Taking the NOCs

Ah well, very little change from yesterday's local elections. Stoke-on-Trent wasn't voting this time around and, despite all the hoo-haa, locally it all stays the same in terms of control of councils ranging from Sandwell in the south to Stockport in the north.

Although there was a little action on the fringes of Birmingham. Apparently Walsall is now set to be run by the Conservatives, despite 'no overall control'. And a little further away in the West Midlands the Conservatives took Redditch.

Nearer home there was a slight upset just to the north of Stoke-on-Trent and north-away into Kidsgrove:

"The Conservatives have won two out of the three seats in Kidsgrove and Ravenscliffe".

So the pavement-pounding work put in during the General Election up that way, including bringing in a serving minister (at least twice, I think), may have changed minds and then paid off in a delayed way at the local elections.

The two newcomers add to two existing Conservative councillors, turning Kidsgrove a nice shade of blue. The Conservatives also unexpectedly took nearby Bradwell, which is just across the valley from Ravenscliffe as the crow raven flies.

The count at Newcastle-under-Lyme, next-door to Stoke-on-Trent, appeared to be heavily delayed and then plodded along like a lame donkey for the whole day. But they eventually dragged it across the finishing line before 5pm. More staff needed next time, I'd suggest, to take it at a faster clip. Eventually... no overall control.

So... no national Labour breakthrough, and disappointment for Comrade Corbyn. The Ukip's local councillors almost totally evaporated, just as the national party has. Many Ukip-ers seem to have gone to the LibDems, presumably on the basis that they tend to produce good local councillors, even if nationally they're dubious left-leaning opportunists who are eager to betray Brexit. The widely predicted inner-urban / London collapse for the Conservatives didn't happen, and I hear that the Conservatives even managed to land a new North London councillor.

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Update, 16th May: Newcastle-under-Lyme Council is now headed by the Conservatives, despite 'No Overall Control'.