Vote 2006: We were there for you

Well the election is over which means that this site might actually have something to talk about now. There is actually a Council of elected representatives in Greenwich once more... the question is how many of them will actually do anything more than talk? Anyway, for those interested here's a little bit of commentary from the count which we sneakily managed to get ourselves invites too!

The BNP: These people were milling by the Eltham West count. As troglodytes go they were par for the course really. There was some concerns that they might come through the middle and win the ward but they came fourth in the end and we didn't have to see Greenwich across the news. Thankfully Raynsford and Efford didn't make stupid comments about the BNP to the press (that's not to say they don't regularly make stupid comments about other things of course).

Fight in Plumstead: We witnessed a fight nearly break out between the Plumstead independent (former Labour man) Harbajan Singh and some guy who - quite frankly - looked like he'd slept on a park bench then been dragged through a hedge for good measure. It appeared that the excitement of holding their safest seat of Plumstead was too much for him. Councillor Cornforth tried to keep him under control with the "Handbag of Doom" though... she looks so delightfully Thatcherite with it, we must remember to point that out to her the next time we meet.

Is Danny Thorpe a blubber? It appears that the Tory's push for Shooters Hill didn't pay off. They did however reduce the Labour majority from about a 1000 to less than 200. We did spot Danny "yoof services" Thorpe looking rather worried outside at one point. It looked very much like he'd been crying... bless. We predict those tears will flow much more next time. To be honest, we've not really had much dealing with Thorpe, but he does strike us as an intellectual pygmy amongst the other Labour councillors. From what we've heard some of the Labour group think the same, but far be it from us to start scurrilous gossip. If you want to get an "on message" response then Thorpe is your man.

Blackheath and the race card: It looks like Alex Grant's decision to publish libelous material about one of the Tory candidates paid off. We've seen the blogosphere talk about this over the past week. Alex Grant was - it would seem - so scared that he was going to lose (which would of course be very bad for his career up the greasy Nu Labour pole) he decided to call one of his opponents a racist. Whilst he did retract the accusation after Carter Ruck got involved it looks like it had the desired affect on the postal vote. He managed to hold on, but the Tories made a gain. Rest assured that we will be watching Alex Grant very closely over the coming years.

50% turnout? WTF? Eltham North managed to have a turnout of 50%. The result was that the three tory incumbents secured their seats very comfortably. Spencer Drury (who will presumably be the next Tory Group leader) managed to secure the highest personal vote of the night with over 2,300. We think that can be explained as the PPC effect (Steven Toole in Plumstead being the exception that disproves our rule as he got hammered by three unknown tories).

Middle Park: This one was at the wire when we left the count and it looks like there is a recount scheduled for today. We're hoping that Pete Challis doesn't win simply because we find him an odd man to look at. Thankfully though local politics isn't a beauty contest. If Challis does win Middle Park it will certainly wind the Labour Cabinet up. They only put him in Middle Park to get rid of him. We'll be happy either way. If he wins we get column inches out of him, if he doesn't we can just make snide references to "men of the past". Update: Challis lost, we're gutted, honestly. 2 Lib Dems and 1 Lab.

Kiddbrooke undeclared: This one was looking good for the tories when we left this morning. There were certainly a lot of smiles from their candidates but it may have been lack of sleep and glass half full attitudes keeping them going. We will update this one as soon as we get the details. We may even have some gossip about it, you never know! Update: Tories gained two here from Labour.

On reflection: Most of the other results were as everyone expected. Labour has had a stranglehold on Greenwich for so long that some places just weigh the vote. It's such a shame because in places like Charlton the Greens were the only people actually campaigning, and Labour still won.

You have to wonder why the electorate in the Borough keep returning people that don't actually do much for them. Still... we're here to moan about that now.