By Calls for “change in direction” and change to local Labour leadership
An opinion piece by David Mason
Since their decline in recent elections, many people could be forgiven for wondering where Labour is locally. To the general public they appear to have disappeared without a trace. Not so long ago they were seen as a powerhouse in local politics, yet now their old enemy the Conservatives rule the roost and the local council.
Of the 42 members on the council, 32 are Conservative, with Labour holding only seven seats. Grimsby and Cleethorpes now have two Conservative MPs in Lia Nici beating out Labour’s Melanie Onn in 2019 and Martin Vickers sweeping the board in Cleethorpes.
It’s worth noting that in the local elections held in May this year the Conservatives secured victory with 10 of their victore becoming councillors for the very first time. It’s only a few years since this would have been unthinkable. Labour were the only game in town, so what are Labour doing to try and regain power? The answer, sadly for their supporters, appears to be very little.
Rather than challenging the Conservatives in the council chamber and forming an effective opposition they appear to have sunk without trace. There are still many Labour supporters locally and they deserve better. A competent opposition is a cornerstone of democracy, it serves to hold the party in power and their policies to scrutiny and to highlight any initiatives they think are wrong. Under leader Matthew Patrick, they appear to do none of this, and the responsibility has to lie at his feet.
Nationally, Labour have haemorrhaged members and the funding those members provide. There has been much talk of their own senior members doing their best to undermine and scupper their own chances of election victory and lack of support for their former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
There have been many stories of local witch hunts against socialist members of their own party under Patrick’s leadership. In the eyes of the general public they have become a mess and look to be a floundering ship heading for the rocks.
It is surely time for a change in direction and a change in leadership. There are many members in the party who are more than capable of picking up the reigns and rebuilding the party locally. It is clear that for all his good intentions Patrick has been an abject failure and it is surely time he tendered his resignation and gave his party the opportunity to rebuild and to form an effective opposition.
Without his immediate withdrawal, the local Labour party will continue their calamitous decline and completely disappear.
