East Northants goes blue - Irthlingborough turns Tory
8th May 2007
Local Conservative councillors were thrilled with huge gains in the Corby & East Northants constituency on May 3rd. East Northamptonshire became a Labour AND LibDem free zone with 39 Conservatives, 0 Labour, 0 Liberal, and 1 independent.
Irthlingborough became Conservative overnight as Labour's 30 year stranglehold on the town was ended. The Conservatives took all 4 district council seats and 10 out of twelve town council seats, leaving a single Labour and a single LibDem!
Corby remained pretty static with a new make-up of 8 Conservatives and 5 LibDems to 16 Labour. Labour lost two seats and are now pinned down into inner Corby. A few years ago Labour had 23 councillors on Corby Borough, today it is just 16 as the town becomes bluer and bluer. For the first time in this election Conservative candidates stood in every ward, and polled large numbers of votes even where they lost.
Louise Bagshawe said:
"I could not be prouder to have been part of the wonderful Conservative team in Corby & East Northants that delivered this result. All our candidates worked incredibly hard for their electorates and took the fight to Labour. As a result, East Northants swept away the Labour group on the council and Irthlingborough voted for sweeping change. David Cameron's message of change, optimism and hope resonated in our part of the country.
In Corby even our so-called "paper candidates" polled big numbers against Labour. They are now pinned back to their bedrock and I know that Corby Conservative councillors hope to work constructively with their Liberal Democrat colleagues to provide a solid opposition to Labour. They've taken the town for granted for too long and as a result are reduced to their lowest majority in Corby for more than twenty years, losing a seat each to the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
Conservative councillors and candidates in Corby & East Northants thank all those who voted for them and we look forward to the hard work of local government. If you would like to raise a matter with your local Conservative councillor, you can attend the surgeries or get in touch directly through this website.
