The story of the 2010 election for Barnsley Labour has been one of hopes fulfilled. The average turnout for 2010 in the local elections was 56.9% when the largest and the smallest were eliminated. The average vote when the two extremes were eliminated was 46.73%.

Our three members of parliament were returned safely with 47% for Eric Illsley; 46% for Michael Dugher; 38% for Angela Smith; and 50% for John Healey.

The far right parties (BNP and UKIP) gained 19372 votes between them in all four constituencies for the national election: an average of 4,843 in each constituency. In the local election they (BNP) managed only 12,423 of the 177,006 possible votes in the 21 wards: an average of 591 votes per ward. They gained only 7% of the possible votes. The voters of Barnsley have rejected the far-right politics of hatred.

The averages for local election candidates and the % for MPs suggest that under a system of proportional representation Labour would continue to form an administration in Barnsley.

Barnsley Labour lost no seats in 2010 and won 5 in the local elections. Barnsley Labour now has an eleven seat majority in the council. We will be working to ensure our manifesto is delivered for the people of the borough in spite of possible set-backs and opposition from a Tory government in Westminster which will wish to make cuts in local government spending.

Gains were made for Labour in:

• Darfield                      - Pauline Markham
• Hoyland Milton         - Robin Franklin
• Kingstone                  - Kath Mitchell
• Old Town                    - Penny Lofts
• Stairfoot                     - Brian Mathers

Congratulations to all Labour Candidates on winning a very difficult election.

 The Queen’s Speech is the Head of State’s introduction to legislation which will be brought forward by the government in the current term of parliament. For this current term the queen delivered the speech on Wednesday 18^th of November 2009.

The speech, written for the queen by the government, laid greatest emphasis on ensuring sustained growth to safeguard jobs. It promised also to strengthen public services and to sustain economic recovery whilst combating climate change.

There are measures in the queen’s speech which will be of particular interest to Barnsley. Active employment schemes and training programmes will help to reduce the blight of unemployment and worklessness in Barnsley. Without the money from the European Union, Barnsley would have been much less able to deal with the after-effects of Mines closures: therefore closer co-operation to sustain economic recovery will be welcome.

Free personal care for those in highest need will benefit many residents in Barnsley with its high level of disability. Guarantees on raising educational standards is aimed at ensuring that all pupils (including those in Barnsley) will get a good education if they work hard.

Support for carbon capture and storage will help the most vulnerable households with their energy bills. This is likely to also benefit Yorkshire in particular as much of the carbon is generated by coal. It is possible that coal mining might be given a boost by this measure and that the captured carbon will be stored below the sea off Yorkshire’s coast. That will create jobs in this area.

The rights of agency workers to be treated equally is a very promising development and one which trades unions have worked towards for some years. When migrant workers are treated equally they are less able to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers who would otherwise employ them to work on lower wages and worse conditions than local workers. Moreover there is a growing trend for big employers to employ workers through agencies and thereby subject local workers to worse conditions than unions have fought to gain over centuries. This legislation to curb the worst excesses of bad employers exploiting workers is to be welcomed.

Barnsley Labour’s survey of residents in Old Town ward received so many responses that we needed to break them down into categories for easier presentation. These results were then circulated to residents in the ward. Top issue in Gawber, Summer Lane, Pogmoor Road areas was Traffic and Parking. It is obvious to anybody who lives or works in the area that traffic in the vicinity of the hospital is horrendous, for drivers and residents alike.

What will the Independent councillors do? Will they address the problem by calling for action on Parking Schemes for residents? Will they call for a by-pass around the area? Will they attempt to make the hospital take their responsibilties seriously? None of these. They will simply hold another consultation exercise on Nov. Friday the 13th! Bad luck guys. Barnsley Labour were there first and residents know we were.

 It is a similar story in the Honeywell area. Their main concern was with the environment. In March 2010 (just before the local elections) they are to hold another consultation … on the environment. We should have guessed. Barnsley Labour leads and the others follow: but let’s just give the Independents the benefit of the doubt. They might be able to come up with some proposals before then to match our manifesto for the area.

They might…but I doubt it! After all they have done nothing about parking, traffic or the environment since they were elected. They will need to work hard in the run-up to the election if they want to catch up with Barnsley Labour.

Barnsley Labour is currently recruiting new members and old who wish to be trained to become future councillors.

We want local activists and those who want to become activists to sign up to a course of training to become local elected members. Annual allowances of approx. £10,000 are paid to elected members of Barnsley council to cover time spent on council duties. The duties include individual casework, decision-making and policy-setting. The work is varied and demanding but also very rewarding.

Young, old, female, male, any race or creed are welcome. Barnsley Labour is an equal opportunities organisation and we value all equally. For further information on training to become a councillor please reply to the email address on this web-site and watch your horizons expand.

The voters of St Helen’s ward delivered a very welcome boost for Barnsley Labour policies and rewarded the hard work of many supporters by electing Roy Butterwood for Labour, last night (15 Oct. 2009). Thankyou to the many workers, supporters and friends of Labour who turned out to contact voters and deliver the message that Labour in Barnsley is the only party who will fight for the interests of working people in the borough.

The results speak for themselves:

1. Labour 1520 votes;
2. BNP 590 votes;
3. BIG party (Independents) 171 votes;
4. UKIP 94 votes;
5. Conservatives 89 votes;
6. Lib Dem 78 votes;

 A majority of 930 for Labour over the nearest party and a majority of 498 over all the other parties. A justified result for all the hard work that has gone into the improvements to quality of life in the ward over the term of a Labour Government. Thankyou to all who helped organise, leaflet and knock on doors to get Barnsley Labour’s positive message to the residents of St Helens.  Barnsley TUC’s activities  to ensure voters know the truth about the BNP’s far right activities are gratefully recognised as part of the effort of the Labour movement to obtain a beneficial outcome for the residents of St. Helens.

We remember Cllr David Bostwick whose untimely death caused this by-election, and whose hard work was instrumental with his colleagues in implementing many of the improvements in St Helens.

In Barnsley we have become used to the Nasties telling lies. It is part of their  “BIG LIE” strategy, as it was with Hitler. They reckon if they tell a big enough lie people will think it is true. Barnsley folk are not that daft. They know a lie when they hear one.

The latest Big Lie is that some of our elected members have had their fingers in the till. In fact it is yet another lie to disrupt the smooth running of democracy in Barnsley. The three councillors mentioned have simply maintained good practice (something the BNP will know nothing about when it comes to finances) by putting money into an election fund bank account. This is part of good practice to keep Branch funds and election expenses seperate so that accurate records could be submitted to the returning officer after the election, which Labour won. Now the Nasties want to re-run the election. Unfortunately for the BNP the report of the enquiry into the matter cleared all three councillors. Our legal team of top lawyers are now looking into the potential LIbel action against those who posted this Big Lie on YouTube.  

The BNP will continue to tell lies and we will continue to tell the truth to the electorate. I think the electorate will know who to vote for.

The Fabian Society in their latest edition of ‘Review’, the quarterly magazine made 20 recommendations for the Labour Government to consider before the next election.

In the budget they recommended the Introduction of a Social Care Tax. This would prevent older people having to sell their homes to pay for socialism care in later life. Remaking the Link between Pensions and Earnings would implement a Labour Party conference decision eight years ago before Cameron reduces public spending (if he ever becomes Prime Minister) to give away ‘billionaires to the children of millionaires’ inheritance tax remission. Age Concern and Help the Aged agree that it would be good to Abolish the Upper earnings limit for National Insurance.

Constitutionally independent local councils, M.P.s being able to hold government to account, Prime Ministers directly elected by the people, Uniformed services given meaningful democratic governance, the people’s rights clearly defined along with their responsibilities; would all be part of a Draft Written Constitution. The Abolition of the Privy Council would ‘cost nothing but would mark a shift to a constitution that respects citizens’ by abolishing the ‘Royal perogative’  under which the monarch’s powers are used by the executive to make many controversial decisions.

More Power should be Devolved to Wales in order to give them the same legislative powers as Scotland; a School Bus Network should be established and all who are unemployed should be offered a Year to Re-Train; and funding free school meals (including a healthy breakfast and a nutritious lunch): are ideas which make up the first ten ideas put forward by Fabian.

Other ideas include:

• giving all workers a stake in their firm
• splitting the Equality and Human Rights commission into two
• a referendum on proportional representation at the next general election
• high street banks supporting the financially excluded
• announcement of a phased withdrawal from Afghanistan
• an independent Press watchdog
• a Free Speech bill
• an industrial development bank
• upgrading of the railway network
• Proportional representation without a referendum
• use of the world wide web to open up the national media.

Further details of Fabian Society can be found via the link to their web-site on this site.