Stoke is back in play

posted by: Nick Lowles | on: Wednesday, 22 July 2009, 04:14

There will now be council elections in Stoke-on-Trent in May 2010 after all. In a U-tun, the Government yesterday announced that it was reversing an earlier decision to suspend elections in the city to allow for a greater re-organisation of local governance and all-out elections in 2011.

Last year the people of Stoke-on-Trent voted to get rid of the Mayor in preference for a more traditional councillor/cabinet system. It had been feared that the BNP, which has nine councillors on the council, would enter the adminstration as part of a deal with Independents. In the event the Independents opted for a link with the Conservatives.

The decision to hold elections next May means that the city will once again be the focus for intense anti-BNP campaign. I will shortly be travelling to Stoke-on-Trent to meet local activists and the political parties to formulate a HOPE not hate strategy.