They're Telling Porkies Again!

Porkie pies have again emerged in the latest newsletter from College Ward Residents Association who appear unable to accept with good grace that they lost the 2007 borough council elections.

Their Spring 2008 newsletter carries the message "By deciding to field three candidates in College Ward, the Conservative Party split the RA vote, allowing the Liberal Democrats to win the ward, albeit with a very small majority".

College Ward RA knows only too well that the Conservatives put up three candidates in College ward in 2003, as well as in 2007. The facts are :

(a) In the 1999 elections there were no Conservative candidates in College ward. The Lib Dems polled 1217 more votes than the RA and won the ward.

(b) In 2003 the RA won the ward and gained 122 more votes than the Lib Dems, one Lib Dem candidate losing by just 3 votes.

(c) In 2007 the Lib Dems won back the ward gaining 433 more votes overall than the RA. Hardly "a very small majority" as they have stated.

To imply that the Conservatives were responsible for the RA losing the ward is misleading in the extreme and insulting to local residents. Indeed, following their argument through, if the Tory votes were responsible for the RA candidates losing the ward in 2007, just what was their effect on the RA winning the ward in 2003?