In article , 
T.C.Roll-Pickering@qmul.ac.uk (Tim Roll-Pickering) wrote:

> Paul Hyett wrote:
> 
> >>North Tyneside MBC, Preston
> >>Con 1141 (55.8; -14.2)
> >>Lab 503 (24.6; -5.3)
> >>Public Services not Private Profit 174 (8.5; +8.5)
> >>LD 152 (7.4; +7.4)
> >>Green 73 (3.6; +3.6)
> >>Majority 638
> >>Turnout not known
> >>Con hold
> >>Percentage change is since May 2008
> 
> > The Tories hold a seat on Tyneside??
> 
> The Conservatives have the majority of councillors on North 
> Tyneside and also hold the directly elected Mayor.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Tyneside_Council_election,_2008
> 
> However since the media only focus on the big name city councils 
> they perpetuate this rubbish that the Conservatives have no support 
> in northern urban areas. 

That will be because what little strength they have is in suburban areas, 
maybe?

-- 
Cllr. Colin Rosenstiel
Cambridge                    http://www.rosenstiel.co.uk/
Cambridge Liberal Democrats: http://www.cambridgelibdems.org.uk/

rosenstiel@cix.compulink.co.uk wrote:
> In article , 
> T.C.Roll-Pickering@qmul.ac.uk (Tim Roll-Pickering) wrote:
> 
>> Paul Hyett wrote:
>>
>>>> North Tyneside MBC, Preston
>>>> Con 1141 (55.8; -14.2)
>>>> Lab 503 (24.6; -5.3)
>>>> Public Services not Private Profit 174 (8.5; +8.5)
>>>> LD 152 (7.4; +7.4)
>>>> Green 73 (3.6; +3.6)
>>>> Majority 638
>>>> Turnout not known
>>>> Con hold
>>>> Percentage change is since May 2008
>>> The Tories hold a seat on Tyneside??
>> The Conservatives have the majority of councillors on North 
>> Tyneside and also hold the directly elected Mayor.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Tyneside_Council_election,_2008
>>
>> However since the media only focus on the big name city councils 
>> they perpetuate this rubbish that the Conservatives have no support 
>> in northern urban areas. 
> 
> That will be because what little strength they have is in suburban areas, 
> maybe?

Well, it probably isn't very strong on inner-city council estates, if that's 
what you mean.

And in cities where councils carpeted their inner areas (and even some of 
their peripheral suburbs) with council flats in the fifties, sixties and 
seventies, that's going to have an effect which is obvious to anyone looking 
at the issue dispassionately.

Council- and housing-association housing is a political and psephological 
issue. It doesn't just happen by accident.

In article ,
   JNugent  wrote:
> rosenstiel@cix.compulink.co.uk wrote:
> > In article , 
> > T.C.Roll-Pickering@qmul.ac.uk (Tim Roll-Pickering) wrote:
> > 
> >> Paul Hyett wrote:

["Con hold" result details snipped]

> >>> The Tories hold a seat on Tyneside??
> >> The Conservatives have the majority of councillors on North 
> >> Tyneside and also hold the directly elected Mayor.
> >>
> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Tyneside_Council_election,_2008

That's quite interesting, actually.  Even I hadn't realised just how
strong a presence the Conservatives now have there.

> >> However since the media only focus on the big name city councils 
> >> they perpetuate this rubbish that the Conservatives have no support 
> >> in northern urban areas. 

That is part of "the narrative", yes...

> > That will be because what little strength they have is in suburban
> > areas, maybe?
>
> Well, it probably isn't very strong on inner-city council estates, if
> that's what you mean.
>
> And in cities where councils carpeted their inner areas (and even some
> of their peripheral suburbs) with council flats in the fifties,
> sixties and seventies, that's going to have an effect which is obvious
> to anyone looking at the issue dispassionately.

Yes, that was done in parts of my local borough, especially in an area
known as Troy Town (or "Toy Town" as I prefer to call it!) which is now
part of the enlarged Rochester East ward of Medway Unitary.

The huge quantities of social housing brought in there and elsewhere (long
before I moved here) by the then Labour-controlled former council, were (I
am told by local old hands) intended specifically to change the voting
demographics in Labour's favour.

Perhaps that was acceptable with the smaller wards structure pre-2003, but
now the two Labour councillors remain mainly because of the largely
high-rise social housing at one end of the ward, where they are packed in
far more densely than elsewhere in Rochester East.  Looking at a map thus
doesn't show the picture all that clearly.  The rest of the ward deserves
far better than it could ever have with its Labour councillors, but it has
been a tough nut to crack -- so far, anyway.

> Council- and housing-association housing is a political and
> psephological issue. It doesn't just happen by accident.

Indeed: it is a deliberately manufactured situation, often leading to
severe problems that could have been avoided if the nature, quantity,
location and other factors hadn't been manipulated for purely political
reasons.

-- 
John M Ward - see http://www.horsted.john-ward.org.uk
--> In favour of returning all local decisions to local people!