Election fever in Hertford

April 16 2015

Election fever in Hertford is like a clammy hand snaking around your vital organs whilst you lay in bed on a winters night dreaming of a shimmering and sun-drenched Caribbean shoreline.

There are four political wards in Hertford which will be returning District and Town Councillors along with an MP on Election Day 2015 which is 7th May 2015.

These Wards are Bengeo, Castle, Kingsmead and Sele. Nominations for all Wards have now been published by East Herts Council and this is how the they reflect the parties interest.

The parties have submitted nominations for District Councillors as follows.
Bengeo Ward declares three (3) and the nominations are:
Conservative 3; Labour 3; Green 1, UKIP 1.

Castle Ward declares three (3) and the nominations are:
Conservative 3, Labour 3, Green 1, Independent 1.

Kingsmead Ward declares two (2) and the nominations are:
Conservative 2, Labour 2, Libdems 1, Green 1.

Sele Ward declares two (2) and the nominations are:
Conservative 2, Labour 2, Green 1.

Out of 50 seats at East Herts Council during the last administration 46 were Conservative councillors. There is likely to be little change in this make-up; or of voting in an effective opposition owing to the inability of the other parties (apart from the Labour group) to field the maximum number of candidates.

(All 50 seats returned Conservative members – one is now an Independent)

There are also the Town Council elections and nominations for Hertford Town Council are as follows.
Bengeo Ward declares four (4):
Conservative 4, Labour 4

Castle Ward declares four (4)
Conservatives 4, Labour 3

Kingsmead Ward declares four (4)
Conservative 4, Labour 3, Libdems 1, Green 2

Sele Ward declares four (4)
Conservative 3, Labour 4

Given that at the last election Hertford Town Council had 15 Conservative and 1 Labour Councillor this is not likely to change much either.

(It didn’t owing to Sele Ward having only 3 Conservative candidates.)

The truth of the matter is that this part of the world has been voting blue for the last three elections and with all parties finding it difficult to find candidates willing to stand we are unlikely to see any significant change at any Council level. Or for that matter Parliamentary Member – Hertford and Stortford Constituency (Mark Prisk MP) is one of the safest Conservative seats in the country.

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By John Barber

John Barber was born in London at the height of the UK Post War baby boom. He had careers in Advertising, International Banking and the Wine Industry before becoming Town Centre Manager in his home town of Hertford. He has been writing professionally since 1996 when he began to contribute articles to magazines on social and local history. His first published book in 2002 was a non-fiction work entitled The Camden Town Murder, a hitherto unsolved murder case from 1907.