Labour claims that "the Lib Dem and Green administration have been wasting money on various things to enforce the Blue Badge ban, which was clearly not the case because the Labour leader said that she supported the anti terror measures".

The Green Party "will be fighting for the city and for the planet, to ensure that whatever has been promised is delivered".

Conservative Group leader Paul Doughty, who lost his seat today, said the his party was showing "some signs of recovery" after a "horrendous" year for them nationally in 2022.

Despite his own loss, the Conservative have increased their seats on York council from two to three.

"We're in a better position than last time. I'm just unfortunate that I've lost my seat," he told YorkMix.

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Fri 5 May, 2023

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